It was a dangerous precedent Sverre established when, without any other proof of his royal birth than his own assertion, he ascended the throne of Norway. The prospect was thus opened to any ambitious adventurer, skilled in mendacity and the use of arms, to snatch the crown at the point of the sword. The mere fact that a doubt existed in the minds of many, as to Sverre's origin, was in itself demoralizing. It destroyed that bond of loyalty which had hitherto bound the people to the descendants of Harold the Fairhaired, and made it easy for unscrupulous pretenders, by the prospect of booty, to entice men into rebellion. We see, therefore, during Sverre's reign and that of his immediate successors, an abundant crop of pretenders and rebellious bands start up in different parts of the country, only to be cut down after a more or less extended existence by the constituted authority.

That Sverre, in a measure, had himself to thank for this state of things he must have been well aware; and the frequency of his insistence upon his mission to deliver Norway from the illegal sway of Erling Skakke's son shows how anxious he was, lest the same thought should occur to others. Even though he was the son of Sigurd Mouth (which, is indeed, probable), he must have seen that the people were suffering no hardships from Magnus' mild exercise of his power, while the wars which were directly and indirectly inflicted upon the realm by his own pretendership shook it to its very core. In the rÔle of a deliverer Sverre was therefore scarcely sincere, and a certain insecurity in his position, springing, perhaps, from an inward doubt, made him at times appear with less dignity than we might expect in a man of his genius and power. Thus, when in 1181 a man named Erik, whose origin seems wrapped in obscurity, obtained permission to prove by ordeal that he was Sigurd Mouth's son, Sverre insisted upon inserting in his oath the words "and Sverre's brother," thereby obtaining, as it were, a surreptitious proof of his own descent from the royal house. Erik, however, objected to assuming this double responsibility, but succeeded in proving the truth of his assertion in regard to himself. He was from this time named Erik Kingsson; but pledged himself never to aspire to the crown. Sverre gave him first command of his household troops and made him later Earl of Viken.

Sverre's first endeavor, after having become sole ruler in the land, was to strengthen the foundation of his throne. An alliance with the aristocracy who had hitherto wielded the greatest influence was out of the question, first because the magnates had been the partisans of Magnus, and secondly, because to the Birchlegs, to whom Sverre owed his power, such an alliance would have been odious. He therefore determined to seek the supports of his kingship among the same class, from which his Birchlegs had come, viz., the tenants, small farmers, and, in general, among the lower strata of the population. These men had hitherto been at the mercy of the chieftains; and though it was in the interest of the latter not to injure or maltreat them, their position was one of dependence and penury. They were practically beyond the pale of the law; because, if wronged by one of their superiors they lacked the means and influence to prosecute him at the thing. In order to improve the position of these lowly people and thereby gain their friendship, Sverre appointed a new class of officers, the so-called lawmen, whose business it should be to procure justice for the oppressed at small expense and without delay. As one of the first appointed lawmen, Gunnar Grjonbak in TrÖndelag, said: "King Sverre, when he gave me this office, bade me administer justice among cottagers, not among chieftains." The lawmen were thus judges who, backed by the authority of the crown, were charged with the interests of the small, both in their mutual quarrels and in their quarrels with the great. That their appointment was a shrewd act, on Sverre's part, is obvious.

Another class of officers who, though they were not first appointed by Sverre, had more definite functions and duties assigned to them by him, were the prefects (syslu-madr[A]). They were not, like the liegemen, royal vassals who held land in fief and exercised independent authority, but servants of the king and the representatives of his power.[B] They collected the royal revenues in their districts, and watched over the interests of the crown. They thus deprived the liegemen of their principal functions and a large share of their income. As a measure intended to weaken the influence of the aristocracy, the appointment of these prefects was therefore most effective. Sverre was not minded to share his power with these haughty magnates, many of whom had not hesitated to barter away provinces and enter into alliances with foreign princes against their own king. He wished the crown to be strong enough to curb this unruly element, and by the aid of the small prevent the great from growing above his head. With great shrewdness and statesmanlike insight he began this work, which in one way or another absorbed his time and energy during his entire reign.

