Appraisal of Inge
Many historians have seen Inge as a rather weak king. He never achieved control over all of Norway, and agreed to a power-sharing with the bagler, which he stuck to even though Philippus broke the agreement by continuing to style himself as "king". As a reaction to such views, others have claimed that Inge was a strong ruler, in that he was able to withstand the pressure of the more war-like among the birkebeiner and put a halt to the destructive civil wars for a time.
The bagler sagas - a contemporary source - describes Inge as a quiet and calm man, who shied away from feasting and preferred to spend his time in his own quarters with close friends - a character trait which was held against him by some of his men. He was weak of health after his near brush with death during the attack on Nidaros in 1206.
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