1.
Coat of arms of Norway
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The coat of arms of Norway is a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and silver blade. The coat of arms is used by the King, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court, since 1905, two parallel versions exist, the original, more complex one used by the King and the simpler one used by the State. In addition, there are former and existing lands, cities, organisations, companies, unless officially granted, it is illegal to use the coat of arms. The axe tended to be depicted as a pollaxe or halberd in the modern period. The heraldic design has been adopted for the Royal Standard of Norway in 1905, the Norwegian Lion, has been a popular and embraced symbol for centuries. This popularity is, not least, visible in older folk art, Royal decree of 20 May 1927 states, The coat of arms of the Realm may be used only by the states authorities in the exercise of their official activity. The coat of arms may be used by the Royal Court, by the government and its ministries, by the parliament, by the law courts, matters of the coat of arms are treated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The state coat of arms has no achievement save the surmounting crown, the royal coat of arms is defined in the resolution of 30 December 1905. In the coat of arms of the realm, a royal crown is placed directly on top of the shield. In the royal coat of arms, the shield of the arms of the realm is on a purple lined ermine with a royal crown on top. Three sides of the shield are surrounded by the collar of the Royal Order of St. Olaf, the following coats of arms are displayed with the collar of the Order of St. Olaf. However, not all Princes and Princesses are Grand Cross holders or, for sake, members of this order at all. The design of the coat of arms is derived from that of the Sverre dynasty, Hallvard Trætteberg in 1814 suggested that Sverre, who was king between 1184 and 1202, had a lion in his coat of arms, although there is no direct attestation. Snorre Sturlason claims that a lion on a red background was used already in 1103 by King Magnus III. Gustav Storm in 1894 concluded that this is ahistorical, Storm explained that the claimed lion in King Magnuss coat of arms is unknown both in the older Saga literature and in other contemporary sources. It is possible that Snorre, who wrote under the instruction of the King, a lion is shown on the coat of arms in the seal of Earl Skule Bårdsson, dated 1225, who had relations to the royal family. Haakon Haakonson the Old had a lion in his seal, shown as lying between the feet of the seated king, a royal coat of arms with a lion is finally seen on the seal of Haakon Haakonson the Young, dated 1250. The first instance of the bearing an axe is found in a seal of Eric II
2.
Harald V of Norway
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Harald V is the King of Norway, having ascended the throne following the death of his father on 17 January 1991. Harald was the child and only son of Olav V of Norway. He was second in the line of succession at the time of his birth, in 1940, as a result of the German occupation during World War II, the royal family went into exile. Harald spent part of his childhood in Sweden and the United States and he returned to Norway in 1945, and subsequently studied for periods at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Military Academy, and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1957, following the death of his grandfather, Haakon VII, a keen sportsman, he represented Norway in sailing at the 1964,1968, and 1972 Olympic Games, and later became patron of World Sailing. Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, with their relationship initially being controversial due to her status as a commoner, the couple had two children, Märtha and Haakon. Harald succeeded his father as king in 1991, with Haakon becoming his heir apparent, Prince Harald was born in Skaugum and was baptized in the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace in Oslo on 31 March 1937 by Bishop Johan Lunde. His parents already had two daughters, Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid, in 1940 the entire royal family had to flee Oslo because of the German invasion. It was deemed safer for the family to split up, the King and Crown Prince Olav would remain in Norway and the Crown Princess was to make her way to Sweden with the three children. The latter party reached Sweden on the night of 10 April, according to Princess Astrid and others who were present, they were admitted only after the driver threatened to ram the border gate. Another account does not describe the escape so dramatically, however, when the King and Crown Prince inquired of Swedish foreign minister Christian Günther whether they could sleep one night in Sweden without being interned, they were denied. Harald spent the days in Sälen before moving to Prince Carl Bernadottes home in Frötuna on 16 April. On 26 April the group moved to Drottningholm in Stockholm, King Gustaf V has been accounted to have had an amicable relationship with his Norwegian guests, but the topic of the war in Norway was not to be raised. However, influential Swedish politicians, including Minister of Justice Westman, wanted the Crown Princess and Prince Harald to be sent back to Norway so he could be proclaimed King by the Germans. After the King and Crown Prince had to leave Norway on 7 June they felt Sweden might not be the best place for the rest of the family, and started planning for them to go to the United States. On 17 August the Crown Princess and her left for the United States from Petsamo, Finland. One of the events he remembers from that time is standing behind Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was sworn in for his fourth term on the South Portico of the White House in 1945. Such childhood experiences are reflected in a trace of an American accent when he speaks English, Harald visited Norwegian servicemen training in the United States
3.
