Battle of Florvåg The Battle of Florvåg ( ) was a naval battle that was fought on 3 April 1194 between King Sverre Sigurdsson , leader of the Birkebeiner party , and Sigurd Magnusson , the Øyskjegg party pretender . Although there had been previous revolts during Sverre ' s reign following his usurpation of the throne in 1184 , the revolt in support of Sigurd Magnusson ( son of former king Magnus Erlingsson ) became far more threatening than the attempts of previous pretenders . In a larger context , the battle was part of the century - long civil war era in Norway . As Sigurd was a minor , the actual leaders behind the revolt were Hallkjell Jonsson and Olav Jarlsmåg . The Øyskjeggs recruited their initial army in Orkney and Shetland ( hence their name , meaning " island - men " ) , returned to Norway in 1193 , and quickly took control over a large part of the country . Based in Bergen for the winter , the Øyskjegg fleet relocated to the nearby bay of Florvåg off Askøy in anticipation of the arrival of Sverre ' s Birkebeiner fleet from Nidaros . The battle began with a surprise attack by the Birkebeiners during night . Although the Øyskjeggs gained the upper hand for most of the battle and victory eventually seemed within reach , their ships were caught in a current during the final stages of the battle . This caused them to become easy prey for the Birkebeiner , who in the end won the battle decisively and extinguished the majority of the Øyskjegg army , including their leaders . Background . The main source for the battle , and the events leading up to it , is King Sverre ' s own " Sverris saga " . Sverre had usurped the throne from the previous king Magnus Erlingsson following the Birkebeiner victory at the Battle of Fimreite in 1184 . In the years after this there were a succession of revolts started against Sverre , in support of various pretenders . Almost ten years after Sverre ' s usurpation , a revolt that would prove far more precarious for Sverre was started , based around Sigurd Magnusson , the only widely recognised son of Magnus Erlingsson . Since Sigurd was a minor , the group supporting his claim to the throne was led by Sigurd ' s guardian , " lendmann " Hallkjell Jonsson , along with Olav Jarlsmåg and Sigurd Jarlsson . The saga also claims that Bishop Nicholas Arnesson was involved with the revolt , but this is disputed by modern historians . Sigurd Magnusson was sent westwards to Shetland and Orkney in 1192 , and gained the military support of Earl Harald Maddadsson who provided the rebels with a longship . Sigurd was proclaimed king of Norway in Orkney , and was permitted to recruit an army in Harald ' s realm . The army sailed to Viken ( the south - eastern part of Norway ) in 1193 with 23 ships and 2 , 000 men , and had Sigurd proclaimed king at the Haugating . This force was commonly called the Øyskjeggs , meaning the " island - men " , although they themselves preferred to be called the Gullbeiner ( " gold - legs " ) , as opposed to their opponents , the Birkebeiner ( " birch - legs " ) . The Øyskjeggs sailed for a brief raid for booty in Denmark , and after returning to Norway , they took control over the entire country south of Stad — thus most of Western , Southern and Eastern Norway . Sigurd and the Øyskjeggs took up their base in Bergen for the winter , although they failed to take the city castle Sverresborg which was defended by 300 loyal Birkebeiners . Not expecting a Birkebeiner attack until spring , the Øyskjegg army was distributed across the country . The fleet was also divided up , with six ships stationed under Sigurd Jarlsson ' s command in Stavanger , and three in Sogn . Battle . After hearing news of the Øyskjegg offence , Sverre gathered his troops and sailed south from his base in Nidaros ( Trondheim ) with 20 ships . When Sverre was closing in on Bergen on 2 April , the Øyskjeggs went to their ships and sailed across Byfjorden to the bay of Florvåg , off the southeastern side of the island Askøy . Sverre arrived in the evening and left his fleet in Gravdal . After gaining intelligence of Øyskjegg plans of a counter - attack , Sverre set out to surprise the Øyskjeggs with an attack before dawn . The Birkebeiner fleet approached Florvåg in early 3 April , Palm Sunday , while it was still dark . The Øyskjeggs did not know of the attack until they heard the noise from the Birkebeiner ships crushing into their own ships . As the Birkebeiner warriors guarded themselves with their shields , the Øyskjeggs found no targets to shoot at until the Birkebeiner finally charged at the Øyskjeggs . The Øyskjeggs had an advantage since their ships were taller than those of the Birkebeiner , and they managed to pull Sverre ' s own royal ship towards them , killing all the archers and capturing the royal banner " Sigerflua " . After heavy losses on both sides , the Birkebeiner managed to shake off the Øyskjegg fleet and started a retreat . The Øyskjeggs began chasing the Birkebeiner , but since their oars had been broken , the Øyskjegg ships were suddenly dragged into a strong current , and the Birkebeiner fleet returned to attack the ships of the Øyskjeggs . The Birkebeiner also gained reinforcements of a fresh ship with 100 men from Sverresborg , and easily defeated the Øyskjeggs , one ship at a time . Only two Øyskjegg ships managed to get away , and except for some men who requested pardoning , the majority of the Øyskjegg forces were killed , including Sigurd Magnusson , Hallkjell Jonsson and Olav Jarlsmåg . Numbers . According to the saga , the Birkebeiner fleet consisted of 20 ships , plus a ship from Sverresborg that joined later on during the final stages of the battle . The Øyskjeggs had a numerically smaller fleet of 14 ships available during the battle , but compensated this by having ships that were larger in size . Historian Halvdan Koht estimated both fleets to carry total forces of approximately 2 , 000 men : this was later supported by historian Anders Bjarne Fossen . Koht estimated the Øyskjegg casualties at 1 , 000 men , but Fossen raised that number to 1 , 500 . While harder to pinpoint , Fossen estimated the numbers of Birkebeiners killed in the battle at around 900 – 1 , 000 men . These numbers makes the Battle of Florvåg possibly the deadliest naval battle fought in Norwegian history . Aftermath . Sverre became the undisputed ruler of Norway after the victory at Florvåg , and was at the height of his power during the following years . On 29 June , Sverre had himself coronated in Bergen by the bishops in Norway , all except one installed by Sverre and thus loyal to his rule . As the king was an excommunicated priest , his coronation was prohibited by the Catholic Church and served as the catalyst to a new struggle of his , this time with the Pope . The only bishop who opposed the coronation , in line with the Church ' s policy , was Nicholas Arnesson , whom " Sverris saga " accuses of being behind the Øyskjegg revolt , a claim that is considered unsubstantiated by modern historians . After learning that Sverre planned to subdue Orkney , Earl Harald Maddadsson who had supported the Øyskjegg revolt went as quickly as he could to meet Sverre in Bergen . He then pleaded his innocence and apologised to Sverre , claiming that he had not allowed the Øyskjeggs to raise an army in his realm . Sverre settled with Harald by asserting his overlordship and taxation rights over Orkney and Shetland . Vinje runic inscriptions . Most of the Øyskjeggs who managed to escape fled to Denmark . Sigurd Jarlsson , a surviving Øyskjegg leader , was in Bergen during the battle although he did not take part himself , and fled to Telemark when he received news of the defeat . The detour to Telemark before he later arrived in Denmark is known from two runic inscriptions that were discovered in the Vinje stave church when it was demolished in 1796 , one of them having been written by Sigurd himself . Latin transliteration : Old Norse transcription : English translation : The other runic inscription found in the stave church was written by one Halvard Grenske ( possibly identical with Halvard Bratte ) , who had actually taken part in the Battle of Florvåg . His inscription is written in verses , cursing those who commit betrayal as well as promising the continued struggle of the enemies of Sverre .