named Skopte equipped a squadron of five vessels, and set sail, accompanied by his three sons, for Palestine; but died at Rome, where he had stopped to perform his devotions. The expedition was continued by his sons, none of whom survived the journey. The fame of this exploit, and the marvellous tales of other i)ilgrims, led Sigurd, the king of Norway, to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Fired with a love of wild adventure and an avaricious desire of plunder, the royal pilgrim set out with a fleet of sixty vessels, surmounted with the sacred banner of the cross, and manned with several thousand followers. After wintering in England, where thej' were hospitably treated by Henry I, the Norwegian crusaders proceeded on their voyage, and after encoun- tering many hardships, plundering various places, and barbarously murdering tribes of people who refused to become Christians, they paid the accustomed visit to Jerusalem and the other holy places. Sigurd, on his return home, was solicited by the king of Denmark to join him in an attack upon the inhabitants of Smaland, who, after being nominally converted to Christianity, had relapsed into idolatry, and put to death the Chris- tian missionaries. The king of Norway responded to the invitation, and, passing into the Baltic, punished the revolted pagans, and returned to his country laden with booty. After a reign of twenty -seven years, Sigurd died in 1130. From this period Norway became, for more than a century, a prey to barbarous and destruc- tive civil wars. In the midst of these internal commo- tions, cardinal Nicholas, an Englishman by birth, and afterwards known as pope Adrian lY, arrived in Norway as legate from the Romish see. The chief object of his mission was to render the kingdom ecclesiastically inde- pendent of the authority of the archbishop of Lund — an arrangement which was earnestly desired by the Nor- wegian kings. An archiepiscopal see was accordingly erected at Trondhjem, and endowed with authority, not only over Norway, but also over the Norwegian colo- nies. Rejoicing in their spiritual independence, the people readily consented to pay the accustomed tribute of Peter's pence to Rome, but they strenuously resisted the attempt made by the pope's legate to insist upon the celibacy of the clergy. " In various other things," says Snorre, "the papal legate reformed the manners and customs of the nation during his stay, so that there never came to this land a stranger who was more hon- ored and beloved both by princes and people." The Church of Norway had now accepted a metropolitan at the hands of the pope of Rome, and this acknowledg- ment of subjection to the Romish see was soon followed by other concessions which seriously compromised the liberties of the country. The ambitious prelate of the see of Trondhjem was desirous of adopting every expe- dient to add to the influence and authority of the pri- macy. With this view he succeeded in bringing it about that the realm was hereafter to be held as a fief of St, Olaf, the superior lord being represented by the archbishops of Trondhjem, whose consent was made in- dispensable to filling the vacant throne. On the de- mise of the reigning king, the crown was to be relig- iously offered to St. Olaf. in the cathedral where his relics were deposited, by the bishops, abbots, and twelve chieftains from each diocese, who were to nominate the successor with the advice and consent of their primate. Thus taking advantage of the incessant contentions for the sovereignty by which the country was agitated and disturbed, the Romish primate secured for the see of Trondhjem a perpetual control over the future choice of the Norwegian monarchs. The crown was now de- clared an ecclesiastical fief, and the government alm(»st converted into a hierarchy. A young adventurer named Sverre seized on the crown of Norway, and his title was ratified by the sword as well as by the general acquies- cence of the nation. The primate, however, refused to perform the usual ceremony of coronation, and, fearing the royal displeasure, fled to Denmark. Thence he transmitted an appeal to Rome, in consequence of which
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the pope launched the tliunders of the Vatican against Sverre, threatening him with excommunication unless he instantly desisted from his hostile measures against the primate. The sovereign, having been educated for the priesthood, was well skilled both in canon law and ecclesiastical, and he found no difficulty, therefore, in showing, both from Scripture and the decrees of coun- cils, that the pope had no right to interfere in such dis- putes between kings and their subjects. Anxious for peace, however, Sverre applied for a papal legate to perform the ceremony of his confirmation, but was re- fused. The king was indignant at this proceeding on the part of Rome ; and reproaching the Koman ambas- sador with duplicity, ordered him forthwith to leave his dominions. As a last resource, the enraged monarch summoned together the prelates of the realm, and caused himself to be crowned by bishop Nicholas, who had been elected through his influence; but the proceeding was condemned by pope Alexander III, who excommunicated both the royal and the clerical offender. Deputies were soon after despatched to Rome, who succeeded in ob- taining a papal absolution for the king; but on their return they were detained in Denmark, where they suddenly died, having previously pledged the papal bull to raise money for the payment of their expenses. The important document thus found its way into the hands of Sv^erre, who read it publicly in the cathedral of Trondhjem, alleging that the deputies had been poison- ed by his enemies. The whole transaction seemed not a little suspicious ; the Norwegian king was charged by the pope with having forged the bull, and procured the death of the messengers ; and on the ground of this accusation the kingdom was laid under an interdict (q. v.). Bishop Nicholas now abandoned the king, whose cause he had so warmly espoused, fled to the primate in Denmark, and there raising a considerable army, invaded Norway ; but Sverre, aided by a body of troops sent from England by king .John, succeeded in defeating the rebels. The king did not long survive this victory, but worn out by the harassing contests to which for a quarter of a century he had been subjected, died about this time.