Note to Sturl Hryn 1II
[1] Vilhjálmr ‘William’: Cardinal William of Sabina (Vilhjálmr) was a special emissary of Pope Innocent IV, sent to Norway in 1246 (see Notes to Sturl Hákkv 25/15 and 25/16). Hákon was the illegitimate son of King Hákon Sverrisson and needed the Church’s recognition to secure his claim to the throne. He had been trying to get the Pope’s approval since the 1220s, first through the Norw. bishops, and then by writing directly to Innocent IV. He was the third king of Norway who was crowned by a representative of the Church. The first one was Magnús Erlingsson, who was crowned in 1163 or 1164, the second Sverrir Siguðarson, Hákon’s grandfather, who forced the Norw. bishops to crown him in 1194 (Lunden 1976, 98-9).
References
- Bibliography
- Lunden, Kåre. 1976. Norge under Sverreætten 1177-1319. Norges historie 3. Oslo: Cappelen.
- Internal references
- Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 25’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 718.