Sigurd Magnússon

Titles

King of Norway

Origin

Bergen (Runciman, A History of the Crusades, II, p. 92)

Expedition Date/s

1106/07-1111

Biography

Sigurd Magnússon became king of Norway after the death of his father in 1103. In the early years of his reign, he ruled as co-king alongside his brothers Eystein and Olaf, but Sigurd outlived both. He governed Norway until his death in 1130.

Beginning in 1107, King Sigurd departed from Norway with a fleet of ships, perhaps as many as 60 strong. He did not arrive in the Holy Land until 1110, when (after visiting the holy sites) he played an instrumental role in the conquest of Sidon. While several of Sigurd’s men decided to remain in Constantinople, he returned to Norway by land, arriving home in 1111.

Associates

Áláskr Hani, Hámundr Thorvaldsson of Vatnsfjord, Arni Fjöruskeiv

Source

Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, trans. L. M. Hollander (Austin, 1967), 688–714.
Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings, 1030–1157, ed. and trans. T. M. Andersson (New York, 2000), 313–59.
William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum: The History of the English Kings, ed. R. A. B. Mynors, with R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1998–99), ii, 480–81.
Theodoricus Monachus, Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium, in Monumenta historica Norvegiæ, ed. G. Storm (Christiania, 1880).
Ágrip Af Nóregskonungasgum: A Twelfth ­Century Synoptic History of the Kings of Norway, ed. and trans. M. J. Driscoll (London, 2008).
Fagriskinna: a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway, ed. and trans. A. Finlay (Leiden, 2003), 74–5.
Ibn al-Qalānisī, ,i>The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, trans. H. A. R. Gibb (London, 1932), 106.
Ibn al-Athīr, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi’l-Ta’rikh. Part 1: The Years 491–541/1097/1146: The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response, trans. D. S. Richards (Farnham, 2005), 152.
Albert of Aachen, Historia Ierosolimitana: History of the Journey to Jerusalem, ed. and trans. S. B. Edgington (Oxford, 2007), 798.
Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana, ed. H. Hagenmayer (Heidelberg, 1913), 544.

Bibliography

Doxey, G. B., 'Norwegian Crusaders and the Balearic Islands', Scandinavian Studies 68/2 (1996): 139–60.
Hill, J., ‘Pilgrimage and Prestige in the Icelandic Sagas’, Saga Book 23 (1993): 433–53.
Jakobsson, A., 'Image is Everything: The Morkinskinna Account of King Sigurðr of Norway’s Journey to the Holy Land,' Parergon 30/1 (2013): 121–40.
Kalinke, M. E., 'Sigurðar Saga Jórsalafara: Fictionalisation of Fact in Morkinskinna,' Scandinavian Studies 56/2 (1984): 152–67.
Nedkvitne, A., ‘Why Did Medieval Norsemen Go on Crusades?,' in Medieval History Writing and Crusade Ideology, ed., T. M. S. Lehtonen, K. V. Jensen, J. Malkki and K. Ritari (Helsinki, 2005), 37–50.
Norako, L. K., 'Crusading Gone Global? The Icelandic Magnussona Saga’s Visions of the World and Home,' Literature Compass 11/7 (2014): 423–34.
Phillips, J., ‘William of Malmesbury: Medical Historian of the Crusades,' in Discovering William of Malmesbury, ed., R. M. Thompson, E. Dolmans and E. A. Winkler (Woodbridge, 2017), 129–38.
Riant, P., Expéditions et pèlerinages des scandinaves en Terre Sainte au temps des croisades (Paris, 1865), 179.
Runciman, S., A History of the Crusades, 3 vols (Cambridge, 1952), II, 92.

Citation

“Sigurd Magnússon,” Independent Crusaders Project, accessed October 6, 2024, https://independentcrusadersproject.ace.fordham.edu/items/show/163.

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