Abstract

The article examines the political will of the Norwegian king Sverrir (1177–1202), given by him, on his deathbed, to his son and successor Hakon Sverresson in the “charter on state governance”. Although this document has not survived and its content is unknown from any source, it is traditionally believed in the literature that the main instruction to the heir consisted in the immediate and unconditional reconciliation of the royal power and the church, which had been in acute confrontation since 1130. According to most scholars, Hakon fulfilled his father’s will, which is reflected in his capitulation letter to the Norwegian prelates. However, the analysis of this letter in close connection with other documents, which contain information about the events of that time, showed that neither Sverrir nor his son were going to surrender their positions before the episcopate. On the contrary, they insisted that all social and political forces should recognize them as the legitimate rulers of Norway, and accept the full internal and external sovereignty of the royal power. The author proves a close connection between Hakon’s letter to the prelates and the “Speech against the Bishops” (En tale mot biskopene), composed in the last years of Sverrir’s reign. The latter became the only authoritative text for both the royal epistle itself and the faction of the “royal party” behind his successor. The “charter on state governance” actually established Hakon Sverresson’s rights to Norway as an inalienable inheritance (odal), and the general wishes for domestic peace concealed essentially confrontational proposals. The author concludes that the actions taken by both the “ecclesiastical” and “royal” parties in 1202–1204 did not lay the foundations for the subsequent merger of these groups, as the previous research tradition argued, but, on the contrary, aggravated the struggle between them and between the factions within them

References

Agishev S.Yu. O sootnoshenii ponyatiy “odal” i “sobstvennost’” v norvezhskom zakonodatel’stve XI–XIII vv. [On the Correlation of the Concepts of Odal and Property in the Norwegian Legislation from the 11th through the 13th Centuries] // Kontsept-yavleniye “sobstvennost’” v obshchestvennoy strukture zapadnoyevropeyskogo Srednevekov’ya [Concept and Phenomenon of Property in the Social Structure of the Western European Middle Ages] / Ed. by N.A. Khachaturyan / Trudy istoricheskogo fakul’teta MGU [Proceedings of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University]. Issue 162. Series II. Istoricheskiye issledovaniya. N 101. Saint Petersburg: Aleteia, 2020. P. 60–85

Agishev S.Yu. Teodorik Monakh i yego “Istoriya o drevnikh norvezhskikh korolyakh” [Theodoric the Monk and his Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings]. Moscow: Universitet Dmitriya Pozharskogo, 2013. 671 p.

Bagge S. Den heroiske tid- kirkereform og kirkekamp // Ecclesia Nidrosiensis: Søkelys på Nidaroskirkens og Nidarosprovinsens historie / Red. S. Imsen. Trondheim: Tapir akademisk forlag, 2003. S. 51–82. (Senter for middelalder studier, NTNU, Skrifter Nr. 15).

Bugge A. Tidsrummet 1103–1319. Kristiania: Aschehoug & Co (W. Nygaard), 1916. 395 s. (Norges historie fremstillet for det norske folk. Bd. II.2).

Gunnes E. Kongens ære. Kongemakt og kirke i “En tale mot biskopene”. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1971. 395 s. (Skrift er Det kongelige Norske videnskabers selskab. Bd. 1).

Helle K. Borgerkrigenes siste fase. Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), 1995. 240 s. (Aschehougs Norgeshistorie. Bd. 3).

Helle K. Norge blir en stat 1130–1319. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1964. 211 s. (Handbok i Norges historie. Bd. I. Del 3. Scandinavian University Books).

Holtsmark A. En tale mot biskopene. En sproglig-historisk undersøkelse. Oslo: Fritjof Nansens Fond, 1931. 67 s. (Skrift erutgitt av Det norske vitenskapsakademi i Oslo).

Krag C. Sverre — Norges største middelalderkonge. Oslo: Aschehoug, 2005. 289 s.

Medieval and Modern Civil Wars: A Comparative Perspective / Ed. by Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, H.J. Orning. Boston: BRILL, 2021. 316 p. (The History of Warfare. Vol. 135).

Munch P.A. Det norske Folks Historie. Bd. VII. Oslo: Blix Forlag, 1943. 541 s. (Serie C: Norske historikere. Nr. 7). Ne tol’ko sagi…: rannyaya istoriya Norvegii v srednevekovykh pamyatnikakh [Not Just Sagas…: Early Norwegian History in Medieval Texts] / Comp. and ed. By S.Yu. Agishev. Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 2017. 469 p.

Paasche F. Kong Sverre. Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co (W. Nygaard), 1920. 303 s.

Sars J.E. Udsigt over den norske historie. D. 2. Christiania: Cammermeyer, 1877.

Titlestad T., Bagge S. Roma midt imot: Kong Sverre Sigurdssons kamp mot biskopene. Oslo: Saga Bok, 2018. 70 s.

Uspenskiy F.B. Imya i vlast’: vybor imeni kak instrument dinasticheskoy bor’by v srednevekovoy Skandinavii [Name and Power: Name Choice as an Instrument of Dynastic Struggle in Medieval Scandinavia]. Moscow: Yazyki russkoy kul’tury, 2001. 160 p.

Uspenskiy F.B. Lyudi, teksty i veshchi. Iz istorii kul’tury srednevekovoy Skandinavii [People, Texts and Th ings. From the Cultural History of Medieval Scandinavia]. Moscow: FORUM; NEOLIT, 2015. 256 p.