Introduction
Olaf Haraldsson Trygvasson inherited the realm of Norway in the year of 1066 AD, a late december evening, following his fathers death at Stanford Bridge the same year.
He promptly married the daughter of the Danish King, Ingrid Knytling
Olaf Haraldsson Trygvasson
1050-1107 (Dead 21 October 1107).
Deeds
Conquered entire Iceland back to Christianity from the Lettigalian pagans
Conmuered Lappland and Västerbotten from the Lappish Pagans
Established the Dukedoms of Jamtland, Bergen, Akershus and Iceland, as well as making Jämtland a loyal Vassal.
Appointed his sons Kåre and Bjørn to be dukes (Kåre, Duke of Iceland and Count of Vest Island - Bjørn, Duke of Jamtland and Count of Austisland)
Built up the Norwegian economy as well as founding Akershus Castle.
Misdeeds
It was a failed policy was helping defend Denmark against Sweden in a yearlong war (1079-1080), which ended up with no side gaining at all. With losses counting 4-5000 men.
A series of assassinations of Polish nobility living in Hungary, at the court of
Ince Balog, Duke of Slovakia.
This travesty started with the fateful morganatic marriage of Crown Prince Kåre Olavsson Yngling, which married the second oldest daughter (Odola Piast) of the Polish King Wladislaw Herman Piast (1043-1103). The marriage between Crown Prince Kåre and Princess Odola took place in the spring of 1088. Realizing that King Wladislaw I had no legitimate male heirs, it was a widespread understanding that the future death of Wladislaw would trace inheritance through the female side. The problem was, Odola was the second eldest daughter, not the eldest daughter, which was Jadwega Piast, which could trace inheritance through her children.
The Spymaster of Norway, the Norwegianized Saxon Skuli Gudwinsson, was the most elusive shadow of the Norwegian Court. Skuli and his brother, Ketil Gudwinsson, served as respectively Spymaster and Chancellor in the Norwegian cabinet, Skuli as the perfectionist master conspirator and Ketil as the prominent and softspoken statesman - a hunchback, that nevertheless moved hearts with his tender and diplomatic voice and mannerisms.
The anxious King asked Skuli to initiate action against the contenders for the Polish throne in the Duchy of Slovakia, namely at the County of Gemer. Skuli immediately sent two Norwegian agents down to Gemer Castle, Bjarte and Njål. One acted in the guise of being a clergyman, speaking some pig latin, and the other pretended to be a friendly jester.
The first assassination took place during the christmas mass in Gemer Castle. Bjarte had poisoned the chamberlain, and took the seat in the confession room at the priests place. When Crown Princess to the Polish throne, Jadwega Piast, showed up for confession, Bjarte asked her the following question:
"Do you think God will let you inherit the throne of Poland?"
Jadwega answered proudly "But of course"
Bjarte smirkly responded "I think God and myself beg to differ - take that you sorry harlot - there will be no Polish bastards this time!" - and stabbed his dagger through the curtains and slashing her throat in a painful struggle for death. Bjarte run through the aisle, jumping over benches as he spotted the other Norwegian agent, Njål. Njål somberly pretended he did not see him, yet he said, "God bless the boys of the Princess!". Bjarte knew that moment he had failed, understanding there was indeed now Hungarians claimants to the Polish throne, complicating the situation. He did not manage to consider this further, as the wronged father in law of Jadwega, Duke Ince Balog, came forward and clubbed Bjarte from behind with a heavy iron mace, scattering Bjartes skull and brains over the church floor. Jadwega Piast Balog lived for only 20 years (1068-1088), until a former Norwegian viking turned agent, took her most precious possession, her life from her, during Christmas mass 1088.
Tacsony Balog , a Theology Seminary student (1068) was the oldest son of the Duke of Slovakia, Ince Balog, and the marriage to Jadwega represented the Balogs future potential with a Polish Crown. Nevertheless, Tacsony Balog was a mild man, a forgiving man, as well as honest, just and merciful, and above all a very lazy man. This meant that his father Duke Ince, knew his son did not have the necessary prerogatives to avenge the death.
Angered by the death of his promising daughter in law, for political and personal reasons, he began to investigate the corpse of Bjarte, discovering the seal of the Red Lion. He knew Norwegian assassins had come into central Europe, and he knew his revenge had to be swift and decisive.
Duke Ince came forward to his spymaster ", I want to exact revenge on the foulsmelling Norwegian vermin, I want some female in the royal Norwegian family to die. I want it to happen now."
