The Norwegian Kingdom in The Middle Ages

Abstract

The embryo of the Norwegian kingdom goes back to late 9th – early 10th Century. The Norwegian historian Sverre Bagge has called his monumental book about state-formation in Norway c. 900 – 1350, for “From Viking Stronghold to Christian Kingdom”. It is an explanatory and incisive title. Based on among many factors, concentration of resources and inspiration from kingdoms on the British Isles and the Continent, three Scandinavian Kingdoms came out of the Viking Age, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They have all existed ever since, but with changing boundaries and within different state compositions. Denmark was the oldest and most powerful Scandinavian kingdom during the whole middle ages. Sweden was lagging behind in many ways when it came to state building and Christianity in the first centuries of the middle ages, compared with the other two kingdoms, with Norway in a middle position.