Haakon VI of Norway - Military Policies

Military Policies

Throughout the reign of Haakon, the Norwegian military was extensively reformed. The military structure was altered from that of the traditional leidang peasant conscription to under the direct control of loyal Norwegian lords. His Norwegian predecessor had pursued a domestic policy to establish a functional civil service in his realm, also extending to the military. This was however not continued by Haakon who elected to transfer more power and military responsibilities on to loyal lords. As a consequence, Haakon would be able to field much larger armies, but it became increasingly expensive to maintain this system. Because of the war against Sweden and the aggressive Norwegian policies in the east, Haakon had to mortgage and borrow money at an unprecedented scale to maintain his armies, and had to increasingly rely on the Norwegian nobility and the rich German merchants. The substantial rise in foreign debt would eventually come to shift the political power in Norway, and gradually weakened the power of the monarch.