Guttorm of Norway

Guttorm Sigurdsson
King of Norway
Reign2 January  – 11 August 1204
PredecessorHaakon III
SuccessorInge II
RegentHaakon the Crazy[1]
Born1199
Died11 August 1204(1204-08-11) (aged 4–5)
Burial
HouseHouse of Sverre
FatherSigurd Lavard

Guttorm Sigurdsson (Old Norse: Guttormr Sigurðarson; 1199 – 11 August 1204) was the king of Norway from January to August 1204, during the Norwegian civil war era. As a grandson of King Sverre, he was proclaimed king by the Birkebeiner faction when he was just four years old. Although obviously not in control of the events surrounding him, Guttorm's accession to the throne under the effective regency of Haakon the Crazy led to renewed conflict between the Birkebeiner and the Bagler factions, the latter supported militarily by Valdemar II of Denmark.

Guttorm's reign ended abruptly when the child king suddenly became ill and died. Rumours among the Birkebeiner held that Guttorm's illness and death had been caused by Haakon the Crazy's future wife Christina Nilsdatter, a claim considered dubious by modern historians. Low-intensity civil war followed Guttorm's death, until a settlement was reached in 1207, temporarily dividing the kingdom.[2]

  1. ^ Arstad, Knut Peter Lyche. "Håkon Galen". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Den norske kongerekken". kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). 23 February 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2023.