Norgesveldet – A history of the Norwegian kings

Sigurd I never reigned except by in name. He rose to the throne a captive and lost it a captive.

Family
Sigurd was married to Elduara and had two children:
Beata
Borkvard

His reign
While he was king of Sweden, Sigurdrr adopted the national identity of Swedish, changing his name to Sigurd, and trampled on his Norse roots. When he succeeded his father, he was as such deeply unpopular among his Norse vassals. The Swedish usurper demanded a steep sum for his release, and Norway had neither the money nor the will to pay his ransom. Within a month, the Norwegian nobles rallied around his younger brother Thordr and sent his regent an ultimatum; surrender the throne. His regent was all too eager to do so, and Sigurd’s reign came to an end before it had really begun.

The realm when Sigurd I was deposed.

Aftermath
Sigurd I is largely forgotten by modern Norwegians, never having a chance to prove himself or rule at all. Some historians even argue he shouldn’t be counted among the Norwegian kings at all.

Note on Ireland, it was around this time that they for a few years united Scotland, Ireland and half of Wales, before losing Scotland in a succession(I presume gavelkind). Pretty awesome legacy of Norvegr, eh?

SehnVretor said:

How many days did Sigurd 'rule' anyway? I would guess that most people of his time didn't even view him as their King (not even after his death; although, he's not dead yet, right? It's clear from your report, he won't be coming back either, though.)

Click to expand...

Somewhere between one and two months, IIRC. The game counts him as having reigned, so I figured I had to fit him in.

Stuyvesant - You'll know more in the next update.

Crimson Drakon - The dark red is a now independent rebel realm of Suomi.

Thordr I’s reign was apart from his many wars, pretty uneventful. He did however finally reinstate feudalism in the Norwegian realm. His reign in the end lives in the shadow of his impressive son and heir.

Family
Thordr was married to Sunniva, reknowned in her time as one of Europe’s big beauties. Together, they had four children, among them one son, who would later succeed his father:
Alfridr
Alvör
Halla
Ragnarr

His reign
Soon after Thordr’s takeover, Sigurd, serving no need for his captors, was freed. Thordr decided his brother is too much of a threat and plotted to kill him, but before his plot could be set in motion, it was discovered that Sigurd was plotting the same to him. This gave Thordr the excuse he needed to imprison his brother and remove him as a threat.

In 1049 the first of many wars were initiated by Thordr. He declared war on the much weakened Suomi for the control of the county of Länsipohja, and the Finnish realm stood no chance. Not the one to rest on his laurels, Thordr then in 1052 declared holy war on Uppland for the control of the duchy of Uppland. This war proved to be a long one, as Uppland gave stiff resistance and their lands was discovered to have been greatly fortified over the last few years. In 1057 the war was won however, and when the beaten petty king died the year after, Thordr assembled his host and declared renewed war, this time for the duch of Östergötland. The lands and armies of Uppland already weakened; this war was over in merely a few months.

Following this war, Thordr gave his armies a well-deserved rest and worked on finalizing his administrative reform, formally reinstituting feudalism in 1060. A warrior at heart, four years later he again declared war on Suomi and the Suomi rebels for control of the province of Hälsingland and Lappi, respectively. In 1067 both wars were decisively won, but Thordr, being old, infirm and bedridden at this point, had no involvement in the doings of the war, nor peace. Later that same year, he died in his bed, making his only son Ragnarr king at the age of 15.


The state of Norgesveldet at the ascension of Ragnarr I.

Aftermath
With his wars, Thordr I greatly enlarged Norway’s territory, and his reinstatement of feudalism would prove to be final. His most important legacy would prove to be his son and heir Ragnarr I, however, one of the great kings of medieval Norway.

Densley - I've played on four kings, but suffice to say Ragnarr was successful. In more than one way.

Blklizard - his reign will see the end of many things. What, that would be telling.

Stuyvesant - yep, that's the reasn of the weird statement. Compared to other reigns, it was quite uneventful.

Ben Kenobi - the regency lasted merely a couple months iirc. His reign was a good one, as alluded to.

