Birger Brosa

Who he is

Name

Birger Brosa (Birger Bengtsson)

Title

jarl of the Swedes and the Götar (Latin dux Sweorum et Guttorum)

Since

about 1174, under King Knut Eriksson (en.wikipedia); kept the office under Sverker

Born

not pinned; married before 1170, so an old man by 1200; dies 9 January 1202

Family

Son of Bengt Snivil, of the Bjälbo house that goes back to Folke the Fat, jarl about 1100. Wife: Brigida Haraldsdotter, daughter of King Harald Gille of Norway, earlier the wife of the pretender Magnus Henriksson (king at Uppsala 1160-61). Sons: Philip (Filippus), jarl in Norway in King Sverre's service and 'one of his most loyal supporters', who dies in 1200 (day not pinned); Knut, later jarl, reportedly married to a daughter of King Knut Eriksson (killed 1208 at Lena or 1210 at Gestilren); Folke, later jarl, killed at Gestilren in 1210 (de.wikipedia calls Folke Birger's brother instead); Magnus, named by Snorri. Daughters: Ingegerd, who marries King Sverker in 1200; Kristina and Margareta. Brother: Magnus Minnesköld, his younger brother by a medieval genealogy (en.wikipedia), who lives at Bjälbo (Magnus Minnesköld).

Confidence

high

en.wikipedia (Birger Brosa; House of Bjälbo; Magnus Minnesköld; Eskil Magnusson); de.wikipedia (Sverker II).

Overlord

King Sverker II

What it holds

• the jarl's office: the levy fleet and the jarl's share of royal dues, including part of Gotland's tribute (Guta saga)
• Bjälbo near Skänninge in Östergötland, the house's oldest known manor, where his brother Magnus lives (en.wikipedia)
• estates in Östergötland, Närke, Värmland and Södermanland (en.wikipedia; not located; Närke and Södermanland are on the swn sheet)
• patronage of Riseberga Abbey in Närke (swn sheet)

How it was acquired

Bjälbo by inheritance; the jarl's office from King Knut about 1174.

Allies and rivals

King Sverker (soon his son-in-law); King Sverre of Norway (his wife's kinsman, his son's lord); King Knut's sons (his son Knut reportedly married their sister). No open rival is recorded; the Danish court may remember his help to the Scanian rebels of 1180-82.

How things stand that morning

At the height of his power and the hinge of the realm: the king's partner, the Erik house's friend and Sverre's ally at once.

Wealth

The Bjälbo estates on the Östergötland plain, lands across four provinces, the jarl's dues.

Military

Leader of the ledung and of the great men's retinues; Bjälbo's fortified church tower is of uncertain date and is not claimed for 1200.

Threats

• his age (he dies on 9 January 1202)
• the loss of Philip in Norway
• the question who succeeds him as jarl

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (en.wikipedia)His daughter Ingegerd marries King Sverker.Depends on: Queen Benedikta's death Stopped by: a breach with the king
2. 1200, day not pinned (en.wikipedia)His son Philip, Sverre's jarl, dies in Norway.Depends on: the Norwegian war Stopped by: his circumstances changing

Later, on the likely course

1. 9 January 1202 (after this year)Birger Brosa dies; a son of his becomes jarl and dies soon after (de.wikipedia); Sverker gives the title to his infant son Johan.Depends on: natural death

Places of note

• Bjälbo: the house's oldest known manor
• Skänninge: the market town beside Bjälbo

Where the sources disagree

• de.wikipedia makes Folke, the jarl killed at Gestilren in 1210, Birger's brother and the father of Sune Folkesson; en.wikipedia makes him Birger's son. Not settled here.

Evidence: The jarl and his family are named in Sverris saga, Snorri and charters; his estates are named by province only.

On the map: Only the seat is drawn; the estates in Värmland, Närke and Södermanland are known by province only.

Primary sources for Sweden

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig. Read online
• Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire. Read online
• The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
• The sagas of the Baglers (about 1210 to 1220, in a shorter and a longer version). Begins with Sverre's death in March 1202 and the reigns of Hákon Sverrisson, Guttorm and Inge Bårdsson against the Bagler kings Erling Steinvegg and Philippus, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Danish diplomatarium: charters and letters concerning Denmark, with Danish translation (documents of 789 to 1448; the online edition is continuing). Twenty-seven documents are dated to 1200: Innocent III's letters of February and March 1200 to Philip Augustus and Queen Ingeborg and his order for the interdict on France, Otto IV's letter to the pope expecting King Knud VI to move into Saxony, the reports of the legate Octavian and the French bishops on the lifting of the interdict in September, the pope's letters to Knud VI asking him to send advocates for his sister, Knud VI's ordinance on manslaughter for Skåne of 28 December 1200, and private gifts to Roskilde and Næstved. Read online
• The Swedish diplomatarium and its main register, SDHK (documents of 817 to 1540). The register of every known Swedish medieval letter, with full texts for the early centuries. Read online
• The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online