Vestfold's old trading town on the outer Oslofjord, where kings were proclaimed at the Haugating (Harald Gille in 1130), with the king's farm at Sem close by (snl.no: probably the scene of Harald Gille's ordeal in 1126).
It was a base of Magnus Erlingsson's party after 1184 and stays hostile to Sverre. Over the town rises the rock, Berget (Slottsfjellet), with St Michael's church (first mentioned 1191); Saxo, writing about 1200, calls it fortified and impregnable in the 1160s, and by 1201 it carries two wooden towers but probably no continuous wall and no stone works (snl.no Tunsberghus). In a night raid told in the saga, but not dated in the sources checked, Sigurd Jarlsson sealed the town and killed the Birkebeiner in it, among them Sverre's half-brother Hide.
During 1200 the Bagler strengthen Berget, and Reidar Sendemann holds it through Sverre's siege of 1201-02.
Who holds it
- Name
- the king; Sverre's officer that winter is not named
- Title
- town lord
- Since
- autumn 1199
- Confidence
- low
snl.no Tønsbergs historie, Tunsberghus, Sigurd Jarlsson
Lord in 1200
The king. Sverre has Viken in hand that winter, but no officer of his in Tunsberg is named in the sources checked. The townsmen are against him: they join the farmers' army that attacks him at Oslo in March 1200 (snl.no Sverre).
How things stand that morning
In the Viken Sverre took in autumn 1199, but a town that hates him; no Bagler garrison is recorded on the rock before 1200.
Charter
None. A royal trading town.
Council
None in 1200; the Haugating is the district's assembly.
Communities
Townsmen; the Premonstratensian canons of St Olav's abbey (before 1191, snl.no klostre), whose round church is the largest in the North; the clergy of St Lawrence's and St Michael's.
Militia
The townsmen join the farmers against Sverre at Oslo (6 March 1200) (snl.no Sverre).
Walls and castle
No town wall. Berget: St Michael's church and wooden defences (two towers by 1201); Haakon IV's stone castle and walls are later (from 1217).
Trade and crafts
The harbour of Vestfold facing Denmark across the Skagerrak; details for 1200 thin.
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
- January to March 1200Townsmen join the farmers' army against Sverre at Oslo; beaten 6 March 1200.Depends on: The farmers' rising. Stopped by: Sverre's men in the town.
- 1200 (not pinned)The Bagler strengthen Berget; Reidar Sendemann keeps a standing force there (snl.no Sigurd Jarlsson, Inge Magnusson).Depends on: Sverre leaving Viken. Stopped by: A Birkebeiner garrison.
Later, on the likely course
- September 1201 to about 25 January 1202Sverre's siege of Berget; Reidar surrenders for want of food after about 20 weeks (snl.no; en.wikipedia).Depends on: Sverre's levy of 1201. Stopped by: Relief from the Uplands.
Places of note
- Berget (Slottsfjellet): St Michael's church (1191) and wooden defences; Bagler stronghold from 1200.
- Sem: Royal estate (kongsgård) by the town.
Where the sources disagree
- The year of Sigurd Jarlsson's raid that killed Hide is not given in snl.no; if it fell after the autumn of 1199, Hide may have been Sverre's man in Tunsberg that winter. Not pinned.
Evidence: The rock's state in 1201 is described by snl.no (Tunsberghus); 1200 is inferred from it.
On the map: Near land only.
Sources and studies
- Store norske leksikon: Tønsbergs historie
- Store norske leksikon: Tunsberghus
- Wikipedia: Tønsberg Fortress
- Store norske leksikon: Sigurd Jarlsson
- Store norske leksikon: Sverre Sigurdsson
- Store norske leksikon: klostre i Norge
- Norsk biografisk leksikon: Gunnhild, kongsmor
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.