Queen Sonja of Norway
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Queen Sonja of Norway is the wife of King Harald V. Sonja was born in 4 July 1937 at Red Cross Clinic in Oslo and her siblings were Haakon Haraldsen, Gry Henriksen and Karl Herman Haraldsen. She grew up at Tuengen Allé 1B in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and she received a diploma in dressmaking and tailoring at the Oslo Vocational School, and a diploma from École Professionnelle des Jeunes Filles in Lausanne, Switzerland. There, she studied accounting, fashion design, and social science and she returned to Norway for further studies and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Oslo. Sonja became engaged to then Crown Prince Harald in March 1968 and they had been dating for nine years, although their relationship had been kept secret because of her non-royal status. The Crown Prince made it clear to his father, King Olav V and this would in effect have put an end to the rule of his family, and likely to the monarchy in Norway, as Harald was the sole heir to the throne. She thus acquired the style of Royal Highness and the title of Crown Princess of Norway, immediately after the wedding, the new Crown Princess began to carry out her royal duties, traveling extensively in Norway and abroad. In 1972 she was involved in establishing Princess Märtha Louise’s Fund and she has taken active part in large-scale initiatives to raise funds for international refugees and spent time in the 1970s visiting Vietnamese boat refugees in Malaysia. From 1987 to 1990, Crown Princess Sonja served as Vice President of the Norwegian Red Cross and she was responsible for the organisation’s international activities. She took part in a Red Cross delegation to Botswana and Zimbabwe in 1989, the then-Crown Princess Sonja established the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in 1988. It was originally for pianists, but in 1995 the competition only for singers. The jury consists of diverse authoritative figures in opera and the receive an cash amount. Following the death of King Olav V on 17 January 1991, Queen Sonja accompanied King Harald V when he swore his oath to uphold the Constitution in the Storting on 21 January 1991. It was the first time in 69 years that a Norwegian queen had been present in the Storting, since his accession, Queen Sonja has accompanied the King to the formal opening of the autumn session of the Storting and the reading of the Speech from the Throne. In accordance with their own wishes, the King and Queen were consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 23 June 1991, following the consecration, the King and Queen conducted a 10-day tour of Southern Norway. In 1992, the entire Royal Family conducted a 22-day tour of Norway’s four northernmost counties, the Queen accompanies the King on official state visits abroad. She acts as the hostess when foreign heads of state officially visit Norway, the Queen has also given lectures on Norway as a tourist destination on several occasions during official state visits abroad. In 2005, Queen Sonja became the first queen ever to visit Antarctica, the Queen was there to open the Norwegian Troll research station in the countrys Antarctic dependency, Queen Maud Land
4.
Norwegian language
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Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as extinct languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them, as established by law and governmental policy, the two official forms of written Norwegian are Bokmål and Nynorsk. The official Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk in English. Two other written forms without official status also exist, one and it is regulated by the unofficial Norwegian Academy, which translates the name as Standard Norwegian. Nynorsk and Bokmål provide standards for how to write Norwegian, no standard of spoken Norwegian is officially sanctioned, and most Norwegians speak their own dialects in all circumstances. Thus, unlike in other countries, the use of any Norwegian dialect. Outside Eastern Norway, this variation is not used. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The unofficial form known as Riksmål is considered more conservative than Bokmål, Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A2005 poll indicates that 86. 3% use primarily Bokmål as their written language,5. 5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7. 5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus, 13% are frequently writing Nynorsk, though the majority speak dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in western Norway, though not in major urban areas, examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres, and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago, it also had strongholds in rural parts of Trøndelag. Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of four of the 19 Norwegian counties, NRK, the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all publications, and Nynorsk in 8%
5.
