ERLING "Steinvegg/Stonewall" Magnusson, Baglerkonge

• Son of Magnus V, King of Norway and (NN Mistress 2)
• King of the Bagler in Norway 1204
• Erling Månsson, Stone wall called; Claimed to be King Magnus Erlingsson's son; Did for that claim on the Norwegian Crown; Fled in 1190, when King Sverre struck after him, to Westergöthland, where he remained by the Swedish King Knut Ericsson, at the request of the Norwegian King, arrested and imprisoned in a high tower on Wisingsö, from which he was named Stenvägg.
• ERLING "Steinvegg/Stonewall (-Tønsberg 1207, bur Tønsberg, Olavskyrka). King of the Bagler in Norway 1204. The Icelandic Annals record that "Erlingus Steinveggus" was raised to "regiam dignitatem" in 1204.
• von Nackreij - Skytte, Volume 3, page 371

Project MedLands, Norway Kings

MAGNUS Erlingsson (1156-killed in battle near Fimreite on Sognefjord 15 Jun 1184, bur Bergen, Christ's Church). Snorre names Magnus Erlingson as son of "Kristin…daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader" when recording that he "was nearest by propinquity of descent to the crown of Norway", and elected king of the whole country when aged five[513]. He succeeded in 1161 as MAGNUS King of Norway. Snorre Sturlsons's Heimskringla ends with King Magnus's victory against King Eystein [in 1177][514]. The Saga of King Sverre records that King Sverre defeated King Magnus at Iluvelli [27 May 1180], after which Magnus "sailed…to Denmark to his kinsman Valdamar"[515]. The Saga of King Sverre records that King Magnus was killed in battle at "Norafiord" by King Sverre and was buried at Christ's Church, Bergen[516]. The Icelandic Annals record that "Magni regis, Erlingi filii" was killed "a Sverrero" in 1184[517]. married as her second husband, ELDRID Bjørnsdatter, widow of TORE Skinnfeld, daughter of BJØRN Byrdasvein & his wife Rangrid Guttormsdatter. Mistress (1): GYRID Aslaksdatter, daughter of ASLAK & his wife.

King Magnus & his wife ELDRID Bjørnsdatter had two children

• (1) INGEBJÖRG Magnusdatter (-on crusade with her husband 1213). The Icelandic Annals record the death in 1213 of "Petrus Steyperus, uxorque eius Ingeburga, filia regis Magni Erlingii filii"[518]. married (before 1204) PETER Stöype [stormand of the Birkebene], possibly son of a sister of Sverre King of Sweden (-on crusade with his wife 1213).
• (2) MARGRET Magnusdatter, married firstly (before 1206) FILIPPUS of Vegin [stormand of the Bagler] (-1207). married secondly (before 1208) REIDAR Sendemand [stormand of the Bagler] (-Constantinople 1214).

King Magnus had one illegitimate child by Mistress (1) GYRID Aslaksdatter

• (3) SIGURD Magnusson (-killed in battle Florevåg near Bergen 3 Apr 1194, bur Bergen Church of St Mary). The Saga of King Sverre names "a boy named Sigurd a son of King Magnus Erlingson" as one of the conspirators with "Halkel son of Jon Hallkelsson"[519]. King of the Øyskjegger in Norway 1192. The Saga of King Sverre records that "Sigurd Kingsson" was killed in battle "in the water at Floruvoe" and was buried in "Marinkirk yard"[520].

King Magnus had four possible illegitimate children by unknown mistresses

• (4) VIKAR Magnusson (-killed in battle near Bridstein 1190). King of the Varbelger in Norway 1189. He claimed the throne.
• (5) INGE Magnusson (-murdered Helgøya, Mjøsa 1202). The Saga of King Sverre records that "the Bagals…at Borg" chose "King Magnus's son Ingi" as their king and that the whole of the Vik and the Uplands submitted to him[521]. King of the Bagals in Norway 1196.
• (6) ERLING "Steinvegg/Stonewall (-Tønsberg 1207, bur Tønsberg, Olavskyrka). King of the Bagler in Norway 1204. The Icelandic Annals record that "Erlingus Steinveggus" was raised to "regiam dignitatem" in 1204[522].] m -- The name of Erling's wife is not known

Erling & his wife had two children

• (a) MAGNUS Erlingsson (1199-young). The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.
  
• (b) SIGURD Erlingsson "Ribbung (1203-Oslo 1226). King of the Ribbunger in Norway: the Icelandic Annals record that "Sigurdus Erlingi filius" became "rex Ribbungorum" in 1221[523]. The Icelandic Annals record the death in 1226 of "Sigurdus…rex Ribbungorum" and the succession of "domicellus Canutus Haquini filius" as leader of "Ribbungis" and his elevation to "regiam dignitatem [524].
  * (7) BENE Skinnkniv (-murdered 1222). Priest. Stormann of the Slittunger in Norway 1218. The Icelandic Annals record that "Benonis ducis Slittungorum" was killed in 1222[525].

Erling had one illegitimate child by Mistress (1)

(c) SIGURD The Saga of King Sverre names "an illegitimate son of Earl Erling named Sigurd a foster-son of King Sverri" as one of the conspirators with "Halkel son of Jon Hallkelsson"[528].

Baglerkonge Erling Steinvegg by the NORWEGIAN BIOGRAPHICAL LEXICON

THIS ARTICLE WAS PRINTED IN THE NORWEGIAN BIOGRAPHICAL LEXICON , PUBLISHED 1999-2005. More recent articles can be found in the Store Norwegian Encyclopedia .

