Ingeborg of Norway

Ingeborg of Norway (Old Norse: Ingibjörg Hákonardóttir; Swedish: Ingeborg Håkansdotter; Norwegian: Ingebjørg Håkonsdatter; 1301 – 17 June 1361) was a Norwegian princess and by marriage a Swedish royal duchess with a position in the regency governments in Norway (1319–1327) and Sweden (1319–1326) during the minority of her son, King Magnus Eriksson.

On 16 April 1318, the two duchesses Ingeborg made a treaty in Kalmar with the Danish duke Christoffer of Halland-Samsö and archbishop Esgar of Lund to free their husbands and not to make peace with the kings of Sweden and Denmark before they agreed to this, and the two duchesses promised to honor the promises they gave in return in the names of their husbands.

Her son Magnus Eriksson, at the age of 3, was proclaimed king of Norway upon her father's death, in rights devolved from her.

She was duchess of her own fiefs, which were autonomous under her rule, and a large number of castles which controlled big areas thanks to their strategic positions.

"[2] She was criticized for her way of conducting her own politics without the counsel of the Swedish and Norwegian councils, and for using the royal seal of her son for her own wishes.

The marriage was arranged with the terms that Mecklenburg, Saxony, Holstein, Rendsborg and Slesvig would assist Ingeborg in the conquest of Scania.

When Ingeborg's forces under command of Canute invaded Scania in 1322–23, Mecklenburg betrayed her to Denmark and the alliance was broken.

She was accused of misusing the royal seal, to have broken the peace with Denmark and for greater costs, and was replaced as head of the regency.

On 14 February 1326, in exchange for having her debts paid, Ingeborg gave up several fiefs, was forced to send Canute into exile and was stripped from all political authority in the Swedish regency council.

In 1336, Ingeborg welcomed her daughter Euphemia and her son-in-law Albert of Mecklenburg, Rudolf I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and Henry of Holstein with her own fleet to the coronation of her son and his wife in Stockholm.

[5] The controversy around Ingeborg's second marriage and the potential succession of her son Haakon to the Norwegian throne are an important part of the plot of the novel Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset.

Seal of Duchess Ingeborg; Regent of Norway 1319–1327, Regent of Sweden 1318–1326.