Battle of Hafrsfjord
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The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway was for the first time unified under a single monarch. It was the conclusion of King Harald I of Norways declaration to become the ruler of Norway. This battle may well have been the largest in Norway up to that time and it was formerly believed that this battle was the decisive event in the unification of Norway. According to Snorris saga, King Harald controlled large parts of Norways southeast portion before the battle, the Battle of Hafrsfjord marks the final crushing of opposition from Norways southwestern portion. This made it possible for King Harald to subdue the country, later historiography regarded him as the first legitimate King of Norway. Many of the defeated who would not submit to Haralds rule emigrated to Iceland, the exact year of the battle is unknown, but is generally considered to have taken place between 870 and 900. This uncertainty is due to lack of sources, and partly because the Christian calendar was not introduced at the time, the sagas follow the convention of counting the number of winters passed since an event. A traditional date of the event, the year 872, is a 19th-century estimate, in the 1830s, the historian Rudolf Keyser counted the number of years backwards from the Battle of Svolder as recorded in Snorri Sturlusons Heimskringla, dating the battle to 872. In the 1920s, using similar methods as Keyser but highly critical to the reliability of the sagas, for the next fifty years, this chronology was regarded by most scholars as being most likely. In the 1970s, the Icelandic historian Ólafia Einarsdóttir concluded that the battle took place somewhere between 870 and 875, however still disputed, most scholars will agree that the battle took place during the 880s. The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872 to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord, in 1983, the monument and landmark The Swords in the Rock was designed by Fritz Røed and raised at Hafrsfjord in memory of the battle. The only contemporary source to this event is from Haraldskvæthi or Hrafnsmól, a written by Þorbjörn Hornklofi. The ballad is very simple, dramatic and illustrative, the most well-known source of the battle is Harald Fairhairs saga in Heimskringla written by Snorri Sturluson more than 300 years after the battle took place. King Eirik heard of this when he came south of Stad, the whole met together north of Jadar, and went into Hafersfjord, where King Harald was waiting with his forces. A great battle began, which was hard and long, but at last King Harald gained the day. There King Eirik fell, and King Sulke, with his brother Earl Sote. Thor Haklang, who was a great berserk, had laid his ship against King Haralds, and there was above all measure a desperate attack, until Thor Haklang fell, then King Kjotve fled to a little isle outside, on which there was a good place of strength. Thereafter all his men fled, some to their ships, some up to the land, and the latter ran southwards over the country of Jadar
6.
Harald Fairhair
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Harald Fairhair is remembered by medieval historians as the first King of Norway. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, most of his life remains uncertain, since the extant accounts of his life in the sagas were set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime. A few remnants of skaldic praise poems attributed to court poets exist which seem to refer to Haralds victories against opponents in Norway. Two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, the only early sources mentioning him are the two skaldic poems Haraldskvæði and Glymdrápa, which have been attributed to Þorbjörn Hornklofi or alternatively to Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The first poem has only been preserved in fragments in 13th century Kings sagas and it describes life at Haralds court, mentions that he took a Danish wife, and that he won a battle at Hafrsfjord. The second relates a series of battles Harald won and his life is described in several of the Kings sagas, none of them older than 12th century. His protector-regent was his mothers brother Guthorm, the unification of Norway is something of a love story. It begins with a proposal that resulted in rejection and scorn from Gyda. She said she refused to marry Harald before he was king over all of Norway, in 872, after a great victory at Hafrsfjord near Stavanger, Harald found himself king over the whole country. However, his opponents leaving was not entirely voluntary, many Norwegian chieftains who were wealthy and respected posed a threat to Harald, therefore, they were subjected to much harassment from Harald, prompting them to vacate the land. At last, Harald was forced to make an expedition to the West, to clear the islands, the earliest narrative source which mentions Harald, the 12th century Íslendingabók notes that Iceland was settled during his lifetime. Harald is thus depicted as the cause of the Norse settlement of Iceland and beyond. Iceland was settled by malcontents from Norway, who resented Haralds claim of rights of taxation over lands, there are several accounts of large feasting mead halls constructed for important feasts when Scandinavian royalty was invited. The older Swedish king, on the hand, had to stay in the old feasting hall. The Swedish king was so humiliated that he killed Áki, according to the saga sources, the latter part of Haralds reign was disturbed by the strife of his many sons. The number of sons he left varies in the different saga accounts, twelve of his sons are named as kings, two of them over the whole country. When he grew old, Harald handed over the power to his favourite son Eirik Bloodaxe. Eirik I ruled side-by-side with his father when Harald was 80 years old, Harald died three years later due to age in approximately 933
7.