Seeing that the king meant to deprive them of their ancient privileges, the remnants of the liegemen's party began to look about for a new pretender, whom they could put in the field against Sverre. Such a one was soon found in the person of a monk named Jon, who professed to be a son of King Inge Crookback. Though his story was evidently mendacious, there gathered about him a considerable band, which received the name Kuvlungs or Cowlmen. Not all the former adherents of Magnus did, by any means, join this band, but yet a sufficient number to make it formidable. Now began the usual depredations along the coast, attacks upon Bergen and Nidaros, indecisive fights and sudden retreats, occasional victories, and a great deal of destructive guerilla warfare. There was a suspicion that Archbishop Eystein, who hated Sverre, was the power that kept the Kuvlungs in motion, and it was obvious that he secretly favored them. The archbishop, however, died in 1188 having, as Sverre asserted, made peace with him on his death-bed. Soon after, the rebel band was destroyed in Bergen (1188) and their leader slain.

If Sverre had expected to sit at ease in the enjoyment of his power, he must by this time have been undeceived. He had indeed sown the wind, and he reaped the whirlwind. No sooner were the Kuvlungs out of the way than a new band, called the Varbelgs (Wolf Skins), was organized by the chieftain Simon Kaaresson, who picked up a pretender in the person of a child, named Vikar. This boy, who was but a few years old, was born in Denmark, and was alleged to be a son of King Magnus Erlingsson. But the deception was a little too barefaced to gain credence, and the Varbelgs came to an inglorious end at Bristein, near Tunsberg (1190), where both the little Vikar and Simon Kaaresson were slain. Rebellion had by this time grown so popular that any plausible impostor, who chose to take the risks, might expect to gain a considerable number of adherents. The many who were unable or indisposed to put up with the new order of things, preferred to stake all on a desperate chance rather than submit meekly to the terms of Sverre's amnesty. It was, therefore, of small consequence who headed the rebellion; the rebellious spirit which was abroad was sure to find expression, and was never in want of a leader. The successors of the Varbelgs were called Oyeskeggs (the Islanders), because their band was recruited largely from the Orkneys, where Earl Harold favored them. Their chieftains were Hallkel Jonsson, a brother-in-law of King Magnus, Sigurd Jarlsson, an illegitimate son of Erling Skakke, and Olaf, a brother-in-law of Earl Harold, of the Orkneys. All these had nominally submitted to Sverre and had received many favors at his hands. Nay, even after they had hatched their conspiracy, Olaf continued to act as the king's friend and sit at his table. Sverre was, however, not deceived by his duplicity. One day when they were talking together the king said: "Thou, Olaf, oughtest to have been faithful to me."

"Why do you say that, my lord?" asked Olaf.

The king, instead of answering directly, made a thrust with his knife in the air and said: "The followers of our foes are now swarming about us."

At this the traitor took alarm and quickly left the hall. Outside he met his foster-son Sigurd, who was said to be a son of King Magnus, and was later pushed into the rÔle of a pretender by the Oyeskeggs.

"There we narrowly escaped a trap, foster-son," said he, as he took the boy by the hand and hurried away. He immediately set sail for the Shetland Islands, where he could mature his plans without interference. In the summer of 1193 he appeared with Hallkel and Sigurd Jarlsson and a large flock of rebels in Viken, where shire after shire submitted to them without resistance. There were, probably, no royal troops in Viken at this time, and the inhabitants, who had formerly been partisans of King Magnus, had not recently acquired any deep sense of loyalty to Sverre. When provisions became scarce, the rebel chieftains went aboard their ships and began to prey upon the shipping in the Belts. In this way they gained such large amounts of goods and money that they became known as the "Goldlegs" (Gullbeiner). In the autumn of 1193 they sailed northward, full of courage, hoping soon to make an end of Sverre, who was understood to have but few people about him. They met him at Florsvaag, near Bergen, and prepared for battle. His force amounted to about twelve hundred men, while the Oyeskeggs had two thousand. As it was too late to fight, when the fleets first approached each other, Sverre betook himself to the city with a few followers in order to get reinforcements. On his way back, it occurred to him that it might be a good plan to pay the rebels a visit. In a small boat he rowed stealthily, under cover of the darkness, up to the ship where the chieftains were having a council of war, and had the pleasure of hearing Hallkel Jonsson unfold the whole plan of the battle. He took his own measures accordingly, and by his well-calculated manoeuvres frustrated their plans. The battle was, however, a bloody one, and fiercely contested. It looked badly for the Birchlegs for a while, but the arrival of ninety well-armed men from the city decided the day in Sverre's favor. The king of the Oyeskeggs leaped overboard, but was pierced by a spear while he was swimming shoreward. All the rebel chieftains, except Sigurd Jarlsson, and nearly all the men were slain (1194).

