Inge I of Norway - Childhood and Accession

Childhood and Accession

Inge was the only legitimate son of king Harald Gille by his wife, Ingiríðr Ragnvaldsdóttir. At the time, however, legitimate birth was not an important factor in determining succession to the throne. Inge was fostered by Ögmund or Ámund Gyrðarson in eastern Norway. His father, Harald, was murdered in 1136 by the pretender Sigurd Slembe. The one-year-old Inge was named king at the thing of Borgarting near Sarpsborg. His two half-brothers, also infants, Magnus and Sigurd, were also named king at other things. Their respective guardians joined forces against Sigurd Slembe and his ally, the former king Magnus the Blind. In 1139, they were defeated and killed. According to the sagas Morkinskinna and Heimskringla, Inge’s infirmity stemmed from having been carried into battle by one of his guardians during a battle in 1137: “...his back was knotted into a hump, and the one foot was shorter than the other; and he was besides so infirm that he could scarcely walk as long as he lived.”s:Heimskringla/Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald#Of Sigurd Slembidjakn. The Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus offers the alternative explanation that he became a hunchback after having been dropped on the floor by a maid during infancy. During the minority of Inge, Sigurd and Magnus, the country was ruled in peace by their guardians, prominent among whom was Inge’s mother, queen Ingiriðr. Magnus, of whom little more is known, died at some point in the 1140s. In 1142, a fourth, older brother, Eystein, came to Norway from Scotland, where he had grown up. Harald Gille had acknowledged Eystein as a son before his death, and Eystein was therefore given a share of the kingdom.