Petty kingdoms of Norway
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The petty kingdoms of Norway were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhairs death Norway was divided in small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, by the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time and it has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking age. Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country, there are no written source from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, the sagas, were not written until the 12th and 13th centuries. While they were in part based on poems, and possibly on oral tradition. The sagas, most notable of which is Heimskringla, often refer to the petty rulers as konungr, the rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or jarls depending on the source. A number of communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century. Many of the kingdoms would later become jarldoms under the Norwegian high king. Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers, most of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a status as petty kingdoms. Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century Harald Grenske, 976–987 Might also be called Firda or Firdafylke, Rulers, Alrek Eiriksson early 600s Hrolf or Bergi Svåsason Solvi Hrolfson Kaun Solvason Eirik King of Hordaland late 800s Rulers, Saeming Thrand Gudlog 480s. -ca. C.600 Jossur Ingjaldsson fl mid 600s Hjor Jossurasson fl, 700s Hjorleif Hjorsson the Fornicator fl. mid-late 700s Halfur Hjorleifsson Hjor Halfsson. -870 Geirmundur Hjorarsson Rulers, Raum the Old legendary Jötunbjörn the Old son of Raum Raum Hrossbjörn Orm Broken-shell Knatti Thórolf, Rulers, Halfdan Hvitbeinn The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians. Olaf Gudrødsson Ruled half the kingdom, archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the river Glomma, at Onsøy, Rolvsøy and Tune, where the remains of a ship, the Tune ship, was found. This indicates that there was a center of power in this area, there are indications that at least the southern part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century
8.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
9.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
10.
Fairhair dynasty
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The Fairhair Dynasty is traditionally regarded as the first royal dynasty of the united kingdom of Norway. It was founded by Harald I of Norway, known as Haraldr hinn hárfagri, the first King of Norway, according to the traditional view, after Harald Fairhair first unified the kingdom, Norway was inherited by his agnatic descendants. In the 13th century, this was codified in law, unlike other Scandinavian monarchies and Anglo-Saxon England, Norway was never an elective monarchy. The first such period was from about 975 to about 995 under Haakon Sigurdsson, also, although Harald Fairhairs kingdom was the kernel of a unified Norway, it was still small and his power centre was in Vestfold, in the south. And when he died, the kingdom was divided between his sons, some historians put emphasis on the actual monarchical control over the country and assert that Olav II, who reigned from 1015, was the first king to have control over the entire country. He is generally held to be the force behind Norways final conversion to Christianity and was later revered as Rex Perpetuum Norvegiæ. Some provinces did not actually come under the rule of the Fairhair kings before the time of Harald III, either of these may therefore be regarded as further unifiers of Norway. And some of the rulers were nominally or actually vassals of the King of Denmark and it is undisputed that later kings, until Magnus IV, were descended from Harald Hardrada, the Hardrada dynasty. Sverre Sigurdssons claim to be the son of Sigurd Munn is also considered to be dubious. Scholars now consider the Fairhair dynasty at least partly the product of medieval invention, one motive would be to increase the legitimacy of rulers by giving them a clear royal ancestry dating back to the foundation of the kingdom. Another was to provide pedigrees for other people by connecting them to the royal house, Claus Krag argued that an important motive was to establish a hereditary claim to Viken, the region around Oslo, because the area had been paying taxes to the King of Denmark. - in fulfillment of prophetic dreams, according to Heimskringla, in which the genealogy reaches its full form, in this critical view, only three generations of Fairhair kings reigned, from 930 to 1030, for 40 years altogether. The kings Olav Tryggvason and St. Olav, their ties with the Fairhair dynasty perhaps a 12th-century invention, ruled for 18 years altogether. There may be as many as 6 dynasties altogether subsumed under the title of Fairhair dynasty, Harald Fairhairs, Olav Tryggvasons, St. Olavs, Harald Hardradas, Magnus Erlingssons and Sverres. After Olav II of Norways recognition as a saint, successors of his half-brother, Olav I is historically known to have claimed male-line descent from Harald I, as grandson of Haralds alleged son Olav in Vika. And Olav II is known to also have claimed descent from Harald I. Opposing sources claim that Viken and its region of Norway, Vestfold, were not parts of Harald Is dominions, the reliability of these two claims depends on the credibility of the Icelandic accounts and the sources used to compile them. Much later legends claim Harald IIIs father also to have descended from Harald I, thus, Harald III started the Hardrada dynasty, a putative branch of the Fairhair dynasty
11.