While thus indefatigably engaged in quelling rebellion, Sverre had another struggle on his hands which made even heavier demands upon his vigilance and energy. The church is not apt to look with favor upon one who deserts it, even for a throne, and the fact that the king had been admitted to the lowest order of the priesthood, so far from reconciling the priests to his authority, placed them in a hostile attitude to him. In spite of this, however, there is little doubt but that he could have bought their friendship by making the proper concessions. If he had been willing to ratify the agreement between Archbishop Eystein and Erling Skakke, hold his crown in fief from St. Olaf, which was but another name for the hierarchy, and give the bishops the right to exact similar conditions from his successors, his former deaconship would have proved no obstacle to his receiving the support of the Church. Sverre knew, however, too well the spirit of the priesthood to venture upon such concessions. It was his policy to make the monarchy strong enough to quell the unruly spirit of the aristocracy and give peace and security to the people. The Church had from the beginning taken sides against him, and secretly or openly aided every band of rebels which had endeavored to overthrow his government. No wonder that, apart from all other considerations, he was not favorably disposed toward the Church.

When Archbishop Eystein died, after having made a pretended peace with the king, Bishop Erik, of Stavanger, was elected as his successor. It is said that Eystein, on his death-bed, obtained Sverre's reluctant consent to this choice. At all events, Erik was chosen, and was no sooner warm in his seat, than he showed his disposition toward the king. Without consulting Sverre, he named for his successor to the bishopric of Stavanger one of his bitterest enemies, Nicholas Arnesson, a half-brother of King Inge Crookback. Sverre naturally objected, first because Nicholas had never taken orders, secondly because his election had taken place in an illegal manner, the king having not been present. For all that, he agreed in the end to waive his objections, because his queen, Margaret (a sister of the Swedish king, Knut Eriksson), interposed in Nicholas' behalf. The latter, who was a master of intrigue, had, by his humility and flatteries, gained the favor of the queen, and even Sverre, who was ordinarily a keen judge of men, was made to waver in his distrust of him. He was, however, soon to have his eyes opened. As soon as Nicholas had received his investiture, he again joined the ranks of the king's enemies, making common cause with the archbishop, who was indefatigably quarrelling with Sverre about the alleged prerogatives of his office. First, he wanted the fines and penances, payable to the Church in TrÖndelag, to be rendered according to actual weight in silver, and not in the coin of the realm, which was but worth half its nominal value. Secondly, he wished to reserve for himself and his fellow bishops the right of making all clerical appointments, and thirdly, he claimed the privilege of surrounding himself with a kind of ecclesiastical court, and keeping ninety to one hundred men-at-arms in his service, although the law only allowed him thirty. To settle these points, Sverre summoned the archbishop to Frosta-thing, and, after having read him the law, decided against him. Full of wrath, the haughty prelate left the country, seeking refuge with Archbishop Absalon in Denmark, who received him cordially. Here he composed a letter to the Pope in which he bitterly complained of the king's usurpations and infringements of the rights of the Church. The Pope responded by putting Sverre in the ban and releasing his subjects from their oath of allegiance. Before the bull reached Norway, however, Sverre had induced the bishops, remaining in the country, to crown him at Bergen (June 29, 1194). Even Bishop Nicholas, who had recently been transferred from Stavanger to Oslo, had participated in this ceremony, though probably much against his will. Sverre treated the papal bull, at first, as a mere fraudulent invention of archbishops, Erik and Absalon, but that he was far from believing this to be the case is shown by the fact that he sent embassadors to Rome to present counter charges against the archbishop, and to explain the causes of the controversy from his point of view. As far as we know these embassadors accomplished nothing, and on their homeward way they died suddenly in Denmark (1197), having probably been poisoned. Soon after, a falsified papal bull was published by Sverre, in which the ban was revoked. It is not improbable that he was himself responsible for this falsification. It was a question of "to be or not to be" with him, and he had been long enough connected with the Church to know how to soothe his conscience in such a matter. It is, moreover, scarcely credible that any one else would have committed the fraud in his favor.