The spymaster said. "Coming so quickly, it may be discovered, we may get ourselves into a war here".
"Does not matter, kill someone", Duke Ince replied coldly.
The Slovakian spymaster sent out a trained killer, Janoz Bathory, and it took him a couple of weeks to ride up through winterstorms to Oslo and prepare for his kill. He found an easy prey outside the Convent Catholic Girl School, where he saw the youngest daughter of King Harald, Gudrun, a nine year old girl, was staring down the well.
Without a word, Bathory watched around him, no immediate witnesses, and quickly threw the young princess into the well. A scream ended in silence.
The scream alerted the guards, and Bathory ran for his life towards the docks.
One of the guards managed to shoot an arrow squarely into his neck, with the arrow protruding through his throat, killing him through drowning his lungs in blood. His last words to the guards were "Words from Gemer - Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth".
Angered by the death of his promising young daughter Gudrun, King Harald sent a letter to Njål, still infiltrating the Gemer Court as a jester, to kill off any children of the late Lady Jadwega. Already in late February he saw his chance. The young princes and sons of Jadwega, four year old Sandor and 3 year old Jozsef were playing by the iced lake. Njål brought with him a wooden duck with a woolen wire. He dragged the wire along, catching the attention of the young princes. They toddled along after the wooden duck, until they went to the rotten ice Njål had plotted for them. both drowned in the icy water in an instant. This time this was seen by poor father and recent widower, Tacsony. He was struck by gried, and his mild and docile outlook on the world prevented him from attacking the hastily and guiltily leaving Njål and his laziness prevented him from saving his children. He just let the Norwegian murderer walk away, with tears in his eyes - his heart struck by grief.
This was how the eldest daughter of the Polish King Jadwega Piast (1068-1088) and her sons Sandor (1085-1089) and Jozsef (1086-1089) as well as Norwegian Princess Gudrun (1079-1088) as well as Bjarte and Janoz died in the Great Polish Succession Feud of 1088-89.
Tacsony later became the Bishop of Orava, a vassal of his father Duke Ince, and remarried to Kunigunda Örösur, the future Steward in the Bishopric of Orava. Bishop Tacsony never got children of his own again.
King Harald struggled for years with his relation to the Church and to God, and
was forever associated with deep sin and evil deeds, in spite for his positive contribution to the Norwegian domains.
Polish King Wladislaw remarried, following the death of his wife, Marta Pallfy (another Hungarian catholic) in 1091, and got another son, Kazimierz (1092-), with none other than the second child and daughter of Duke Ince Balog, Zoltana Balog (1074-). Zoltana was a crazed and energetic heretic, and she managed to poison King Wladislaw 1103, making her 11-year old son Kazimiers a child king under her warped and insane regency.
Duke Ince thus indirectly ruled Poland, through his proxy insane oldest daughter and the new Grandchild of the Balog Clan, King Kazimierz of Poland.
When King Haralds wife died 1095, he waited till 1101 until he remarried Ingegjerd Bjelke, then Steward of Jamtland, who promptly married King Harald and became the new Steward of Norway. They did not get any children, but lived happily till King Harald died 21 October 1107.
About Skuli Godwineson and his brother Ketil Godwineson, became some of the Kings most trusted advisors, serving as Spymaster and Chancellor throughout most of his reign.
However, when unmarried princess Ragnhild became pregnant in 1095, the King tasked Skuli to cover up the story, without knowing the details.
Unknown to the King, Skuli adopted the toddler, Alfwod, took the enormous fortune from the King, married Ragnhild to his brother Ketil (He was already married to talented princess Gudrid, now Chancellor of Norway). This cover up is unknown to the people. Little Alfwods (actually a purebred Norwegian) untimely death in 1096, a natural cribs death, sealed the story for posterity, and with the Kings death in 1107, only the Godwineson brothers Skuli and Ketil, as well as the sisters Ragnhild and Gudrid, knew about this.
SUMMARY
The legacy of King Harald is mixed, as he on the one side managed to keep the realm intact, as well as expanding it with Jamtland through vassalage and Iceland and Lappland through conquest. He also managed to amass a series of titles and managed to make a controlled power transfer to his eldest son, Kåre. His epitaph has been somewhat ruined by the scandal following the Polish Succession Feud of 1088-1089, causing the lives of 4 innocent nobles and two quite guilty assassins.