House of Sverre
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The House of Sverre was a royal house or dynasty which ruled, at various times in history, the Kingdom of Norway, hereunder the kingdoms realms, and the Kingdom of Scotland. The house was founded with King Sverre Sigurdsson and it provided the rulers of Norway from 1184 to 1319. The house was founded with King Sverre Sigurdsson, who claimed to be a son of King Sigurd Munn. After Sverres death, his descendants would expand the influence, wealth, under his grandson Haakon IVs rule, medieval Norway reached its peak. Also Margaret, Maid of Norway was a member of this family, the house replaced the Gille dynasty, and was again replaced by the House of Bjelbo, which inherited Norways throne. They were the last reigning family that claimed descent from Harald Fairhair. See also, Coat of arms of Norway The main arms of the kings belonging to the House of Sverre, was a crowned lion on a red field. The lion was later supplied with a silver axe symbolising Olaf the Holy and this became the coat of arms of Norway. The rulers within the house or dynasty would often have a junior king along with a senior king. Here is a list of the rulers when the house held the power in Norway, Margaret, Maid of Norway Ingeborg of Norway List of Norwegian monarchs Norwegian Royal Family Norwegian nobility
12.
House of Oldenburg
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The House of Oldenburg is a European royal house of North German origin. It is one of Europes most influential royal houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg. It rose to prominence when Count Christian I of Oldenburg was elected King of Denmark in 1448, of Norway in 1450, the house has occupied the Danish throne ever since. Marriages of medieval counts of Oldenburg had paved the way for their heirs to become kings of various Scandinavian kingdoms, through marriage with a descendant of King Valdemar I of Sweden and of King Eric IV of Denmark, a claim to Sweden and Denmark was staked, since 1350. At that time, its competitors were the successors of Margaret I of Denmark. In the 15th century, the Oldenburg heir of that claim married Hedwig of Schauenburg, since descendants better situated in genealogical charts died out, their son Christian became the king of all three kingdoms of the whole Kalmar Union. The House of Mecklenburg was its chief competitor regarding the Northern thrones, different Oldenburgine branches have reigned in several countries. EU, retrieved August 2012
13.
Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
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Other parts of the duchies were ruled by the kings of Denmark. The territories of Gottorp are located in present-day Denmark and Germany, the main seat of the dukes was Gottorf Castle in the city of Schleswig in the duchy of Schleswig. It is also the name of the house, which ascended to several thrones. For this reason genealogists and historians use the name of Holstein-Gottorp for related dynasties of other countries. The Gottorp branch held Landeshoheit over the duchy of Holstein in the Holy Roman Empire, the name Holstein-Gottorp is for the sake of convenience used instead of the technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in/at Gottorp. The kings of Denmark were granted Holstein as a fief by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III from 1474. In 1544 the so-called one-third duchy was ceded to Adolf, third son of King Frederick I of Denmark, thus the surviving House of Holstein-Gottorp is a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg. The Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp shared the rule of Schleswig and Holstein with the Kings of Denmark. As such, they were allies of the Swedes, enemies of the Danes. By the Treaty of Roskilde and the Treaty of Copenhagen, Denmark released Gottorp from its feudal bonds, in fact, these Schleswigers had been relatively independent already for more than a century. Although the duchy of Holstein remained officially a fief of the Empire, in the Great Northern War the duchy sided with Sweden and was defeated after Danish troops occupied the northern portions of Holstein-Gottorp. Charles Frederick himself was married to Grand Duchess Anna, Peters daughter, Peters successors abandoned his policy of backing the claims of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp. But from this marriage was born Charles Peter Ulrich, who succeeded to Holstein-Gottorp in 1739, Charles Peter Ulrich, who acceded to the Russian throne as Peter III in 1762, was determined to conquer Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark–Norway. When he became emperor in 1762, he signed a generous peace with Prussia. This move angered Russian opinion, since it was considered a betrayal of Russias sacrifices in the war, at the same time, the Danish army had hastily moved across the border into Mecklenburg, to avoid an invasion of Holstein, and prepared for battle. One of her first actions was to call off the war against Denmark, Peter IIIs son, Paul, the new Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, was a minor under the regency of his mother, the empress. The duchy was given to Pauls grandfathers cousin, the aged Prince-Bishop of Lübeck and this put an end to the Gottorp question, which had generated so many conflicts between the Nordic powers. The House of Holstein-Gottorp acceded to several European thrones, the dynastic policy of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp resulted in its cadet branch, the Swedish line, ruling Sweden from 1751 until 1818 and Norway from 1814 to 1818
14.