Seeing that they could not destroy Sverre by spiritual weapons only, his enemies resorted once more to the sword, and this time chance played into their hands in a most remarkable manner. The Byzantine emperor Alexius sent, in 1195, a Norseman named Reidar the Messenger (Sendemand), to Norway to hire him 200 mercenaries, and Sverre, though he was of opinion that Norway had no troops to spare, was persuaded to permit the emperor's emissary to enlist such as desired to follow him. Reidar went to work without delay and gathered a considerable force, but in the meanwhile Bishop Nicholas had approached him and induced him to enter into a league for the overthrow of Sverre's government. Next to Nicholas himself, the most important man in the league was Sigurd Jarlsson, the son of Erling Skakke, and formerly a chief of the Oyeskeggs. A boy named Inge, alleged to be the son of King Magnus Erlingsson, was their candidate for the throne. The band received the name of Bagler, i.e., Crookmen, after bagall, a crook or bishop's staff. They were, owing to the accession of Reidar's mercenaries, much more formidable than any of the former bands which had risen in rebellion against Sverre. In the first battle which the king fought with them, they had no less than 125 ships and 5,000 men. This encounter, which took place in SaltÖ Sound, in Viken (1196), was indecisive, though some advantage seems to have been gained by the Baglers. At all events, Sverre dared not remain in Viken, but steered northward to Nidaros, leaving the rebels masters of all the southern provinces. They had here the sympathy of the population, and experienced no difficulty in having the pretender Inge proclaimed king at Borgar-thing. Sverre, in the meanwhile, levied troops in the northern provinces, and in the summer of 1197 attacked the rebels at Oslo, where they suffered a crushing defeat. Here his prudent foresight and strategic skill insured him a splendid success, while Nicholas showed himself a cowardly braggart, devoid of generalship. He tried to make his men believe that the swords of the Birchlegs would not bite, because they were in the ban, and when this lie had been effectually disproved, the bishop was among the first to take to his heels.

"Ride forth hard now, my lord," one of the Baglers called to him. "Our men sorely need your help and exhortation; for, methinks, in sooth, that the swords of the Birchlegs bite pretty well."

"No, let us ride away as fast as we can," Nicholas made answer; "for now the Devil is loose."

After the battle the prelate sent a priest to Sverre with offers of peace; but the latter, who knew the treacherous character of his foe, would not treat with him, unless he appeared in person. He promised him safe-conduct, averring that he had other means of gaining fame than by killing a man like him. Nicholas made no response to this proposition; but instead of presenting himself before the king, hastened with his men overland to Nidaros, attacked the city, burned Sverre's fleet, which was lying in the fjord, and besieged the block-house, which finally fell by the treason of its commander, Thorstein Kugad. This was a severe blow to the king, and placed him in the subsequent contest at a great disadvantage. To meet the rebels on the sea with the small ships which were now left to him, was hazardous, as the battle of Thorsberg, near the mouth of the Drontheim fjord, during the following year plainly showed (1198). The Birchlegs were here worsted, in spite of their splendid bravery, and many of the king's staunchest friends and adherents were slain. Sverre hastened thence to Bergen, where the Bagler chief, Sigurd Jarlsson, in the meanwhile had been raging with fire and sword. He had burned those of Sverre's ships which he had found in the harbor, as well as the houses of the Birchlegs in the city, and he now laid siege to the block-house, where Queen Margaret was with all her household. As this rude fort was built of wood, his first intention was to fire it, and he began, for this purpose, to pile up wood for an enormous bonfire close to the walls. Sigurd Borgarklett, the commander of the fort, succeeded in lighting the wood-pile, before it was large enough to do any harm. The Baglers began to pile up wood once more, but again the besieged flung burning barrels of tar down upon them and drove them off. After many fruitless attempts, Sigurd Jarlsson gave up the plan of firing the block-house.

