Norwegian Monarch. He reigned as King of Norway from 1184 until his death in March 1202. According to the sagas, he was born in Norway, the son of a comb maker. At age 5, he moved with his family to the Faroe Islands between Norway and Iceland and was raised by his uncle, who was the Bishop of Kirkjubor. He trained to become a priest but after his mother, Gunnhild, revealed to him that he was the biological son of Norwegian King Sigurd II Haraldsson (disputed by some historians), he left for Norway to seek his destiny. His claim to the Norwegian throne was never fully established, and he refused to undergo a trial by fire to prove his claim was legitimate. He came into contact with the Birkebeiner Party, one of the warring factions that had plunged Norway into a state of civil war, caused primarily by a lack of any clear succession laws. After the Birkebeiner's defeat by Norwegian King Magnus V at the Battle of Re in January 1177 in which their leader, Oystein Moyla, was killed, he was persuaded to be their next leader. With only a ragtag army of about 70 men, he led them to the region of Trondelag where he was proclaimed king at Oretinget in June 1177. Following a few small engagements, they wintered in Osterdal and the next spring they returned to Trondelag, then traveled to Nidaros where they were defeated at the Battle of Hatthammeren. Fleeing south, they engaged Magnus's army at Ringerike and won a tactical victory and returned to Trondelag. In the spring of 1179, Magnus attacked Nidaros in an attempt to rout Sverre and send him southward, but he turned around and attacked Magnus and defeated him at the Battle of Kalvskinnet, thereby securing his hold on Trondelag. In the spring of 1180, Magnus attacked Trondelag but his forces were again defeated Sverre's army at the Battle of Ilevollene, forcing him to flee to Denmark. The following year, Magnus returned with his fleet and in May 1181 he engaged the Birkebeiners at the Battle of Nordnes where Sverre's forces won a tactical victory. Sverre then withdrew to Trondelag and when negotiations for a peace broke down, he took his army south to Viken to plunder, but at the same time Magnus raided Trondelag and destroyed most of Sverre's fleet. In the summer of 1182, Magnus laid siege to Nidaros but incurred great losses to his fleet when Sverre's Birkebeiners led a surprise night attack. He rebuilt his fleet and the following spring and attacked Magnus at Bergen, capturing his entire fleet, causing him to flee again to Denmark. In early 1184, Magnus returned to Norway with a new fleet, and at the Battle of Fimreite in the Sogenfjord, Magnus was defeated and drowned as he tried to flee, and Sverre claimed the Norwegian throne. His reign was a difficult one, and he was faced with uprisings from the Kuvlungs (1185 to 1188, led by former monk Jon Kuvlung who claimed to be the son of Norwegian King Inge I) and the Oysjeggerne (1193, led by Hallkjell Jonsson, a brother-in-law of former King Magnus V). Hallkjell, with help from Harald Maddadsson, the Earl of Orkney, assembled an army with men from the Orkney and Shetland Islands. They attacked and occupied the city of Bergen but in April 1194, Sverre's forces won an overwhelming victory at the Battle of Florvag and Hallkjell was killed. In 1196 the Bagler Party, which was backed by the Church of Norway in opposition to Sverre, was formed in Denmark. They chose Inge Magnusson (reputedly the son of Magnus V) as their king and took an army to Norway and gained a stronghold in the Viken region with Oslo as their main seat. The two forces encountered each other but no major battles transpired. In the spring of 1197, Sverre took a considerable force to Viken and attacked Oslo in July, forcing Inge's Baglers inland. After Sverre withdrew to Bergen for the winter, the Baglers captured Nidaros and occupied Trondelag, Sverre's home turf. In 1198 Sverre took his fleet to Trondelag to recapture it and in May of that year, he was defeated and retreated back to Bergen followed by the Bagler army who burned the city to the ground, forcing him to take his army back to Trondelag. In July 1199 the Baglers engaged Sverre's forces at the Battle of Strindafjord and he won a decisive victory, forcing the surviving Baglers to retreat to Denmark. However, the Viken region remained hostile to Sverre's Birkebeiners and after an engagement with the local peasants whom he defeated, he decided to relocate to Bergen. In the spring of 1201 he set sail with a large force to Oslofjord, laying siege to the city of Oslo, which finally surrendered in January 1202. On the return voyage to Bergen he became ill and died there, exact age unknown. His son, Haakon III, succeeded him as king.