Hereditary Kingdom of Norway
Encyclopedia : H : HE : HER : Hereditary Kingdom of Norway
The Kingdom of Norway as a united realm was instituted by King Harald I (the Fairhair, harfagri) in 9th century, who founded the kingdom by conquering a number of petty kingdoms. Norway has been a monarchy since then, passing through several eras.
The first independent kingdom of Norway
In principle the throne to the kingdom was inherited by Harald's male descendants, though the precise rules for such inheritance were very unclear. At first, the succession resembled the model of agnatic seniority. As a result, succession was typically a matter of conflict, intrigue, and at times minor civil war. Brothers and half-brothers might inherit the throne to rule jointly, but such arrangements rarely lasted.
However, during the reign of the Fairhair dynasty, it was generally agreed that only patrilineal male descendants of King Harald, were entitled to the kingship,
1163, Magnus V of Norway, a son of a daughter of an earlier king ascended for the first time the throne, with support of the church. However, male members of the royal dynasty conquered him.
In 13th century, the kingdom was officially declared hereditary during king Haakon. A succession system that resembled or resulted in some sort of primogeniture, had already then been established.
Contrary to other Scandinavian monarchies (which were elective) Norway was already established a hereditary kingdom by the Middle Ages.
It has been proposed (most vociferously by Krag) that genealogical lines between Harald Hairfair and the generation of Olav the Saint and Harald Hardraade have been just concocted by later attempts to legitimize the then monarchs, heirs of Hardraade, and also to give them a good claim to the region of Viken (provinces around the today Oslo), long been held by the Danish.
Hardraade's heirs were, concluded from sources, mostly from and controlling somewhat norther parts of Norway, i.e region of Trond and some western coast. From sources, it seems reasonably established that Olav II and Harald III were half-brothers, with a common mother but two different fathers. Descent from the same mother was not in Germanic understanding a proper dynastical tie, and Harald III's supporters did not base his rights and claims to that. Instead, Harald III's father has been alleged to have descended in unbroken male line from a younger (and somewhat obscure) son of Harald I, the founder king. As has been claimed regarding to Olav II's own father, too. To researchers, one or both of these lengthy, uncorroborated, obscure male-line descents have tasted as reconstructions or inventions.
The three genealogical male-line descents of Olav I of Norway, Olav II of Norway and Harald III of Norway, separately, from Harald I are truthfully buried in mists of time. The established belief that they are from different sons of Harald I is based on saga material compiled some centuries later, precisely in reigns of the kings from the third of these lines and/or out of the material preserved or created by supporters of these monarchs. Folklore research has generally shown that out of both flattering and of ignorance, national epics tend to create a more prestigious past to the country and its rukers, and to create or strengthen the peceived legitimacy of the kings who came out as winners in internal strifes.
In real world, there could well have been other (or real) genealogical heirs to king Harald I than these three lines embellished by Heimskringla. On the other hand, no corroboration is available for them all actually to have descended from Harald I and even in unbroken male line.
961-1066: No one can, however, even say that after kings Eric I of Norway and Haakon I of Norway, sons of Hairfair himself, until the succession after "half-brothers" Olav II and Harald III, Norway was in any established way a clearly hereditary kingdom meaning that the successor was predestined by some rules of inheritance and not only that of winning the dispute.
Harald the Hairfair had united, apparently for only a couple of reigns, most Norwegian lands. Soon, petty kingdoms almost in the earlier model were back, most of them however in hands of putative descendants of Harald himself. But also important kingdoms in hands of other dynasties (such as Ladejarls) again existed and took over some gains of Harald's putative family.
The real hereditary kingdom became established by succession after king Harald III and their successors, when the next king was determined in a quite dynastic way, though often with conflicts between brothers.
The concept of succession was basically Germanic: all male offspring of the king (or of the entire riyal dynasty) were entitled to share the kingship. The situation followed loosely also agnatic seniority and agnatic succession, being in practice elective monarchy between contestants, agnates of the dynasty, the election being solved by force of arms. This continued until 13th century, when primogeniture was gradually established, and that also allowed for legitimate succession through female line when the necessity arose in 1319.
The Hairfair dynasty is traditionally regarded as the first royal dynasty of the united Norway, a branch of Ynglings. It was founded by king Haraldr hinn hárfagri around 890 CE.
It is more likely that only three generations of Fairhair rules were in power: Between 930-1030: three members of the Hairfair dynasty ruled, altogether for 40 years. Lade Earls acted as viceroys under the Danish king, for 41 years. The kings Óláfr Tryggvason and Oláfr hinn helgi. Their family ties with the Fairhair dynasty probably a 12th century invention, ruled altogether for 18 years.
The concept of a "Hairfair dynasty" is probably an invention from the later mediaeval period, when rivalry between throne pretenders made it appropriate to trace royal lineages back to the 9th century in order to gain legitimacy for their rule. According to the medievalist Claus Krag, the claim that Norwegian kings after the 10th century was descendants of Harald Hairfair dates from about 1150. The Norwegian kings constructed a false genealogy to the Hairfair dynasty in order to claim the territories around Oslo ("Vika"), which most of the time had been paying taxes to the Danish kingdom.
