Succession struggle After King Inge's death in 1217, a succession dispute erupted. Haakon was supported by the majority of Birkebeiners, including the veterans who had served under his father and grandfather. Other candidates included Inge's illegitimate son Guttorm (who dropped out very soon); Inge's half-brother Earl
Skule Bårdsson, who had been appointed leader of the king's
hird at Inge's deathbed and was supported by the
Archbishop of Nidaros as well as part of the Birkebeiners; and Haakon the Crazy's son,
Knut Haakonsson. With his widespread popular support in
Trøndelag and western Norway, Haakon was proclaimed king at
Øyrating in June 1217. He was later the same year hailed as king at
Gulating in Bergen, and at
Haugating,
Borgarting and local
things east of
Elven (Göta Älv). The saga's claim that Haakon already had been generally accepted as king in 1217/18 has however been contested by modern historians such as
Sverre Bagge. Skule and Haakon increasingly drifted apart in their administration, and Skule focused mainly on governing Eastern Norway after 1220, which he had gained the right to rule in 1218 as his third of the Norwegian kingdom. In 1223 a great meeting of bishops, clergy, secular nobles, and other high-ranking figures from all across the country was held in Bergen to decide finally on Haakon's right to the throne. Other candidates to the throne were present either personally or through attorneys, but Haakon was in the end unanimously confirmed as King of Norway by the court. However, some discontented Baglers found a new royal pretender,
Sigurd Ribbung, and launched a new rising from 1219. The rising only gained support in parts of Eastern Norway, and was did not gain control of
Viken and
Opplandene as the Baglers formerly had done. Assuming the military lead in the fight, Haakon nevertheless defeated Ribbung through comprehensive and organisationally demanding warfare over the next few years. This left Haakon more or less uncontested monarch. ''. Haakon's councillors had sought to reconcile Haakon and Skule by proposing marriage between Haakon and Skule's daughter
Margaret in 1219. Haakon accepted the proposal (although he did not think it would change much politically), but the marriage between Haakon and Margrete did not take place before 1225, partly due to the conflict with Sigurd. Skule was the first person in Norway to be titled duke (
hertug) in 1237, but instead of control over a region, gained the rights to the incomes from a third of the
syssels scattered across the whole of Norway. This was part of an attempt by Haakon to limit Skule's power. In 1239 the conflict between the two erupted into open warfare when Skule had himself proclaimed king. Although he had some support in Trøndelag, Opplandene, and eastern Viken, he could not stand up to Haakon's forces. The rebellion ended when Skule was killed in 1240, leaving Haakon the undisputed king of Norway. Despite being the undisputed ruler of Norway after 1240, Haakon was still not approved as king by the pope due to his illegitimate birth. He nonetheless had a strong personal desire to be approved fully as a European king. Haakon also attempted to strengthen his ties with the papacy by taking a vow to go on
Crusade. While Haakon had been unsuccessful in gaining the recognition of
Pope Gregory IX, he quickly gained the support from
Pope Innocent IV who sought alliances in his struggle with
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Haakon finally achieved royal recognition by Pope Innocent in 1246, and
Cardinal William of Sabina was sent to Bergen and crowned Haakon in 1247.
Cultural influence and legal reforms in Bergen, constructed in the mid-13th century. After consolidating his position in 1240, Haakon focused on displaying the supremacy of the kingship, influenced by the increasingly closer contact with European culture. He built several monumental royal buildings, primarily in the
royal estate in Bergen, where he built a European-style stone palace. He used a grand fleet with stately royal ships when meeting with other Scandinavian rulers, and actively sent letters and gifts to other European rulers; his most far-reaching contact was achieved when he sent
gyrfalcons with an embassy to the sultan of
Tunis. Haakon also had the popular religious text
Visio Tnugdali translated into Old Norse as
Duggals leiðsla. The literature also appealed to women, and both Haakon's wife Margrete and his daughter Kristina owned richly illustrated
psalters.
