Battle of Storsjön explained
| Conflict: | Battle of Storsjön |
| Date: | 1178 |
| Place: | Strait between Andersön and Sunne in Storsjöbygden, Jämtland |
| Casus: | Sverre Sigurdssons conquest of Trondheim in 1177, without any resistance from jamtish people. When he returned from Hälsingland the year later the jamtish and their chief prepared an attack against him. |
| Result: | Norwegian victory- Norway takes control of Jamtland
|
| Combatant1: | Jämtland |
| Combatant2: | Norway |
| Commander1: | unknown |
| Commander2: | Sverre Sigurdsson |
| Strength1: | 1200 men |
| Strength2: | 100 men |
| Casualties3: | 100 dead |
The Battle of Storsjön (Slaget på Storsjöns is) was fought during 1178 outside Sunne, in Jämtland province, Sweden. The battle was won by the Birkebeiner army of King Sverre of Norway.[1] [2]
The battle was conducted near Lake Storsjön, which was then covered with ice. Due to darkness, Sverre and his troops pulled away while local peasants fought against each other. When dawn came, the Birkebeiner forces attacked and won a victory. As a consequences of this defeat, Jämtland was incorporated into Norway until it was ceded to Sweden in 1645.[3]
According to the Sverris saga, the Jamts were mostly killed by sword blows in their backs. This is supported by archaeological findings from the 20th century.[4]
Other sources
- Ashlund, Nils (1948) Jämtlands och Härjedalens historia D. 1, Intill 1537 (Norstedts Förlag) (In Swedish)
- Helle, Knut (1995) Under kirke og kongemakt: 1130-1350 (Aschehoug Universitetsforlaget) (in Norwegian)
- Krag, Claus (2005) Sverre: Norges største middelalderkonge (Aschehoug Universitetsforlaget) (in Norwegian)
Further reading
- Egervärn, Erik Arthur; Järnankar, Frans (1993) Jämtlands och Härjedalens historia (Hjo: Sandtorp Consult AB) (In Swedish)
- Ekerwald, Carl-Göran (2004) Jämtarnas Historia intill 1319 (Östersund: Jengel, Förlaget för Jemtlandica) (in Norwegian)
- Holmsen, Andreas (1939) Norges historie fra de eldste tider til 1660 (Universitetsforlaget AS) (in Norwegian)
External links
Notes and References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050123124948/http://web.telia.com/~u63501054/Republiken.historia.html Republiken Jamtland (Bo Oscarsson)
- https://books.google.com/books?id=tV0eAAAAMAAJ&q=Birkebeiner History of the Norwegian People (Knut Gjerset, 1915. The MacMillan Company)
- http://www.historiesajten.se/freder2.asp?id=6 Freden i Brömsebro 1645 (Historiesajten uppdaterades)
- http://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/c9a70ec7e9d2fdc8036b5f10d8649703.nbdigital?lang=no#0 Jemtland og Norge (Edvard Bull, 1927 Oslo: Gyldendal)
