Battle of Gestilren | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battle of Gestilren memorial in Varv's parish, Västergötland | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Denmark | Sweden | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sverker II of Sweden † | Eric X of Sweden | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | unknown |
The Battle of Gestilren took place on July 17, 1210. [1] The battle was fought between the exiled King of Sweden Sverker and the ruling King Eric X. Sverker had been beaten in the previous Battle of Lena, but returned with new forces. Sverker was however killed in the battle. The exact strength of the armies is unknown.
Sverker II had grown up in exile in Denmark and was accepted as king in 1195/96, to the detriment of the four sons of the previous King Canute I. He pursued a policy of strengthening the clerical estate, but ran into difficulties after twelve years of reign. The sole surviving son of Canute, Eric, was backed by the Birkebeiner party of Norway and ousted Sverker in 1207-08. Sverker sought assistance from King Valdemar the Victorious of Denmark and his powerful Danish in-laws. With a strong army he entered Västergötland in early 1208 but suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Lena. A very large part of the Danish army fell on the battlefield. Among the few survivors was Sverker himself who returned to Denmark. A later folksong emphasizes his determination and fatalism in the face of the disaster:
Pope Innocent III, impressed by Sverker's pro-papal policy, ordered Eric to settle the conflict with Sverker, or else take serious consequences. However, his admonitions did not have the desired effect. A new expedition was therefore equipped in Denmark in order to recapture the Swedish throne.
In the summer of 1210, Sverker once again invaded the Swedish kingdom where Eric had meanwhile adopted royal titles. The army came to a place called Gestilren where it was confronted by Eric's troops on 17 July (alternatively, 16 August). The available details about the battle are utterly meagre. The short chronicle of the Westrogothic law says that "the Folkungs took his life; his own brother-in-law did it to him in Gestilren". [3] An annal entry informs us of "warfare in Gestilren, on the 16th of August; there fell King Sverker and Folke Jarl, and many Folkungs." [4] Thus the Swedish troops scored a victory in spite of great losses where one of their commanders, Folke Jarl, was slain. With the dramatic fall of Sverker, the war that had plagued Sweden for two and a half years came to an end, and peace was quickly concluded with Denmark. The banner that King Eric used in the battle was later bequeathed to Folke Jarl's nephew Eskil Magnusson, the lawspeaker of Västergötland, and bestowed on the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson in 1219. [5]
The battle was a victory for the Folkung party of local autonomies, who acted against the centralising forces of Catholic monarchy. Sverker's nemesis Folke Jarl was probably a son of the powerful Jarl Birger Brosa (d. 1202) and the uncle of Birger Jarl, whose descendants ruled Sweden after 1250. If so, he was indeed a brother-in-law of Sverker. In early-modern historiography the royal branch of the clan was also called "Folkungs" which seems to be incorrect. The name may originally have alluded to the supporters of Folke Jarl at Gestilren, but then became the denomination for a party or faction. The party frequently opposed royal rule until they were defeated at the Battle of Sparrsätra in 1247, finally disappearing in c. 1280. [6]
The location where this battle took place is the subject of a very long and very heated discussion between Swedish historians. Traditionally, the location was believed to be Varvs socken, Västergötland in Västergötland, where a monument ( 58°11′46″N13°49′38″E / 58.19611°N 13.82722°E ) was erected in 1910 to commemorate the seven centuries since the battle. The main reason for the localization is a note in a 15th-century codex of the Westrogothic law, which says that the battle took place "in Gaestilsreen between Dala and Lena". [7] The information implies that the field of slaughter was close to the scene of the 1208 battle. Historian Erik Lönnroth has argued that fighting took place "in or close to the gorge between the Gerum Hill and the Varv Hill, since the only way to confront heavy, superior, feudal cavalry, was when it was impossible to surround you on the flanks, instead forming a stable spear formation against them". [8]
Others have argued that the battle took place in Östergötland, or that Gestilren should not be interpreted as a place name at all. [9] Recently,[ when? ] archivist and historian Lars-Otto Berg has claimed that it was located at Gästre ( 59°45′N16°57′E / 59.750°N 16.950°E ) in Uppland, Sweden, since he found the farm name "Gestilren" fifteen times in the local church records during the years 1580-1630. This is also close to the strongholds of the Folkung party. An annotation from the early 17th century records a local tradition suggesting a connection: "King Sverker's three farms - in Tillinge Hiersten, in Försth. Gestilren, in Biskull Landzberg - he was buried in Gestilren in the Sverker Hill". [10]
Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: Erik Eriksson or Erik läspe och halte; Old Norse: Eiríkr Eiríksson was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stood in the shadow of a succession of powerful Jarls, especially his brother-in-law Birger Jarl, whose descendants ruled as kings after his death.
