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Sverre Sigurdsson

Type Figure Region Norway Time c. 1151–1202 Also known as Sverre

Sverre Sigurdsson (c. 1151–1202) was king of Norway and leader of the Birkebeiner;…

Timeline

  1. c. 1151–1184Norway · NorwayAfter being educated in the Faroe Islands he returned to Norway; from 1177 he claimed to be the son of Sigurd II and led the Birkebeiner against the regime of Magnus Erlingsson under the regency of Eirik Skakke.
  2. 1184–1198Fimreite · Western NorwayAt the Battle of Fimreite in 1184 he defeated and killed Magnus Erlingsson and formally took the throne. Thereafter he waged continuous civil war against the church and the Bagler, winning a great naval victory at Kalvskinnet in 1194 and consolidating control over most of Norway.
  3. 1198–1202Bergen · NorwayIn 1198 the Bagler set up a rival king in the Oslofjord, and the civil war intensified again. Sverre still controlled the core regions in his later years, dying at Bergen in March 1202; fighting continued after his son Haakon III succeeded him.

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