In the 13th century, the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway was confirmed by explicit laws and the monarchy was regarded to belong to this Hairfair dynasty.
Many of the Norwegian kings of the oroginal Hairfair dynasty (until c 1040) were in fact Danish viceroys (or tribute-paying rulers), a fact later concealed when Norwegian national history was written in the 19th century. Tha sagas also conceals that, until the rule of Olav II, the Ladejarl dynasty from the Northern part of Norway actually held more power in large parts of Norway than the rulers of the Hairfair dynasty. Since the rulers belonging to the Hairfair dynasty eventually won the power struggle, history was written as if the whole Norwegian kingdom had been under the rule of the Hairfair kings. Some provinces did not come under the rule of the Hairfair rulers before the time of Harald III.
Many of the claims by later royal pretenders to belong to the Hairfair dynasty are obvious falsehoods (most notably Sverre Sigundson).
Chaotic combinations with Denmark and Sweden
After the extinction of the male lines of the Fairhair dynasty in 1320, the throne of Norway:
- Went to Magnus IV of Sweden through matrilineal descent, and his descendants
- Starting with Margaret I of Denmark, by a series of Danish and Swedish kings who variously held the throne to one or several Scandinavian countries. In 1450, the House of Oldenburg was first introduced to the Norwegian monarchy with the ascension of Christian I of Denmark to the throne of the Kalmar Union
The inherited kingdom of Norway made the election of king in those other countries fall on the heir of the established royal family, since otherwise it could have meant Norway would dissolve the union. This fact made the Rigsdag of Denmark less powerful. It would usually require the King to agree to a program governing his rule (the håndfesting) before he was elected king of Denmark. The hereditary nature of the kingdom of Norway ment that the Rigsdag could not raise too harsh demands against the king's rule. Particularly the royal dynasty of Oldenburg used this stepping-stone in their successions. This resulted in the Danish noblemen severely resenting the Norwegian status of a separate hereditary kingdom. In 1536 they made Christian III promise to make Norway a province of Denmark in his håndfesting. There is however no indication that this was actually done by Christian when he became King. On the contrary both he and subsequent kings insisted that they were hereditary kings of Norway as well as elected kings of Denmark (and hereditary dukes of Schleswig and Holstein). The Norwegian Riksråd was however abolished so one might say that Norway lost its independence this year. But the separate hailing of kings in Norway continued and the hereditary nature of the Norwegian kingdom was used to full effect when the absolute monarchy was established in Denmark-Norway in 1661.
At one time members of the House of Oldenburg descending from Christian I of Denmark were entitled to use the title "Heir to Norway", even if they were not heirs of Denmark (only descendants of Frederick III were entitled to Danish succession). This meant that the cadet lines of the House, i.e Holstein-Gottorp, Holstein-Sonderburg, Holstein-Augustenburg, Holstein-Beck, and Holstein-Glucksburg, all were "Heirs of Norway" in 18th and 19th century's titularies. Including Tsars of Russia, Kings of Sweden and Dukes of Oldenburg.
The House of Oldenburg was originally from northern Germany, where also the Glucksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had permanent links with Norway already beginning from late Middle Ages, and also several of their ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I of Norway, Frederick I, Christian III, Frederick II, Christian IV, as well as Frederick III of Norway who united Norway into the Danish kingdom, after which it was not independent at least until 1814). The first of them to be king of Norway and not simultaneously of any other country was Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence.
The kingdom of
- In 1523, Sweden was lost, and the union between Norway and Denmark proved to be durable until the Napoleonic Wars
In 1660, Frederick III (who had the constitution of Denmark altered so it also became a hereditary kingdom) subjugated Norway officially to the status of being only a province of Denmark.
The personal union of
- As a result of the dramatic events of 1814, Charles XIII of Sweden obtained Norway, as a result the Treaty of Kiel and a short war between Norway and Sweden resolved through the Convention of Moss.
The second independent Norway
- As a result of the dramatic events of 1814, Charles XIII of Sweden obtained Norway, as a result the Treaty of Kiel and a short war between Norway and Sweden resolved through the Convention of Moss.
The second independent Norway
The third Bernadotte king was Charles IV of Norway. He did not have any male descendants to inherit his thrones of Sweden and Norway, these thrones were "lost" to Carl XV's brother, Oscar II, instead of his only daughter Lovisa of Sweden, crown princess of Denmark. It has been said that Carl XV promised Lovisa on his deathbed that eventually a son of Lovisa would be entitled to be the heir of the Norwegian throne.
Prince Carl of Denmark (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Norway etc) was the second son of the future King Frederick VIII of Denmark, a younger brother of the future King Christian X of Denmark (he personally became a king before his father and his brother), a paternal grandson of king Christian IX of Denmark (during whose reign he was prince of Denmark) and a maternal grandson of King Charles IV of Norway (who was also King of Sweden). He was born a few weeks before King Charles died.
The future Haakon VII of Norway belonged to the house of Oldenburg, which since 1448 was the Danish and Norwegian Royal House, its branch Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
His family had permanent links with Norway already beginning from late Middle Ages, and also several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I of Norway, Frederick I, Christian III, Frederick II, Christian IV, as well as Frederick III of Norway. Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.
See also
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