Swedish–Norwegian War (1063)
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| Swedish–Norwegian War (1063) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Norway | Sweden | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Harald Hardrada | Jarl Håkon Ivarsson | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown, massive | ||||||||
The Swedish–Norwegian War (1063) (Första norgekriget) (Første norsk-svenske krig) took place in 1063 or 1064 and was fought between the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada and the Swedes which supported Håkon Ivarsson who was the jarl of Opplandene.
History[edit]
In 1062, the king and the earl had come out in open hostility with each other over a disagreement about the flight of the Danish king Svein Estridson during the Battle of Niså. The king accused the earl of treason after learning that the Danish king had been taken to the countryside by Håkon Ivarsson's men.
Earl Håkon Ivarsson had to escape from Oslo to the Swedish king Stenkil, who gave him control of the Värmland region. With that, a Norwegian-Swedish conflict was inevitable, because the earl started an uprising in 1062 to 1063 on his early earldom. The uplanders against the hard-handed king.
In the spring of 1064, the war against Denmark was put on hold after the negotiations between the Norwegians and the Danes at Elven, which ended with a settlement between the two kings who each had their own internal problems. Immediately after this, King Harald turned against the uplanders who immediately said that they would not pay taxes since they had already paid to the earl, who had a large army in Götaland. To force the payment of taxes, the king first had to defeat the earl.
In early autumn, the year 1063 (or 1064), the king went south to Künghalla with the army. They gathered up light ships, and sailed up the Gøtaelven and to the waterfalls. The light ships were dragged overland by the waterfalls and up to Lake Vänern. Then the Norwegian fleet rowed across the lake to the east, where Håkon Ivarsson lived. Earl Håkon came down from the country with the Swedish army to meet the Norwegian army and averted the ravages of the countryside.
Harald Hardradas victory[edit]
Harald Hardråde and his army went ashore from a river on the east side of Vänern and up into the country where they found the Swedish army lined up on the other side of a marsh. The Battle of Vänern beach ended in victory for the Norwegians who won under the leadership of the more experienced king, the earl having been driven out without his mark.
With the victory, the earl's influence in the Uplands was destroyed, and with partly brutal methods the last remnants of resistance to the king's rule were suppressed, in the winter of 1064 to 1065. During the winter, Romerike, Hedmark, Hadeland and Ringerike were ravaged with fire and murdered by the royal forces. With terror tactics, the Uplanders were subject to the king's control once again. In Sweden, Håkon Ivarsson's defeat was a severe blow to the Swedish king.
Sources[edit]
- Snorre Sturlason, Norges kongesagaer (Harald Hardrådes saga)
- Nils Petter Thuesen, Norges Historie i Årstall 2004 ISBN 82-458-0713-3
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