Norway

A

Earliest Peoples

Archaeological records indicate that Norway was inhabited as early as 10,000 bc by a Paleolithic hunting people. These ancient hunters are believed to have migrated to Scandinavia as the great glaciers that once buried the region receded, toward the end of the last ice age. Agriculture and the use of domesticated animals appeared in Norway around 4000 bc. The transition from Stone Age to Bronze Age tools and more elaborate burial customs occurred in Norway about 1500 bc, and by 500 bc Norway had entered the early Iron Age. During the era of the Roman Empire, the inhabitants of Norway had trade contacts with Roman-occupied Gaul, and the area of settlement increased rapidly. Runic writing, a Germanic alphabet developed in the 2nd or 3rd century ad, appeared in Scandinavia at that time along with migrating Germanic peoples.

These new arrivals made their homes on the shores of the large lakes and along the jagged coast, and they spoke a language that would become the mother tongue of the later Scandinavian languages. They also brought with them a vibrant new religion with militaristic gods led by Odin and Thor as well as settlement patterns that would soon evolve into extended family farms. Mountains and fjords formed natural boundaries around most of the settled areas. In time social life in the separate settlements came to be dominated by an aristocracy and, eventually, by petty kings. By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century ad, some 29 small kingdoms existed in Norway.

B

The Viking Period

Inevitably, the kings turned their attention to the sea, the easiest way to communicate and trade with the outside world. About ad 800 ships of war were being built and sent on raiding expeditions, initiating the era of the Vikings. The northern sea rovers were traders, colonizers, and explorers as well as plunderers. After about 865 they established settlements in the British Isles and Iceland, and in the Orkney, Faroe, and Shetland islands. A century later, about 985, Erik the Red led Vikings to Greenland from Iceland; his son, Leif Eriksson, was one of the first Europeans to explore North America, reaching the continent about 1000. Bands of the northern Vikings penetrated Russia. Others settled in France, where they became the ancestors of the Normans of Normandy (Normandie).

In the 9th century King Harald I, called The Fairhaired, of Vestfold (southeastern Norway) made the first successful attempt to form a united Norwegian kingdom. Succeeding to the throne of Vestfold as a child, Harald managed to establish his supremacy over all Norway shortly before 900. However, at Harald’s death, about 940, his sons divided Norway, with Eric Bloodaxe as overking. Dissensions and wars among the heirs disrupted the temporary unity, and many of the petty rulers refused to surrender their independence. In addition to the domestic struggles, Danish and Swedish kings were undertaking campaigns to acquire Norwegian territory.

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C

Christianity Introduced

Christian missionaries traveled in Viking lands as early as AD 825, when Saint Anskar visited trading centers in Sweden and Denmark. Conversions from paganism to Christianity were infrequent, however, until the end of the 900s.

In 995 Olaf I, a great-grandson of Harald I, became king of Norway. Before his accession Olaf had lived in England, where he had converted to Christianity. He took the throne with the firm purpose of forcing Christianity on Norway and he partially succeeded. Five years after his accession he was killed in battle, and Norway was divided for a short time. Norway was reunited by Olaf II, who made himself king of Norway in 1015. He continued the religious work of his predecessor, using force against those who refused a Christian baptism. Olaf established a national Christian church in Norway, and he built churches throughout the land.

By about 1025 Olaf II had become more powerful than any preceding Norwegian king. He aroused the anger of powerful nobles, who, together with Canute II (the Great), king of England and Denmark, drove Olaf into exile in Russia in 1028. Two years later Olaf returned to Norway and was killed in the Battle of Stiklestad. Although a Viking king, he was seen as a martyr for the church. He was canonized as Norway’s patron saint, following reports of miracles associated with him.

D

Native Kings

On the death of Canute in 1035, Olaf’s son, Magnus I, was invited to return from Russia to Norway by supporters of his father. For the next three centuries a succession of native kings ruled Norway. Although internal confusion and wars between rival claimants to the throne disrupted the country periodically, Norway gradually emerged as a united nation, enjoying a comparative prosperity brought by its great trading fleets.