Crimson Drakon - At this point I could have usurped Sweden, giving me the ability to form Scandinavia. It would be suicise though, as Sweden is gavelkind and you can't destroy and reform gavelkind realms. And Sweden is low crown authority. So my second son would end up controlling half the realm on my death. Hardly a wise move. So the plan was to nibble away until Sweden is gone from the map. For role play purposes I also think Scandinaiva only would make sense if at least Denmark and preferably Finland also is part of the realm.

Stuyvesant 2 - LOL, yeah. Hardly an enviable position.

Under Ragnarr I a second golden age for Norgesveldet began, the first being the rise under Haraldr I Fairhair. With the extent of the empire growing and the economy booming, Ragnarr is considered one of the really big Norwegian kings.

Family
Ragnarr was married to Leontia, with whom he had four children. He would be succeeded by one of his grandsons. The children were as follows:
Glodr
Sigrid
Åke
Sofia

His reign
After a consolidation period, stabilizing the realm and taking charge of government after a brief regency, Ragnarr I declared holy war on Uppland for the control of Småland. This was the last lands held by the heathen in Sweden, and when the war was won a year later, the only parts of Sweden not under Norwegian control, was the small holdings of Sweden in the south east.

During the war, a charismatic preacher turned Helsingland to the Lollard heresy and shortly after rebelled. The rebels stood no chance however, and lost to the armies of the king mere monhs later.

The next few years were spent improving the royal demesne and increasing the throne’s powers, by increasing crown authority. The improving of the royal demesne would be a focus on the king through all his reign, greatly improving the economic and military power base of the kingdom.

In 1072, a second Lollard uprising happened, only to be quelled within months. After the rebellion had been taken care of, Ragnarr declared war on the duke of Sjælland for the control of the county of Sjælland, and the war proved easy for the Norwegian armies.

The next few years were realitively quiet, Ragnarr continuing the build-up of the royal demesne. A royal claimant assembling a host died tragically when a lone bowman shot an arrow to his knee and neck, and in 1080 two rebellions happened. One was another Suomonesko revolt, which was quelled the year after. The other was a peasant rebellion that was over fast, as its leader was captured in the first battle between the peasants and the Norwegian army.

The same year the Suomonesko rebellion was quelled, another piece of Denmark was acquired, when the duke of Sjælland was again declared war on, this time for the control of the county of Fyn. In 1085 total control of Denmark was achieved, when the count and duke of Jylland, both independent, was declared war on, and soon both nobles surrendered.

Soon after Denmark was secured, Ragnarr declared a holy war on Sakakunta, the now independent rebels of Suomi, for the control of the duchy of Sakakunta. No lands were acquired however, as on the verge of victory; the chief of Satakunta declared his intent to convert to Catholisism and the war ended with his baptism.

In 1092, the king’s bastard nephew assembled a host with the intent of taking over Norway. With his new found power due to the buildup of his demesne and strengthening of the crown authority, Ragnarr had no problem setting an end to the rebellion within short time however, and little over a year later, the nephew was forced to bend the knee.

In 1095, both the Norse pagans of Orknö and the Suomonesko pagans of eastern Sweden rebelled, but within months both rebellions were crushed. Following the war, Ragnarr continued his buildup, until in 1001, another holy war, this time for Kola, was declared on the last big stronghold of Suomonesko paganism in Finland. Within months, also this war was won.

In 1103, disaster struck the king, when after years of pain after being maimed in an accident as a child, the king’s sole son and heir dies of complications. The king’s underage grandson Sveinn was now the new heir.

The next few years, Ragnarr intensified his buildup of the country, founding the city of Kinsarvik in western Norway and a new castle in western Sweden. In 1115, Ragnarr’s last was was declared, when he claimed a de jure claim war on Suomi for the province of Kola. With this war won, the Suomi, once the masters of Finland, only owned one province, way down in the Baltics. Shortly after this war was concluded, Ragnarr I died peacefully in his sleep, an old man with an impressive list of accomplishments behind him.


The realm of Norway at the death of Ragnarr I.

Aftermath
Ragnarr I is remembered as a mighty king, one of the major ones to rule Norway during the Middle Ages. Why he got the nickname of “the Cruel” is lost to history however, the nickname is found several sources, but no explanation is made to why he was known as this. His expansions were big, but the lasting and most important legacy was his improvement of the Norwegian economy. Sources show that the economy under his reign increased more than six fold, giving him and his successors a much needed economic base to project power with.