Harald Gille, also known as Harald IV, was king of Norway from 1130 until his death. His byname Gille is probably from Middle Irish Gilla Críst "servant of Christ".
Magnus III Olafsson, better known as Magnus Barefoot, was the King of Norway from 1093 until his death in 1103. His reign was marked by aggressive military campaigns and conquest, particularly in the Norse-dominated parts of the British Isles, where he extended his rule to the Kingdom of the Isles and Dublin.
Inge Haraldsson was king of Norway from 1136 to 1161. Inge’s reign fell within the start of the period known in Norwegian history as the civil war era. He was never the sole ruler of the country. He is often known as Inge the Hunchback, because of his physical disability. However, this epithet does not appear in medieval sources.
Sigurd Magnusson, also known as Sigurd the Crusader, was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-brother Øystein, has been regarded by historians as a golden age for the medieval Kingdom of Norway. He is otherwise famous for leading the Norwegian Crusade (1107–1110), earning the eponym "the Crusader", and was the first European king to personally participate in a crusade.
Magnus V was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He was the first known Scandinavian monarch to be crowned in Scandinavia. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite in 1184 against the forces of Sverre Sigurdsson who became King of Norway.
Eystein II ; c. 1125 – 21 August 1157) was king of Norway from 1142 to 1157. He ruled as co-ruler with his brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Sigurd Munn. He was killed in the power-struggle against his brother, Inge, in an early stage of the civil war era in Norway.
Magnus Sigurdsson, also known as Magnus the Blind, was King of Norway from 1130 to 1135 and again from 1137 to 1139. His period as king marked the beginning of the civil war era in Norway, which lasted until 1240.
Sigurd Haraldsson, also called Sigurd Munn, was king of Norway from 1136 to 1155. He was son of Harald Gille, king of Norway and his mistress Thora Guttormsdotter. He served as co-ruler with his half-brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Eystein Haraldsson. His epithet Munn means "the Mouth" in Old Norse. He was killed in the power-struggle against his brother, Inge, in an early stage of the civil war era in Norway.
The Fairhair dynasty was a family of kings founded by Harald I of Norway which united and ruled Norway with few interruptions from the latter half of the 9th century. In the traditional view, this lasted until 1387, however, many modern scholars view this rule as lasting only three generations, ending with Harald Greycloak in the late 10th century. The moniker "Fairhair dynasty" is a retrospective construction: in their lifetime what little traces there are refer to them consistently as "Ynglings".
Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was the mother of two Norwegian kings, King Olaf II of Norway and King Harald III of Norway. The primary source for the life of Åsta is Snorri Sturluson's saga Heimskringla, a 13th-century collection of tales about the lives of the Norwegian kings. In the chronicle, Åsta is described as "generous and high-minded" and as a keen political player and guiding influence on her royal husbands and children. Her parents were Gudbrand Kula and Ulfhild.
The civil war era in Norway began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne.
Ingrid Ragnvaldsdotter was born a member of the Swedish royal family, became a member of Danish royalty by marriage and later was Queen consort of Norway as the spouse of Harald IV of Norway. Married four times, Ingrid had a number of children who played prominent roles in Swedish and Norwegian history.
Gille dynasty was a powerful royal house or dynasty which ruled the Kingdom of Norway during the 12th century. It is very unlikely that the rulers ever referred to the Gille dynasty which is a term coined by modern historians. The term "Gille" is probably derived from the Middle Irish Gaelic Gilla Críst, i.e. servant of Christ.
Kristin Sigurdsdatter was a Norwegian princess and mother of King Magnus V of Norway.
The Hardrada dynasty was a powerful royal dynasty which ruled, at various times in history, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, and the Earldom of Orkney.
The Battle of Holmengrå was a naval battle fought on 12 November 1139 near the island Holmengrå south of Hvaler, between the forces of the child kings Sigurd Haraldsson and Inge Haraldsson on the one side, and on the other side the pretender Sigurd Slembe and his ally King Magnus the Blind. Inge and Sigurd Haraldsson were sons of the previous king Harald Gille, who had been killed by Sigurd Slembe in 1136. The sons of Harald Gille emerged victorious from the battle. Magnus the Blind was killed in action, while Sigurd Slembe was betrayed, captured, and later tortured and executed.
Events in the year 1136 in Norway.
Sigurd Slembe is a trilogy of plays written by the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and published in 1862. It is regarded as his finest historical drama and was influenced by the works of William Shakespeare and Friedrich Schiller. It directly influenced Henrik Ibsen's The Pretenders, written the following year, which explores some similar themes. In contrast to Ibsen's attempts to create a historical setting through artificially archaic language, Bjørnson's trilogy used contemporary language. The success of this approach seems to have prompted Ibsen to adopt a similarly modernistic approach to his later history plays.
The Battle of Oslo was fought outside of Oslo on the night of 3 February 1161 between Haakon II of Norway and Inge I of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. As the son of Ingiríðr Ragnvaldsdóttir and king Harald Gille, Inge had been named king of Norway after Gille was killed by Sigurd Slembe. His two half-brothers, Magnus and Sigurd, were also named kings around the same time, and the three ruled Norway. By 1157, Inge's brothers were both dead, and he was the sole remaining ruler of Norway. Haakon II, an illegitimate son of Gille, then contested Inge's rule, and at the Battle of Oslo Inge was killed. According to the Heimskringla, Inge had 4,800 men.
