Birkebeiner

Birkebeinar was a contemporary pejorative name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 by Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in propaganda from the opposing party that the rebells were so poor that the made their shoes of birch bark.

The party's goal was to depose king Magnus Erlingsson. From a socio-historical perspective, scholars have interpreted the party as the result of the rapid increase in landless markamenn (meaning "border men"), who settled along the Swedish border and made their living by pillaging the rich old settlements. It was this lawless population that became the foremost basis of the birkebeiner, even though it is questionable whether their leaders were paupers wearing shoes made of birch bark.

Their leadership came from Trøndelag, a region where the social tensions were not as marked, and their motive was rather to stop the transition of power from Trøndelag to Viken and Vestlandet. The powerful Trønder families were simply being left behind by their peers in the south, who had acquired a strong leader in the Vestland earl Erling skakke in the mid-12th century. In the early 1160s, Erling had taken control of Viken and the bishopric of Nidaros and had subsequently made his underage son Magnus Erlingsson the king of Norway.

After some initial victories, the tables turned when a Faroese claimant Sverre entered the political scene claiming to be illegitimate son of king Sigurd Munn. Sverre sought assistance from the Swedish earl Birger Brosa who sent him Swedish forces after some hesitation. One of Birger Brosa's sons, Filip, became Sverre's earl.

Under Sverre's leadership, the Birkebeiner movement was re-organized and pruned and the most criminal elements were brutally purged from the party. The army consisted more and more of mercenaries from Sweden and England.

As early as 1177, Sverre was proclaimed king by his followers, but in reality his power did not extend beyond the borders of Trøndelag and it took two decisive battles in 1179 and 1184 before he could be formally elected king. By then, both the main opponents were dead, i.e. earl Eling (1179) and Magnus Erlingsson (1184), and the opposition was greatly reduced.

The Birkebeiner's political program was a continuation of earl Erling's centralization which underscores the geographical motivations behind the movement. Their leadership did not seek a social revolution, only to move the centre of power back to Trøndelag.

The opposition around Viken organized in 1196 into a new party called the Bagler.

Around the year 1200, the rival groups shared the same goal of controlling the entire country. In 1202, when King Sverre died, he had managed to acquire most of Norway, but in Østerdalen, the Baglers were still very powerful. His successor, King Haakon Sverresson, died only two years later, leaving his son Haakon Haakonsson as the ultimate target for the Baglers to get rid of the pretender to the throne. In 1206, the Birkebeiners set off on a dangerous voyage through treacherous mountains and forests, taking the now two-year-old Haakon Haakonsson to safety in Trondheim. Norwegian history credits the Birkebeiners' bravery with preserving the life of the boy who later became King Haakon Haakonsson IV, ended the civil wars and forever changed Northern Europe's history through his reign.

Today, this historic event is honoured by three annual sporting events, a run, a mountain bike race and a cross-country ski race. Common for these events is the requirement of carrying a 3.5 kilogram heavy backpack as a remembrance of the child the Birkebeiners had to carry on their journey. The events are located in the Lillehammer and Rena area.

External links

• The Birkebeiner cross-country skirace (http://www.birkebeiner.no/renn_eng)
• The Birkebeiner mountainbike race (http://www.birkebeiner.no/ritt_eng)
• The Birkebeiner run (http://www.birkebeiner.no/lop_eng)
• American Birkebeiner website (http://www.birkie.org)
• Canadian Birkebeiner website (http://www.canadianbirkie.com)