Civil war era in Norway
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The Norwegian Civil War Era is a term used for the period in the history of Norway between 1130-1240. During this time a series of wars were fought between rival kings and pretenders to the throne. The reasons for the wars is one of the most debated topics in Norwegian medieval history, the goal of the warring parties was always to put their man on the throne, starting with the death of King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130, a supposedly adored monarch. After these two parties were reconciled in 1217, an ordered system of government centered on the king was gradually able to bring an end to the frequent risings. The failed rising of duke Skule Bårdsson in 1240 was the event of the civil war era. By the mid-11th century the process seems to have been completed, however, it was still not uncommon for several rulers to share the kingship. This seems to have been the way of solving disputes in cases where two or more worthy candidates for the throne existed. The relationship between such co-rulers was often tense, but open conflict was generally averted, clear succession laws did not exist. The main criterion for being considered a candidate for the throne was to be a descendant of Harald Fairhair through the male line—legitimate or illegitimate birth was not an issue. King Sigurd the Crusader had also shared the kingdom with his brothers, King Øystein and King Olav, however, in the late 1120s a man called Harald Gillekrist arrived in Norway from Ireland, claiming to be a son of King Sigurds father, King Magnus Barefoot. King Magnus had spent some time campaigning in Ireland, and Harald would thus be King Sigurds half-brother, Harald proved his case through an ordeal of fire, the common way of settling such claims at the time, and King Sigurd recognized him as his brother. However, Harald had to swear an oath that he would not claim the title of king as long as Sigurd or his son was alive, when Sigurd died in 1130, Harald broke his oath. Sigurds son Magnus was proclaimed king, but Harald also claimed the royal title, a settlement was reached whereby Magnus and Harald would both be kings and co-rulers. Peace between them lasted until 1134, when war broke out. In 1135 Harald succeeded in defeating and capturing Magnus in Bergen, Magnus was blinded, castrated, mutilated and imprisoned in a monastery. He was thereafter known as Magnus the Blind, at about the same time Sigurd Slembe, another man from Ireland, arrived claiming to be a son of Magnus Barefoot. He claimed to have gone through an ordeal by fire in Denmark to prove his claim, Harald did not recognize him as his half-brother. In 1136 Sigurd murdered Harald in his sleep in Bergen, and had himself proclaimed king, Haralds supporters would not accept him and had Haralds two infant sons, Sigurd Munn and Inge Crouchback, named king
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Pretender
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Most often, it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival or has been abolished. The term claimant is sometimes preferred, but the term pretend in itself is not pejorative in this context, the original meaning of the English word pretend comes from the French word prétendre, and originally meant to put forward, to profess or claim. A pretender was, therefore, simply one who put forward or professed a claim to a title or, in modern terms, only later did the word acquire its modern sense of professing or claiming falsely. The term pretender applies to claimants with arguably genuine rights and it can also be used for those possessing an arguable right to a position who do not actively claim it, as well as impostors with wholly fabricated claims. People in the category often assume the identities of deceased or missing royalty to support their claim. A Papal pretender is called an Antipope, ancient Rome knew many pretenders to the offices making up the title of Roman Emperor, especially during the crisis of the Third Century. The Loeb translation of the chapter of the Augustan History therefore represents the Latin triginta tyranni by Thirty Pretenders to avoid this artificial. Not all of them were afterwards considered pretenders, several were successful in becoming Emperor at least in part of the Empire for a brief period. Disputed successions to the Roman Empire long continued at Constantinople, at times, some of these states and titles were subjected to multiple claims. Following the defeat and death of King James III King of Cyprus in 1474, his younger and illegitimate brother, Eugène Matteo de Lusignan, also styled dArménie removed to Sicily, then to Malta. He was acknowledged as heir to the thrones of Cyprus, Armenia, Jerusalem. The title of Barone de Baccari was created in 1508 for Jacques Matteo dArmenia with the remainder to his descendants in perpetuity, the claimant to the throne of the last Greek kingdom is Constantine II, who reigned as king from 1964 to 1973. He belongs to the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a branch of the House of Oldenburg. His designated heir is his son Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, the establishment of the First Republic and the execution of Louis XVI in 1793 led to the kings son becoming pretender to the abolished throne, styled as Louis XVII. As Louis XVII was a child and imprisoned in Paris by the revolutionaries, his uncle, after Louis XVII died in 1795, the Comte de Provence became pretender himself, as Louis XVIII. Louis XVIII was restored to the throne in 1814, and was succeeded by his brother Charles X in 1824, Charles X was, however, forced into exile by the July Revolution. For most of the July Monarchy, the legitimists, as supporters of the senior line came to be known, were uncertain of whom to support. On his uncles death, Bordeaux proclaimed himself king as Henry V, but remains known to history by his title of pretense, the Count of Chambord