It was not, however, only his enemies without, who gave Sigurd Borgarklett trouble. The queen, at the sight of the fire, grew frantic and insisted upon surrendering; and all her women surrounded the brave commander, tearfully imploring him not to expose them to being burned alive. A friend of Sverre, named Aura-Paul, to whose care the queen had especially been entrusted, feared that the lamentations of the women might have a discouraging effect upon the garrison, and in order to save the commander from their importunities, he persuaded them to enter the room above the gate, which had been used as a jail, and there await the issue of the negotiations with the Baglers. To this they readily consented; and were forthwith locked up, with full permission to wail to their hearts' content. When, however, the danger from fire was past, Aura-Paul went to the queen and asked her, what she would give him if he could induce the Baglers to depart. She offered him a great sum of money; whereupon he begged the loan of her seal. He now sat down and wrote a letter in the queen's name to two priests in the city, urging them to use every means in their power to detain the enemy, as the king was coming with a large force the next day and would be sure to make an end of them. This communication he despatched by a small boy who managed to be caught by the Baglers and, on being searched, had to deliver up the letter. Sigurd Jarlsson, without suspecting the deceit, hurried away as fast as he could, not, however, without having punished the two priests, who, though professing friendship for him, yet were in communication with the queen. This was regarded by the Birchlegs as a delightful joke; for the priests were, like most of their order, enemies of the king. But to make this comedy of errors complete, Sverre did actually, to the surprise of his friends, arrive on the day appointed in the letter. Nevertheless, it was fortunate that Sigurd Jarlsson had taken to his heels; for the main force of the Baglers were pursuing the king southward, and if the two divisions had effected a junction in Bergen, Sverre would scarcely have been able to hold his own against them.

The summer of 1198, which became known among the people as the Bergen summer, was passed by the hostile armies in and about the latter city, and there was almost an incessant skirmishing, besides some hard fighting. A battle at the Jonvolds resulted in favor of the Birchlegs, but was not decisive enough to destroy the Baglers' power of resistance.

The summer passed, neither party gaining any decided advantage. Then Bishop Nicholas, despairing of destroying the Birchlegs as long as they had the town to fall back upon, determined to deprive them of this shelter. He accordingly set fire to the town and burned the greater part of it. The Birchlegs had enough to do in saving the block-house, and could give but little aid to the citizens in their efforts to limit the conflagration. It is doubtful, however, if the Baglers gained any thing by this unwarrantable destruction, for the citizens of Bergen, a large number of whom had been favorably inclined toward them, became from this day their enemies. Sverre was, indeed, compelled to abandon his position, leaving, however, a garrison in the block-house. But the Baglers scarcely profited by his departure, as the country round about had been denuded of provisions, and want compelled them to move. Bishop Nicholas then sailed northward to NordmÖre and Haalogaland, where he met with no opposition; and desertion from the ranks of the Birchlegs increased his army until its very magnitude caused him embarrassment. Oddly enough, at this very time, when the king's fortune was at its lowest ebb, the traitor, Thorstein Kugad, who had surrendered the block-house in Nidaros, returned to him. He flung himself at Sverre's feet, embraced his knees, and cried:

"Happy I am now, my lord, that I am so near you—that I can touch you. * * * Dear my lord, receive me, and let me never more part from you."