Olaf Haraldsson Trygvasson inherited the realm of Norway in the year of 1066 AD, a late december evening, following his fathers death at Stanford Bridge the same year.
He promptly married the daughter of the Danish King, Ingrid Knytling
Olaf Haraldsson Trygvasson
1050-1107 (Dead 21 October 1107).
Deeds
Conquered entire Iceland back to Christianity from the Lettigalian pagans
Conmuered Lappland and Västerbotten from the Lappish Pagans
Established the Dukedoms of Jamtland, Bergen, Akershus and Iceland, as well as making Jämtland a loyal Vassal.
Appointed his sons Kåre and Bjørn to be dukes (Kåre, Duke of Iceland and Count of Vest Island - Bjørn, Duke of Jamtland and Count of Austisland)
Built up the Norwegian economy as well as founding Akershus Castle.
Misdeeds
It was a failed policy was helping defend Denmark against Sweden in a yearlong war (1079-1080), which ended up with no side gaining at all. With losses counting 4-5000 men.
A series of assassinations of Polish nobility living in Hungary, at the court of
Ince Balog, Duke of Slovakia.
This travesty started with the fateful morganatic marriage of Crown Prince Kåre Olavsson Yngling, which married the second oldest daughter (Odola Piast) of the Polish King Wladislaw Herman Piast (1043-1103). The marriage between Crown Prince Kåre and Princess Odola took place in the spring of 1088. Realizing that King Wladislaw I had no legitimate male heirs, it was a widespread understanding that the future death of Wladislaw would trace inheritance through the female side. The problem was, Odola was the second eldest daughter, not the eldest daughter, which was Jadwega Piast, which could trace inheritance through her children.
The Spymaster of Norway, the Norwegianized Saxon Skuli Gudwinsson, was the most elusive shadow of the Norwegian Court. Skuli and his brother, Ketil Gudwinsson, served as respectively Spymaster and Chancellor in the Norwegian cabinet, Skuli as the perfectionist master conspirator and Ketil as the prominent and softspoken statesman - a hunchback, that nevertheless moved hearts with his tender and diplomatic voice and mannerisms.
The anxious King asked Skuli to initiate action against the contenders for the Polish throne in the Duchy of Slovakia, namely at the County of Gemer. Skuli immediately sent two Norwegian agents down to Gemer Castle, Bjarte and Njål. One acted in the guise of being a clergyman, speaking some pig latin, and the other pretended to be a friendly jester.
The first assassination took place during the christmas mass in Gemer Castle. Bjarte had poisoned the chamberlain, and took the seat in the confession room at the priests place. When Crown Princess to the Polish throne, Jadwega Piast, showed up for confession, Bjarte asked her the following question:
"Do you think God will let you inherit the throne of Poland?"
Jadwega answered proudly "But of course"
Bjarte smirkly responded "I think God and myself beg to differ - take that you sorry harlot - there will be no Polish bastards this time!" - and stabbed his dagger through the curtains and slashing her throat in a painful struggle for death. Bjarte run through the aisle, jumping over benches as he spotted the other Norwegian agent, Njål. Njål somberly pretended he did not see him, yet he said, "God bless the boys of the Princess!". Bjarte knew that moment he had failed, understanding there was indeed now Hungarians claimants to the Polish throne, complicating the situation. He did not manage to consider this further, as the wronged father in law of Jadwega, Duke Ince Balog, came forward and clubbed Bjarte from behind with a heavy iron mace, scattering Bjartes skull and brains over the church floor. Jadwega Piast Balog lived for only 20 years (1068-1088), until a former Norwegian viking turned agent, took her most precious possession, her life from her, during Christmas mass 1088.
Tacsony Balog , a Theology Seminary student (1068) was the oldest son of the Duke of Slovakia, Ince Balog, and the marriage to Jadwega represented the Balogs future potential with a Polish Crown. Nevertheless, Tacsony Balog was a mild man, a forgiving man, as well as honest, just and merciful, and above all a very lazy man. This meant that his father Duke Ince, knew his son did not have the necessary prerogatives to avenge the death.
Angered by the death of his promising daughter in law, for political and personal reasons, he began to investigate the corpse of Bjarte, discovering the seal of the Red Lion. He knew Norwegian assassins had come into central Europe, and he knew his revenge had to be swift and decisive.
Duke Ince came forward to his spymaster ", I want to exact revenge on the foulsmelling Norwegian vermin, I want some female in the royal Norwegian family to die. I want it to happen now."
