page_title: Eystein I of Norway
section_title: Reign
hierarchical_section_title: Eystein I of Norway / Reign
caption_attribution_description: English: Coin thought to represent the Norwegian co-kings Eystein Magnusson and Sigurd the Crusader, thus dated to 1115-23. Source: Skaare, Kolbjørn (1995). Norges mynthistorie. 1. Universitetsforlaget. p. 57. Norsk bokmål: Mynt man mener stammer fra de norske samkongene Øystein Magnusson og Sigurd Jorsalfar, og dermed datert til 1115-23. Kilde: Skaare, Kolbjørn (1995). Norges mynthistorie. 1. Universitetsforlaget. s. 57.
context_page_description: Eystein Magnusson was King of Norway from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although since Olaf died before adulthood, only Eystein and Sigurd were effective rulers of the country.
  While Sigurd gained fame as the "warrior king", Eystein was in contrast portrayed in the sagas as the "peace king" who stayed home in Norway and improved the country. As Eystein never engaged in warfare, considerably less information is written and known about him than about his brother Sigurd, despite his twenty-year-long reign, just a few years short of Sigurd. Eystein nonetheless gained the affection of his people, and was highly regarded by the saga writers for his deeds. Eystein and Sigurd's reign became the longest joint rule in Norwegian history.
  Although the later saga literature narrates stereotypical accounts about the two kings, Eystein is known to have improved the infrastructure and raised buildings and churches, particularly across the coast in Western Norway and Trøndelag, from Bergen to the fishing centre of Lofoten in the north.
context_section_description: The co-rule between Eystein, Sigurd and Olaf entailed a shared kingship, and the kingdom itself was not divided into fixed borders. During the early years of their reign, Eystein is nonetheless said to have stayed mostly in Western Norway and Trøndelag, while Sigurd was in Viken. In practice, only Eystein and Sigurd ever ruled as kings, as Olaf was considerably younger and died when he was only seventeen years old, and virtually nothing is known about him beyond his name. One of the earliest acts by the kings was passing a retterbot, a special law ordained by the king, which among other things abolished various royal taxes that originated from the Danish rule of Sweyn Knutsson and Ælfgifu (under Cnut the Great) in the early 1030s. The kings became very popular because of this. According to some sources, the main motivation for abolishing the taxes was to gain the support of the population for Sigurd's planned crusade.
  In 1107 or 1108, after years of preparations, Sigurd sailed with a large fleet on a crusade to the Holy Land, the first European king ever to do so. Sigurd arrived back in Norway in 1111. Eystein, on the other hand, did not engage in any warfare, and considerably less information is thus written about him than about Sigurd, although Snorri notes that he "had also effected much in the country that was useful while King Sigurd was on his journey." While Sigurd gained fame in posterity as the "warrior king", although mainly because of his one-time crusade, Eystein was portrayed by the saga writers as the "peace king" who stayed at home and improved the country. Since Sigurd remained king for nineteen years after his crusade with little controversy, historian Claus Krag has considered that the domestic peace probably could be attributed equally to Sigurd. In order to contrast Eystein with Sigurd, Snorri tells a story that Eystein instead subdued Jämtland to the Norwegian crown peacefully through the use of gifts and diplomacy. Despite Snorri's account, historical records indicate that Jämtland did not succumb to Norwegian rule until much later, during the reign of King Sverre in 1178. Eystein and Sigurd are, however, known to have claimed monopoly on the trade and taxation in Finnmarken.
  Fish became an increasingly important commodity during Eystein's reign, as more cod was fished in Northern Norway and the demand for stockfish soared in Europe. As the most suitable port, Bergen became the main trade hub for exporting stockfish, including trade connections with Grimsby in England, while it also served to import much needed goods such as grain and flour. To further the trade, Eystein had fishing booths and a church built in the fishing centre at Vågan in Lofoten in Northern Norway, and he sailed north to Lofoten and Trondenes himself in 1114. He also secured the route along the coast by constructing a port in Agdenes on the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord, as well as smaller beacons along the coast. Eystein's port construction in Agdenes was compared by Theodoric the Monk to that of Augustus Caesar at Brundisium, an association readily reflected by Theodoric's use of the Latinised name form "Augustinus" for Eystein. (Otherwise, Pope Callixtus II calls Eystein "Aistano" in a letter.) The existence of a now lost port in Agdenes dated to around Eystein's reign has been supported by recent archaeological surveys in the area. Snorri also says that Eystein had several large dry-docks built in Nidaros, and that he had a large ship built which "in size and shape" resembled the great ship Ormen Lange once built by King Olaf Tryggvason. Eystein also improved the shelters in the mountain passes, notably at Hjerkinn in Dovre, to more comfortable houses with permanent supervision.
  In Snorri's mannjevning between Eystein and Sigurd, Eystein allegedly maintains that his own building-projects in Norway were "more useful for the country," than "you [Sigurd] killing bluemen for the devil in Serkland." Eystein was particularly active in Bergen, and his role in the development of the city was probably more important than that of King 
caption: Coin thought to represent the co-rule of Eystein and Sigurd, and thus dated to 1115–23.
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