Though his former comrades demanded his death, Sverre gave him full pardon. The king's desperate position was indeed sufficient guaranty of the sincerity of Thorstein's repentance. The whole country, outside of TrÖndelag, was now in the hands of the rebels. The royal fleet was burned, and even many of the veteran Birchlegs had deserted. Then, as the final crushing blow, came the bull of Pope Innocent III., laying the country under interdict, prohibiting the celebration of public worship and the administration of the sacraments, in all those parts of the kingdom that yet remained faithful to Sverre. If the vicar of Christ had contented himself with hurling the thunderbolt of divine wrath against the king, he might perhaps have achieved his destruction. But the Pope, finding that the bull of his predecessor had been practically ineffective, aimed this time to affect the popular conscience, and he addressed to it certain arguments which showed how completely he had allowed himself to be deceived by Sverre's enemies. In his bull he described the king in a manner which must have appeared absurd to those who knew him; he attributed to him crimes which all knew that he had never committed; and exposed thereby—not Sverre's wickedness, but his own fallibility and partisanship. The king, instead of meekly submitting to an unfair sentence, felt, therefore, justified in coming forward in his own defence. He wrote or caused to be written, under his immediate supervision, a polemical brochure, in which he reviewed his relation to the Church and ably defended his conduct. The behavior of the clergy he subjected to a scathing criticism, showed the inconsistency of their position, as the partisans of Baglers, and exposed the true motive of their actions. The author's shrewdness, ability, and learning are manifest in every page, and the lucidity of expression and the plain common-sense arguments seem to reveal the well-known personality of Sverre. That it had the effect of preventing many from leaving him, who otherwise might have been frightened into desertion, is very probable. The disloyal clergy had, however, better facilities for reaching the people than the few who were yet faithful, and they improved their opportunity in inciting the peasants to an unreasoning, fanatical hostility to the excommunicated king. The Pope, in the meanwhile, was active in stirring up foreign enemies against him, and wrote the most urgent letters to the kings of Sweden and Denmark, exhorting them to merit the gratitude of God and his vicar, the Pope, by destroying the sacrilegious monster, Sverre. Happily, these exhortations had no effect; for King Knut of Denmark had his hands full at home, and King Sverke of Sweden was rather favorably inclined toward his neighbor.

In this desperate strait Sverre's true greatness revealed itself. He had been accustomed to fight against heavy odds, and the sense of danger served to bring all his energies into play. With undaunted resolution he set to work to repair his losses and to equip himself once more to meet his foes. His first task was to build a fleet instead of the one which the Baglers had destroyed; for without ships he would have been at their mercy. The TrÖnders whom he called upon for help assisted him faithfully; and by the beginning of spring (1199) he had eight large galleys ready to be launched. Besides these he expected a number of others which the peasants were building for him throughout TrÖndelag. The city of Nidaros he fortified with a large new block-house, and built hurling-machines which were used for throwing stones at the enemy. Early in June the Baglers appeared in the fjord with a large fleet, and the usual skirmishing commenced. All their efforts to capture the city were, however, unavailing, and in the battle at StrindsÖ (June, 1199) their great fleet, which had formerly given them an advantage over the Birchlegs, fell into Sverre's hands. The battle was stubbornly contested, and both parties were wrought up to a warlike fury which refused to give or to take quarter. The king, whose gentleness and humane sentiments had made his stern resolution and courage the more admirable, put here a blot upon his fair name. He yielded to the importunities of his men, and allowed them to avenge the death of their kinsman upon the prisoners. It is but fair to ascribe this single act of cruelty to the momentary ferment of his blood and the hate that flared up uncontrollably against the authors of all his misfortunes.

After the battle of StrindsÖ the Baglers fled southward with the few ships that were left to them, and were pursued by Sverre, who did not, however, succeed in overtaking them. They found, as usual, a refuge in Denmark, where they continued to plot mischief. They felt themselves, in point of strength and resources, so superior to Sverre that it seemed to them merely a question of time, when they should gain possession of the entire land. Even in Nidaros, where the king was yet able to hold his own, the rebels had many sympathizers among the clergy. After his victory at StrindsÖ, Sverre sailed southward and went into winter-quarters in Oslo. The Baglers took advantage of his absence to visit Nidaros where they fought indecisively with an army of 1,800 peasants who undertook to defend the city. In the meanwhile a storm was drawing up over Sverre's head more menacing than any which he had hitherto weathered. The preaching of the disloyal clergy was beginning to show its effects. The peasants of Viken and the Oplands rose in rebellion, and poured in great torrents toward Oslo, for the purpose of destroying the excommunicated king. From three different directions their armies came marching, intending to effect a junction near the city, and by their greatly superior numbers overwhelm Sverre. The king had then only three thousand men, while the forces of the peasants, all told, must have numbered forty or fifty thousand. To fight against such odds would seem to be simple madness. Nevertheless he determined to sell his life dearly. Never did his genius shine more brightly than in the hour of danger. Calmly and confidently he addressed his men, assigning to each commander his task, and exhorting his Birchlegs to be brave, and to trust in God. Then, by a series of swift manoeuvres, he prevented the junction of the hostile armies, leaving his sons, Sigurd Lavard and Haakon, to guard his rear, while he engaged and defeated the two main divisions of the peasant army. The force under Sigurd and Haakon, which only numbered four hundred and eighty men, had in the meanwhile been routed by the third division, numbering twenty-four hundred, and the king would have had small chance of escape, if the peasants had had the wit to follow up their advantage. Instead of that they began carousing in the city, and even refrained from firing the royal fleet, which was in their power, because they regarded it already as their own. When, however, the sanguinary battle which was in progress out on the ice was at an end, the hilarious peasants discovered their mistake. Sverre came, not as vanquished, but as victor. Then there was hurly-burly of battle once more—fight, flight, and pursuit. The yeomen, sturdy fellows though they were, and not unaccustomed to war, lacked discipline, and above all they lacked a competent commander. Sverre chased them so hotly that they had to fling away their shields and trust for safety to their speed alone.