Involvements abroad Relations were hostile with both Sweden and Denmark from the start of his reign. During Haakon's rivalry with Earl Skule, Skule sought the support of
Valdemar II of Denmark, but any aid was made impossible after Valdemar's capture by one of his vassals. Since the Danes wanted overlordship of Norway and supported the
Guelphs (those supporting the Pope over the Holy Roman Emperor), Haakon in turn sought closer ties with the Ghibelline Emperor Frederick II, who sent ambassadors to Norway. As Haakon had gained a powerful reputation due to the strength of his fleet, other European rulers wanted to benefit from his friendship. Despite the struggle between the Pope and the Emperor, Haakon was able to maintain friendships with both. According to an English chronicler, the Pope wanted Haakon to become Holy Roman Emperor. It has been suggested that Haakon hesitated to leave Norway due to the Mongol threat. Haakon pursued a foreign policy that was active in all directions (although foremost to the west and south-east). The Russians were previously viewed as potential allies, and in the winter of 1250–1251, Prince
Alexander Nevsky sent an embassy to Haakon following a conflict between Novgorodian and Norwegian tax-collectors. As a result of these negotiations, Norwegian control of
Troms and
Finnmark was likely strengthened. Alexander also asked for the hand of Haakon's daughter,
Christina, but Haakon refused as Novgorod was viewed as a dependency of the Mongols and a marital alliance would have complicated relations with the Russian princes. With Norwegian ships from the port of Elven were active in the waters south of Sweden and into the
Baltic Sea, Norway increasingly relied on Baltic grain from
Lübeck. This trade was halted in the late 1240s by the plundering of Norwegian ships in Danish seas by ships from Lübeck. In 1250, Haakon made a peace and trade agreement with Lübeck, which eventually also opened the city of Bergen to the
Hanseatic League. During the conflict, Haakon had reportedly been offered control over the city by Emperor Frederick II. Haakon's Nordic policies initiated the build-up to the later
personal unions (called the
Kalmar Union), that in the end had dire consequences for Norway as it did not have the economic and military resources to persevere and maintain Haakon's aggressive policies. (seeing that the
Iberian Moors received backing overseas from North Africa). He sent an embassy to Castile in 1255. A Castilian ambassador to Norway returned with the embassy, and proposed to establish the "strongest ties of friendship" with Haakon. and the proposed crusade fell into the blue. His policy relied on friendship and trade with the King of England; the first known Norwegian trade agreements were made with England in the years 1217–23 (England's first commercial treaties were also made with Norway), and the friendship with
Henry III of England was a cornerstone of Haakon's foreign policy. As they had become kings around the same time, Haakon wrote to Henry in 1224 that he wished they could maintain the friendship that had existed between their fathers. Haakon sought to defend the Norwegian sovereignty over islands in the west, namely the
Hebrides and
Man (under the
Kingdom of Mann and the Isles),
Shetland and
Orkney (under the
Earldom of Orkney), and the
Faroe Islands. The Norwegian kingdom was at the largest it has ever been by the end of Haakon's reign. Haakon had at the same time gained stronger control of the Hebrides and Man than any Norwegian ruler since
Magnus Barefoot. As part of a new development the Scottish king
Alexander II claimed the Hebrides and asked to buy the islands from Norway, but Haakon staunchly rejected the proposals. Following Alexander II's death, his son
Alexander III continued and stepped up his father's policy by sending an embassy to Norway in 1261, and thereafter attacking the Hebrides. In 1263, the
dispute with the Scottish king over the Hebrides induced Haakon to undertake an expedition to the islands. Haakon learned in 1262 that Scottish nobles had raided the Hebrides and that Alexander III planned to conquer the islands. In 1263 Haakon mounted an expedition with his formidable
leidang fleet of at least 120 ships. A delegation of Irish kings invited Haakon to become the
High King of Ireland and expel the
Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland, but this was apparently rejected against Haakon's wish. Haakon over-wintered at the
Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall, Orkney, with plans to resume his campaign the next year. During his stay in Kirkwall he however fell ill, and died in the early hours of 16 December 1263. Haakon was buried in the
St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall for the winter; in spring, his body was exhumed and taken back to Norway, in connection with the
Protestant Reformation, and the graves of Haakon and other Norwegian kings buried there might have been destroyed in the process or moved to another location. ==Evaluation==