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King of the Wends
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The titles one poetic explanation also was kingship over the antique people of the Vandals, but that idea came only in the 16th century. As such, the medieval name for the Finnish part of the Swedish kingdom—was the third part of the realm. However, only forty years after the adoption of the king of the Wends. Kings of Denmark bore the title for eight centuries, after it was first adopted by King Canute VI, who conquered the lands of the Wends in Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In Germanic languages, the name was Wends, and in medieval documentation the Latin name was sclavorum rex, referring to the Slavic peoples in, in the 16th century, Latin sclavorum was changed to vandalorum also by Danish kings, showing the new poetic idea. The Danish Kings continued to use the title over the seven hundred years until 1972. She abandoned the use of all the titles except for that of Denmarks King/Queen. Gustav I of Sweden adopted c 1540 the third kingdom to his titles, he took Vandalorumque rex, King of the Goths King of the Slavs
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King of the Goths
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This is about the medieval title, for the migration-era Goths, see King of the Visigoths, King of the Ostrogoths. In a papal letter dated 5 September 1164, king Charles VII of Sweden was addressed as rex Sweorum et Gothorum, as historical accounts preserved Attila the Hun was Descendant of the Great Nimrod. By the grace of God, King of the Huns, the Goths, the Danes, first Sveriges och Götes Konung up to later decades of Gustaf I of Sweden, then Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung, was used in official documentation. Between 1814 and 1905 Sveriges, Norges, Götes och Vendes Konung was used, Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung was used again from 1905 up to the accession of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1973, who was the first monarch officially proclaimed Sveriges Konung and nothing else. The first Danish king to use the title was King Valdemar IV, the Danish Kings continued to use the title over the next six hundred years until 1972, when Queen Margrethe II succeeded. She abandoned the use of all her predecessors titles except her title as Denmarks Queen, first documented 1449, the arms of the Danish monarchs contained until 1972 a subcoat representing the title King of the Goths, on gold, a blue heraldic leopard over nine red hearts. Originally derived from the arms of the dukes of Halland which again was derived from the Danish arms, stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & Söner
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Duchy of Schleswig
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The region is also called Sleswick in English. Roman sources place the homeland of the Jute tribe north of the river Eider and that of the Angles to its south, who in turn abutted the neighbouring Saxons. During the early Viking Age, Haithabu - Scandinavias biggest trading centre - was located in this region and its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of the emergence of a unified Danish state. In May 1931 scientists of the National Museum of Denmark announced the finding of eighteen Viking graves with the remains of eighteen men in them, the discovery came during excavations in Schleswig. The skeletons indicated that the men were bigger proportioned than twentieth-century Danish men, each of the graves was laid out from east to west. Researchers surmised that the bodies were entombed in wooden coffins originally, towards the end of the Early Middle Ages, Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries. The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River, the Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne, by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century there were wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great again settled their mutual border at the Eider. In 1115, king Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard - a son of his predecessor Eric I - Earl of Schleswig, in the 1230s, Southern Jutland was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen, Canutes great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark. Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire. The title Duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the kings of Norway who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously. This was an anomaly – a king holding a ducal title, the title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the kings sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20 the ducal reign had become a condominium, with the royal House of Oldenburg, a third branch in the condominium, the short-lived House of Haderslev, was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder. On the west coast the Danish diocese of Ribe stopped about 5 km north of the present border and this line corresponds remarkably well with the present border. In the 17th century a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically, however the nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany
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Duchy of Holstein
