Philip Simonsson

[2][3] In 1196, Bishop Nikolas and other opponents of King Sverre raised the Bagler party, with Inge Magnusson as their candidate, with the strong support of the Roman Catholic Church.

Deprived of its main support, the Bagler party dissolved, and Inge Magnusson was killed.

[citation needed] This descent was not fully sufficient for succession, as Norwegians had tended to require male-line descent from their royal dynasty, and claimants with even a close cognatic lineage to a recent king of Norway (such as maternal grandsons) had been exceptions and not fully approved as dynastic.

[9][10] In January 1207, the Bagler candidate Erling Steinvegg died, leaving two infant sons.

Philip continued the war against the Birkebeiner, capturing Sverresborg castle in Bergen in 1207, but abandoning it and later enduring a successful Birkebeiner-raid on his own stronghold in Tønsberg later the same year.

To seal the agreement, Philip was to marry King Sverre's daughter, Kristín Sverrisdóttir.

Philip attempted to renegotiate the peace deal, demanding to divide the kingdom half-and-half with the Birkebeiner.

The next year, the new Birkebeiner candidate was also recognized by the Bagler as King Haakon IV of Norway, bringing the division of the kingdom to an end.

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