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson was a Swedish nationalist rebel leader and statesman. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union.
John I was a Swedish king elected in 1216.
Eric "X" was the King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216. Also known as Eric the Survivor, he was, at his accession to the throne, the only remaining son of King Canute I of Sweden and his queen. The name of his mother is not known, but may have been Cecilia.
Sverker II or Sverker the Younger was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208.
Sverker I or Sverker the Elder, murdered 25 December 1156, was King of Sweden from about 1132 till his death. Of non-royal descent, he founded the House of Sverker, the rulers of which alternated with the rival House of Eric over the next century.
Ragnvald Knaphövde was a King of Sweden whose reign is estimated to have occurred in the mid-1120s or c. 1130. His cognomen Knaphövde is explained as referring to a drinking vessel, the size of a man's head or meaning "round head" and referring to his being foolish. Ragnvald is mentioned in the regnal list of the Westrogothic law as the successor of King Inge the Younger.
After the extinction of the House of Stenkil and the ascension of Sverker I of Sweden in 1130, a civil war commenced. In the beginning, there were several pretenders, of whom Sverker I emerged as victorious, for a time. The antagonists in long run were finally the House of Sverker in Östergötland and the House of Eric in Västergötland and Uppland, which alternated on the throne for several generations, until in the 1220s the Eric dynasty got the upper hand, and the Sverker dynasty became extinct.
The Battle of Lena occurred on January 31, 1208, and probably took place near Kungslena, which is located in the Tidaholm Municipality in Västergötland, Sweden. It was an important battle between the Danish-backed former King Sverker II of Sweden and Prince Eric. Eric's forces imposed a crushing victory; however in July 1210, Sverker returned with a second army and was killed in the Battle of Gestilren.
Birger Brosa, jarl of Sweden 1174–1202, d. 9 January 1202 on Visingsö, was a son of Bengt Snivil and a member of the powerful House of Bjälbo. In the medieval texts he is either called the jarl of the Swedes or the jarl of the Swedes and the Geats.
The Battle of Älgarås took place at the royal estate of Älgarås in northernmost Västergötland in November 1205 between the House of Sverker and the House of Eric who were fighting for the Swedish crown. The four sons of the former king Canute I fell out with King Sverker II in about 1204 and sought support among the Birkebeiner party in Norway. The Birkebeiner leader Jarl Håkon Galen married their cousin in January 1205 and promoted their claim. The brothers, of whom only Eric Knutsson is known by name, returned to Sweden in the same year. To which extent they had Norwegian military backing is unclear.
Magnus Minniskiöld was a medieval Swedish magnate from the House of Bjelbo. For posterity, he is best known as the father of the renowned statesman Birger Jarl, and the ancestor of the later Swedish kings. He is sometimes believed to have perished in the Battle of Lena in 1208, though the evidence is not conclusive.
Magnus II; Swedish: Magnus Henriksson was a Danish lord and King of Sweden between 1160 and 1161. He is often seen by posterity as a usurper.
In Sweden, members of medieval royal families, such as the House of Stenkil and House of Bjelbo, held the title of jarl before their accession to the throne. Since the early 12th century, there usually was only one holder of the title at a time, second only to the King of Sweden.
Holmger Knutsson was a Swedish nobleman and a claimant to the Swedish throne during the reign of King Eric XI of Sweden.
Richeza of Denmark was a medieval Queen consort of Sweden, spouse of King Eric X and mother of King Eric XI.
Lady Ingeborg Åkesdotter Tott or 'Ingeborg Aagesdotter of the Thott', in her lifetime called Ingeborg Åkesdotter or simply Fru Ingeborg, was a Swedish noble, the consort of the Swedish regent Sten Sture the elder. She was the fiefholder of Häme in Finland. She functioned as the de facto queen consort of Sweden for over three decades and participated in state affairs during the reign of her spouse.
IngegerdBirgersdotter of Bjelbo was a Swedish Queen Consort, second spouse of King Sverker II of Sweden.
Bridget Haraldsdotter, also Brigida was a medieval Swedish queen, spouse of King Magnus (II) of Sweden.