The exhausted Birchlegs had now need of rest, and the king ordered the famous loor Andvake to be blown, and gathered the army about him. Food and drink were brought from the city and the hungry warriors were about to refresh themselves, when they perceived that the fugitives of the several peasant armies had united, and were returning to challenge once more the fortune of battle. The rebels had discovered that they were yet, with a proper plan of attack, formidable enough to destroy the Birchlegs. Their chief purpose now was to kill Sverre, because they supposed that if he were dead, the resistance of his party would soon collapse. Reluctant though they were to fight again, the Birchlegs responded bravely to their king's exhortation. They stormed down to the frozen fjord, where the peasants were forming their battle line, and made a fierce onset. Sverre, as was his wont, rode about among them, was now at the front, now in the rear, and with his clear eye directed each manoeuvre. The peasants, when they saw him, cried out: "Stab him, hew him down, kill him, cut his horse from under him." And from all sides resounded hoarsely the shout: "Stab him, kill him." But in their eagerness to slay Sverre, they neglected to preserve order. Their battle array broke up into a series of wild and irregular charges, the weak points of which Sverre was not slow to detect. The Birchlegs rushed in among them and routed them with great carnage. A liegeman, named Aale Hallvardsson, whom the rebels mistook for the king, because he was similarly dressed, fell after a brave defence, and an exultant shout was heard, that the king was slain. The Birchlegs were for a moment stricken with terror, and stopped in their pursuit. But suddenly Sverre came dashing forward on his horse; the warriors rallied joyously about him, the loor was blown for a fresh attack, and at the head of his men the king charged once more and broke the last resistance of the discomfited peasants.

This was the greatest victory that Sverre ever won, and altogether one of the most extraordinary battles ever fought in Norway. For the peasants a day of accounting was now at hand, and the king made them feel the heavy hand of his wrath. A policy of gentleness and amnesty they would have mistaken for fear; only severity could inspire them with respect. Many farms were burned and great fines in money and provisions were exacted from those who had taken part in the rebellion. One incident will suffice to show, however, how little Sverre's heart was in this work. As he was approaching a farm, a little boy came running out of the woods and begged him piteously not to burn his home.

"Nay, surely it shall be spared, since thou askest," answered Sverre, gently; "and if the peasants had stayed at home and begged for peace, no farm would have been burned. Tell them now, that the rest will be spared."

Forthwith he gave orders to his men to refrain from further destruction.

The heroic endurance which Sverre had developed in this long and exhausting struggle had indeed weakened the cause of the Baglers, but had by no means deprived them of their courage. A civil war and particularly a war of classes, such as this was, arouses fiercer hates and passions than international contests, and must therefore continue, until one party or the other is utterly humbled or destroyed. The Norse magnates, who formed the bone and sinew of the Bagler party, hated Sverre, not only because they believed him to be an upstart and an adventurer, but as the destroyer of the old oligarchic government, in which they had secured the lion's share of power. A class, so formidably intrenched both in the institutions and the traditions of the country, could not be overthrown at one blow; nor could it be humbled by misfortunes and reverses. It was not in his clerical capacity, but as the most eminent representative of the old aristocracy, that Bishop Nicholas became their leader; and the adherence of the clergy to the Bagler party was not so much the result of a personal sympathy with him, as of a common animosity to the democratic king, the leveller of distinctions, the champion of the rabble. These proud descendants of the great historic families of Norway were of the same blood as the Norman nobility of England, and though they did not live in castles, nor dress in satin and ermine, yet they were animated by the same spirit. They were ready to fight for their rights, whether real or imagined, even against their own king and country.