Baglerkonge. Parents: The father was claimed to be King Magnus 5 Erlingsson (1156–84); the mother is unknown. We do not know if he was married. Father of Sigurd Ribbung (1203–26).

Erling Steinvegg was made king of the bagler party in the turmoil that arose after Håkon Sverresson's death in 1204, but neither he nor his son Sigurd Ribbung succeeded in preventing the birch bones from becoming the final victors in the power struggle for Norway.

In the Skåne market in Skanör in the autumn of 1203 a man appeared who called himself Erling and claimed himself the son of King Magnus Erlingsson. He claimed that he was the same Erling that King Sverre had a number of years earlier had his brother-in-law, the Swedish king Knut Eriksson, seize and put in the "stone wall" (the stone tower) on Visingsö in Vättern. From there he should have escaped, and because of this he was later nicknamed Steinvegg.

In the Skåne market there were 1203, as usual, a good number of Norwegians, among them former baglers who had left Norway after Håkon Sverresson was taken king in 1202. They wanted to follow Erling, but he did not find it advisable to go flock to the friendly king Håkon and went to Copenhagen instead. He probably already met with goodwill on the Danish king Valdemar 2, who wanted to restore the former Danish supremacy over Viken (the area around the Oslo Fjord).

When King Håkon Sverresson's peace work collapsed with his sudden death at New Year 1204, and a group of ambitious birch bones chiefs came to power in the government around the child king Guttorm Sigurdsson, the bagels were expecting poor conditions in Norway. Some of them visited Erling Steinvegg in Copenhagen. They traveled and then went to Viken, where people joined them. This must have happened with King Valdemar's support.

The Oslo Bishop Bishop, Nikolas Arnesson, is said to have initially opposed Erling's throne in favor of his own sister's son, the later baker King Philip Simonsson, but swung over to support Erling's royal tribute to Philip being appointed Earl. This happened in Tønsberg in the summer of 1204, where King Valdemar found himself with a fleet of over 300 ships. To prove his provenance, Erling carried iron burdens in the presence of the Danish king, and was given 35 ships by him. Afterwards, with the support of army men and peasants, he was taken king at Haugating in Tønsberg and shortly afterwards also at Borgarting east of the fjord. Without being told directly in the so-called Bagle sagas (Bǫglunga sǫgur), which is the main source of Erling's history, he must have committed himself to fight his kingdom with Valdemar as supreme.

The Birkebeinert tradition in the longer version of Bǫglunga sawdust and Håkon Håkonsson's saga has been carried out hostile to Erling Steinvegg. It claims to have evidence that the actual Erling Steinvegg was taken off days after he escaped from Visingsö.

The way things were, it seems that the bagler chiefs who had fought King Sverre were content to follow his Erling Steinvegg, even though the birch leg tradition seeks to question his leadership skills. Despite the fact that the birch bones, with their foothold in Trøndelag and Western Norway, were the militarily stronger party, the baglers in Erling's royal period managed to conduct successful raids by sea to Western Norway in 1204 and in the following two years also against Trøndelag, where they received Erling king at Øyrating in Trondheim 1205.

In Viken, Erling was largely in control of his headquarters in Tønsberg. He placed great emphasis on shipbuilding, and he issued letters that took Hovedøy monastery in royal protection and confirmed gifts of earthen goods to the monastery.

In the new year 1207, Erling fell ill and died after a short illness in Tønsberg, where he was buried in the Olav church "in the northern stone wall from the altar". He left behind his four-year-old son, Sigurd, to whom he had fathered the paternity, and an older son, Magnus, whom he required iron burdens to approve, apparently without this test being completed when he died.

Sigurd later became chief of the ribbing flock that rose against King Håkon Håkonsson and Skule Earl in eastern Norway during the winter of 1219-20. It is precisely at this time that the birchbone-friendly longer version of the Bǫglunga sawmill appears to have been completed, and the erased backlash of Erling Steinvegg there and in the first part of Håkon's saga is explained in light of the threat his son posed to the birchbone kingdom now put its power to finally undermine Eastern Norway.

Links

• https://nbl.snl.no/Erling_Steinvegg
• https://www.nrk.no/kultur/erling-_magnusson_-steinvegg_-inge-2-bard...
• https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/1137169
• https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59531/59531-h/59531-h.htm

Sources

• RN, Vol. 1, Nos. 324–326
• Håkon Håkonsson's saga
• Soga about birch bones and bagels (Bǫglunga saw saw), ed. by H. Magerøy, Norrøne texts 8, 1988, NFH, vol. 3, 1857
• E. Bull de: biography in NBL1, vol. 3, 1926
• K. Helle: Around Bǫglunga sǫgur, Yearbook of the University of Bergen. Hist.-antiquarian. rk. 1958 No. 7, 1958
• Annales Islandici, 1221, p. 97.
• The World's Best Histories—Norway, by Sigvart Sörensen - https://books.google.com/books?id=AiC4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT156&lpg=PT156&d...
• Kingship and State Formation in Sweden 1130-1290, by Philip Line - https://books.google.com/books?id=wOCvCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA605&lpg=PA605&d...
• Nations of the World: Sörensen, S. Norway - https://books.google.com/books?id=aLhIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&d...

Erling Steinvegg.

Baglerkonge. Foreldre: Faren ble hevdet å være kong Magnus 5 Erlingsson (1156–84). Vi kjenner ikke til om han var gift. Far til Sigurd Ribbung (1203–26).

https://nbl.snl.no/Erling_Steinvegg