Bagler

[1] It was formed in Skåne, then part of Denmark, in 1196 principally by Bishop Nicholas Arnesson of Oslo and Archbishop Erik Ivarsson (ca.

It contested with the Birkebeiners, essentially a faction of peasants, led by the pretender King Sverre, for control in a Norwegian civil war during the late 12th century.

The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between church and king.

The powerful old 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 1206, a group of 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 IV of Norway.