In the spring of 1201 Sverre called fresh levies from the ever faithful North, and sailed again southward, leaving a garrison in Bergen under the command of his friend, Dagfinn Peasant, and his son-in-law Einar, surnamed the Priest. He learned that the Bagler chief, Reidar Messenger, with about two hundred and forty men had taken possession of the block-house at Tunsberg, and he thought the opportunity a favorable one for annihilating one of his most dangerous enemies. To this end he laid siege to the block-house, which, however, from its situation on the mountain, overlooking the town, was wellnigh impregnable. His attempt to take it by storm failed, and his various ingenious stratagems were likewise unsuccessful. After a siege of twenty weeks, the Baglers were reduced to such a strait that for their Christmas dinner they had to eat boiled and chopped ropes, made out of walrus and sealskin. They could not endure this long; one by one they began to desert, in the dead of night, and instead of being slain, as they expected, they were received with kindness by the king. The Birchlegs grumbled loudly at his forbearance, but he rebuked them sternly, and they had to own that he was right. Last of all came Reidar Messenger with the little band that had remained with him. Sverre not only spared his life, but he treated him with the greatest consideration. He warned the Baglers not to eat too heartily after their long fast, and cared for those among them who were ill. Many who disregarded his advice died; while others dragged themselves through life with ruined health. The chief himself also suffered much, although Sverre exerted all his medical skill to cure him.

The incessant hardships of war and the strain upon his energies which they involved had, in the meanwhile, undermined the king's strength, and he was after a while compelled to take to his bed. When he left Tunsberg in January or February, 1202, he had his bed made on the raised poop of the deck, and that of the Bagler chief was placed at his side. And there lay, side by side, the conqueror and the conquered, gazing up into the wintry sky, and watching the clouds that chased each other under the wind-swept vault. Often they talked pleasantly together, and each learned to admire the remarkable qualities of the other. Reidar, who had been a crusader, told of his adventures and observations in Constantinople, and the Holy Land; and the days passed quickly to the king, while he listened to the entertaining narrative. On the arrival of the fleet in Bergen, the king was moved to the royal mansion where his bed was made in the great hall. When he felt that his death was near, he called some of his trusted friends to him and declared solemnly, in their presence, that he had but one son living, namely Haakon, and if any one else claimed to be his son, he was a rebel, and an impostor. Then he ordered a letter, which he had dictated to Haakon, to be read and sealed, and he charged his nephews, Haakon Galen, and Peter Steyper, to deliver it into his hands.

"I wish," he said, "before receiving the extreme unction, to be lifted into my high-seat, and there await life or death."

When the sacrament, in spite of his excommunication, had been administered to him, he continued: "My kingship has brought me more tribulation, disquietude, and danger, than ease and pleasure, and methinks that mere envy has impelled many to become my enemies, which sin may God now forgive them, and judge between them and me and in my whole cause."

King Sverre expired March 9th, 1202. He was in point of genius the greatest king who has ever ruled over Norway. A bright, clear, and resolute spirit dwelt within his small frame. His presence of mind and his wonderful fertility of resource saved him out of the most desperate situations. Firmness, and gentleness were admirably united in his character. A clear-sighted policy, based upon expediency as well as upon conviction, governed his actions from the beginning of his reign to its end. He possessed the faculty of attaching men to him, even when he punished them and restrained their lawless passions. Though he did not possess the beauty or the magnificent physical presence of the earlier kings of Norway, he knew how to inspire respect as well as love. The charm of his conversation, and his affability of manner impressed every one who came in contact with him. "What especially makes his personality interesting," says Munch,[A] "is the remarkable mingling of seriousness and humor, which seems to be peculiar to the Norse national character, and which, in his demeanor, was so striking that he may almost be regarded as its embodiment."

[A] Munch, iii., 391.