The Norwegians had become strongly Christian, and a powerful clergy was one of the major influences in the kingdom. In 1046 Magnus proclaimed his uncle Harald Hårdråde a coruler. At the death of Magnus one year later, Harald became king as Harald III; he was killed while participating in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Harald’s death brought to an end the Viking period, as no further raiding from Scandinavia took place. The last king of the line of Harald III was Sigurd I, whose rule lasted until his death in 1103.

Dynastic conflict followed the death of Sigurd, as Norway’s kings fought the jarls, or nobles, who threatened their power. Of the many later kings, the most notable was Sverre, king from 1184 to 1202. A statesman of great ability, Sverre built a strong monarchy and considerably weakened the power of the clergy and the great nobles. A period of peaceful and productive rule ensued during the long reign of Håkon IV (1217-1263), Sverre’s grandson.

Under Håkon IV, Norway reached the apex of its medieval prosperity and political and cultural power. Iceland was added to the kingdom in 1262, and the organization of a central government was completed, greatly increasing royal authority. Overseas trade flourished during this period. The landed aristocracy was virtually crushed by Håkon V, who reigned from 1299 to 1319, and Oslo became the capital of Norway, replacing Bergen as the principal city of the kingdom. Afterward the old noble families gradually declined, and for the most part the Norwegian people became a nation of peasants. The Hanseatic League, a powerful federation of German merchants and cities that supplied Norway’s grain, gradually entrenched itself in Bergen. This development foreshadowed a decline of the Norwegian merchant class, as the German traders secured privileges and came to control commercial activities.

Håkon V died in 1319 without male heirs, giving the throne to King Magnus II of Sweden, the three-year-old son of Håkon’s daughter. In 1343 Magnus was succeeded by his son, Håkon VI, and in 1380 the latter’s son, Oluf III, king of Denmark, became king of Norway as Olaf IV. The young king exercised only nominal rule, with real power held by his mother, Margaret I. When he died, he was succeeded by his mother as ruler of Norway and Denmark and, in 1389, of Sweden also. To obtain German support against the dukes of Mecklenburg, who claimed the Swedish throne, Margaret had her grandnephew, Eric of Pomerania, elected king.

E

Union with Denmark and Sweden

By the Union of Kalmar in 1397, the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden were made a single administrative unit. Sweden and Denmark were larger and wealthier than Norway, which had lost much of its population and many of its farms in the mid-14th century during an outbreak of bubonic plague called the Black Death. In 1523 Sweden dropped out of the union, and Norway was increasingly treated as an appendage of the Danish crown.

In the wake of the introduction of Lutheranism as a state religion in Norway by Danish king Christian III in 1536, Norway became a province of Denmark. Norwegian culture came increasingly under Danish domination. The creation of a hereditary monarchy in Denmark in 1660 and the establishment of royal absolutism weakened the nobility and increased the administrative role of the state in political and economic affairs. However, the long-term impact of absolutism was generally benign, in contrast to the despotic forms it took in many other European states. During the subsequent centuries of Danish rule, Norway contributed its natural resources to building up the dual monarchy of Denmark-Norway. In particular, timber from Norwegian forests was exported to western Europe, and Norway developed an impressive shipping industry to carry on the trade.

The union with Denmark lasted until the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), when Denmark joined France against Britain—Norway’s primary trading partner. Britain quickly cut off trade with Norway, and the British navy blockaded Norwegian ports. The blockade led to a period of great hardship in Norway, but it also isolated the country from Denmark, and Norwegians began to assert control over their own affairs.

After the defeat of Napoleon I in 1814, Denmark was compelled to sign the Treaty of Kiel, ceding Norway to the king of Sweden—an ally of Britain against France. The Norwegians, however, disavowed the treaty. They declared themselves an independent kingdom, drew up a liberal constitution, and offered the throne to the Danish crown prince Christian Frederick (later Christian VIII of Denmark). The Norwegian move was opposed by the European powers, and the head of an army, Marshal Jean Bernadotte, later King Charles XIV John, persuaded Norway to accept the Treaty of Kiel. In return for its cooperation, Norway was allowed to retain the newly promulgated constitution. By the Act of Union of 1815, Norway was given its own army, navy, customs, and parliament (Storting), and was permitted full liberty and autonomy within its own boundaries.

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