Reign 1263–1280 Mother Jutta of Saxony Name Ingeborg Denmark, | Father Eric IV of Denmark Religion Roman Catholicism Died 1287, Bergen, Norway | |
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House House of Estridsen (by birth)
House of Sverre (Fairhair dynasty)
(by marriage) Spouse Magnus VI of Norway (m. 1261) Children Haakon V of Norway, Eric II of Norway Parents Jutta of Saxony, Eric IV of Denmark Grandchildren Margaret, Maid of Norway, Ingeborg of Norway, Agnes Haakonsdatter, Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway Similar People Magnus VI of Norway, Haakon V of Norway, Eric IV of Denmark, Eric II of Norway, Margrete Skulesdatter | ||
Ingeborg Eriksdotter (ca. 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.
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 Tonsberg 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.
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. Two of their sons would later become Kings of Norway: Eirik II of Norway (1268–1299) and Haakon V of Norway (1270–1319).
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 Ostfold.
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.