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The Duchy of Holstein was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It was established when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy by Emperor Frederick III in 1474, Holstein was ruled jointly with the Duchy of Schleswig by members of the Danish House of Oldenburg for its entire existence. From 1490 to 1523 and again from 1544 to 1773 the Duchy was partitioned between various Oldenburg branches, most notably the dukes of Holstein-Glückstadt and Holstein-Gottorp, the Duchy ceased to exist when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 after the Second Schleswig War. The lands of Schleswig beyond the river remained a fief of the Danish Crown, while Holstein became a part of East Francia, the Kingdom of Germany. Adolf VIII, the last Count of Holstein-Rendsburg and Duke of Schleswig had died without heirs in 1459. As Schleswig had been a Danish fief, it had to back to King Christian I of Denmark. He was backed by the nobility, who supported the continued common administration of both lands and by the 1460 Treaty of Ribe proclaimed him as the new Count of Holstein. Nevertheless, the comital Holstein lands south of the Eider River officially remained a fief held by the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg. In 1474 Emperor Frederick III conferred Imperial immediacy to Christian by elevating him to a Duke of Holstein, from 1648 the royal parts of Schleswig and Holstein were administered out of Glückstadt and became known as the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Glückstadt. Before 1773 its Holstein territory consisted of the following Ämter, Rendsburg, South Dithmarschen, Steinburg, Segeberg, the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in Haderslev, held by Duke Hans the Elder. Hans had no issue and after his death in 1580, his territories were divided among his brothers, the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in Gottorp, held by Duke Adolf and his successors. In addition, significant parts of Holstein were jointly administered by the Dukes of Holstein-Glückstadt, in 1640, the County of Holstein-Pinneberg, whose ruling house was extinct, was merged in the royal part of the Duchy of Holstein. In 1713, during the Great Northern War, the estates of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig including Schloss Gottorf were conquered by royal Danish troops, in the 1720 Treaty of Frederiksborg, Duke Charles Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp ceded them to his liege lord the Danish crown. His remaining territories formed the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, administered from Kiel, with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Duchy of Holstein gained sovereignty. Denmark defended its rule over Holstein in the First Schleswig War of 1848-51 against the Kingdom of Prussia, however, in Second Schleswig War Prussian and Austrian troops conquered Schleswig. Christian IX of Denmark had to renounce both Schleswig and Holstein in the Treaty of Vienna, Holstein was put under Austrian administration, until annexed by Prussia in 1866 after the Austro-Prussian War. The Danish king in his function as duke of Holstein, and duke of Schleswig, 1523/45–1550, Johan Rantzau 1550–1556, Count Bertram von Ahlefeldt 1556–1598, Heinrich Rantzau 1598–1600, vacancy. Peace of Prague List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein at Worldstatesmen
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County of Oldenburg
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The County of Oldenburg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1448 Christian I of Denmark, Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, one of his grandsons, Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. When the main lineage of the House of Oldenburg, i. e. Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg died in 1667, Charles Frederick of the line of the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp married Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great. His first cousin, Frederick August I became Duke of Oldenburg in 1774, one of his brothers, Adolf Frederick became King of Sweden. Another brother, Prince Georg Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp, was father of Peter I, subsequent Rulers of Oldenburg were all his descendants. The town was first mentioned in 1108, at that time known under the name of Aldenburg and it became important due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte river. Oldenburg became a county in the shadow of the much more powerful Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the now called Oldenburg were a Teutonic people- the Chauci. The genealogy of the counts of Oldenburg can be traced to the Saxon hero Widukind, elimars descendants appear as vassals of the dukes of Saxony and were occasionally rebellious. They were given the title of princes of the Empire when the emperor Frederick I dismembered the Saxon duchy in 1189, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the bishop of Münster also frequently warred with the counts of Oldenburg. In 1448, the son and heir of Count Dietrich, named Christian but called Fortunatus, although far from the Danish borders, Oldenburg then became a Danish exclave. The control over the town was left to the kings brothers, in 1450, Christian became king of Norway and in 1457 king of Sweden, in 1460 he inherited the Duchy of Schleswig and the County of Holstein, which significantly affected Oldenburgs future. In 1454, he handed over Oldenburg to his brother Gerhard, however, in 1483 Gerhard was compelled to abdicate in favor of his son, and he died whilst on a pilgrimage in Spain. Early in the 16th century, Oldenburg was again enlarged at the expense of the Frisians, protestantism was introduced into the county by Count Anton I, who also suppressed the monasteries. However, he remained loyal to Charles V during the war of the league of Schmalkalden, one of Antons brothers, Count Christopher of Oldenburg also won a reputation as a soldier. Antons grandson, Anton Günther, who succeeded in 1603 significantly enlarged and enriched his territories and he thus considered himself the wisest prince who ever had ruled Oldenburg. Jever had been acquired before his ascension, but in 1624 he added Knipphausen and Varel to his lands, thus and he also obtained from the emperor the right to levy tolls on vessels passing along the Weser, a lucrative grant. In 1607 he erected a Renaissance castle, Oldenburg was a wealthy town in a time of war and turmoil and its population and power grew considerably
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