The spymaster said. "Coming so quickly, it may be discovered, we may get ourselves into a war here".
"Does not matter, kill someone", Duke Ince replied coldly.
The Slovakian spymaster sent out a trained killer, Janoz Bathory, and it took him a couple of weeks to ride up through winterstorms to Oslo and prepare for his kill. He found an easy prey outside the Convent Catholic Girl School, where he saw the youngest daughter of King Harald, Gudrun, a nine year old girl, was staring down the well.
Without a word, Bathory watched around him, no immediate witnesses, and quickly threw the young princess into the well. A scream ended in silence.
The scream alerted the guards, and Bathory ran for his life towards the docks.
One of the guards managed to shoot an arrow squarely into his neck, with the arrow protruding through his throat, killing him through drowning his lungs in blood. His last words to the guards were "Words from Gemer - Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth".
Angered by the death of his promising young daughter Gudrun, King Harald sent a letter to Njål, still infiltrating the Gemer Court as a jester, to kill off any children of the late Lady Jadwega. Already in late February he saw his chance. The young princes and sons of Jadwega, four year old Sandor and 3 year old Jozsef were playing by the iced lake. Njål brought with him a wooden duck with a woolen wire. He dragged the wire along, catching the attention of the young princes. They toddled along after the wooden duck, until they went to the rotten ice Njål had plotted for them. both drowned in the icy water in an instant. This time this was seen by poor father and recent widower, Tacsony. He was struck by gried, and his mild and docile outlook on the world prevented him from attacking the hastily and guiltily leaving Njål and his laziness prevented him from saving his children. He just let the Norwegian murderer walk away, with tears in his eyes - his heart struck by grief.
This was how the eldest daughter of the Polish King Jadwega Piast (1068-1088) and her sons Sandor (1085-1089) and Jozsef (1086-1089) as well as Norwegian Princess Gudrun (1079-1088) as well as Bjarte and Janoz died in the Great Polish Succession Feud of 1088-89.
Tacsony later became the Bishop of Orava, a vassal of his father Duke Ince, and remarried to Kunigunda Örösur, the future Steward in the Bishopric of Orava. Bishop Tacsony never got children of his own again.
King Harald struggled for years with his relation to the Church and to God, and
was forever associated with deep sin and evil deeds, in spite for his positive contribution to the Norwegian domains.
Polish King Wladislaw remarried, following the death of his wife, Marta Pallfy (another Hungarian catholic) in 1091, and got another son, Kazimierz (1092-), with none other than the second child and daughter of Duke Ince Balog, Zoltana Balog (1074-). Zoltana was a crazed and energetic heretic, and she managed to poison King Wladislaw 1103, making her 11-year old son Kazimiers a child king under her warped and insane regency.
Duke Ince thus indirectly ruled Poland, through his proxy insane oldest daughter and the new Grandchild of the Balog Clan, King Kazimierz of Poland.
When King Haralds wife died 1095, he waited till 1101 until he remarried Ingegjerd Bjelke, then Steward of Jamtland, who promptly married King Harald and became the new Steward of Norway. They did not get any children, but lived happily till King Harald died 21 October 1107.
About Skuli Godwineson and his brother Ketil Godwineson, became some of the Kings most trusted advisors, serving as Spymaster and Chancellor throughout most of his reign.
However, when unmarried princess Ragnhild became pregnant in 1095, the King tasked Skuli to cover up the story, without knowing the details.
Unknown to the King, Skuli adopted the toddler, Alfwod, took the enormous fortune from the King, married Ragnhild to his brother Ketil (He was already married to talented princess Gudrid, now Chancellor of Norway). This cover up is unknown to the people. Little Alfwods (actually a purebred Norwegian) untimely death in 1096, a natural cribs death, sealed the story for posterity, and with the Kings death in 1107, only the Godwineson brothers Skuli and Ketil, as well as the sisters Ragnhild and Gudrid, knew about this.
SUMMARY
The legacy of King Harald is mixed, as he on the one side managed to keep the realm intact, as well as expanding it with Jamtland through vassalage and Iceland and Lappland through conquest. He also managed to amass a series of titles and managed to make a controlled power transfer to his eldest son, Kåre. His epitaph has been somewhat ruined by the scandal following the Polish Succession Feud of 1088-1089, causing the lives of 4 innocent nobles and two quite guilty assassins.
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