Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of Norway

Ingeborg Eriksdatter Queen consort of Norway Reign 1263–1280 Born c. 1244 Denmark Died 24/26 March 1287 (aged 42–43) Spouse Magnus VI of Norway House Estridsen Father Eric IV of Denmark Mother Jutta of Saxony Religion Roman Catholicism

Ingeborg Eriksdotter (c. 1244 – 24/26 March 1287) was a Danish princess. She was married to King Magnus VI of Norway and was Queen consort of Norway. Later as Queen dowager, she played an important part in politics during the minority of her son King Eirik II of Norway.^[1]

Biography

Ingeborg was born the daughter of Eric IV of Denmark and Jutta of Saxony. Ingeborg was only about six years-old when her father was killed. Her mother returned in Saxony and married Count Burchard VIII of Querfurt-Rosenburg. In large part, Ingeborg and her three sisters lived in the court of her uncle King Christopher I of Denmark and Queen Margaret Sambiria. The four sisters were heirs to substantial lands in Denmark. The struggle to claim Ingeborg's inheritance from her murdered father would later involved Norway in intermittent conflicts with Denmark for decades to come.

Ingeborg was promised in marriage by the Danish regency government to crown prince Magnus, the son and heir of King Haakon IV of Norway. Ingeborg arrived in Tønsberg on 28 July 1261, after she being retrieved at the instruction of King Haakon from the monastery in Horsens (dominikanerkloster ved Horsens). On 11 September 1261, she married Prince Magnus in Bergen. Magnus and Ingeborg were crowned directly after their marriage, and Magnus was given the district of Ryfylke for his personal upkeep. The marriage was described as happy.^[2]

On 16 December 1263 King Haakon IV of Norway died while fighting the Scottish king over the Hebrides, and Magnus became the ruler of Norway. Ingeborg is not known to have played any part in politics as his queen. Her two older sons Olaf (1262 – 15 March 1267) and Magnus (b. and d. 1264) died in infancy, but the youngest two would later become Kings of Norway: Eric II (1268 – 13 July 1299) and Haakon V (ca. 10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319).

In 1280, she became a widow. Ingeborg was an important figure in the leadership of the country during the minority of King Eirik, though she was not formally named regent. Her influence grew after her son was declared adult in 1283. Her principal ally was Alv Erlingsson, who had been a second cousin of her husband King Magnus and served as the governor Borgarsyssel which today makes up the county of Østfold.

During the reign of her cousin King Eric V of Denmark, Ingeborg begun a feud regarding her inheritance, which had never been given her. This largely private feud caused hostility between Norway and the German Hanseatic cities and a tense relationship with Denmark. Several Danish nobles, including Count Jacob of Halland, took her side against the Danish monarch, but she died before the affair was finished.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of Norway

16. Canute Lavard               8. Valdemar I of Denmark                       17. Ingeborg of Kiev               4. Valdemar II of Denmark                             18. Volodar of Minsk               9. Sophia of Minsk                       19. Richeza of Poland               2. Eric IV of Denmark                                   20. Afonso I of Portugal               10. Sancho I of Portugal                       21. Maud of Savoy               5. Berengaria of Portugal                             22. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona               11. Dulce of Aragon                       23. Petronila of Aragon               1. Ingeborg of Denmark                                         24. Albert the Bear               12. Bernard III, Duke of Saxony                       25. Sophie of Winzenburg               6. Albert I, Duke of Saxony                             26. Canute V of Denmark               13. Birgitte of Denmark                       3. Jutta of Saxony                                   28. Leopold V, Duke of Austria               14. Leopold VI, Duke of Austria                       29. Helena of Hungary               7. Agnes of Austria                             15. Theodora Angelina

References

1. Ingeborg Eriksdatter – utdypning (Store norske leksikon)
2. Ingeborg, Dronning af Norge (Dansk biografisk Lexikon)

Other sources

• Koht, Halvdan Norske dronningar (1926)