30 THE KING'S MIRROR 



Norwegian king. The Saga of Hakon relates that early 

 in the king's reign " missions began between the em- 

 peror and King Hakon." * In 1241, " when King Hakon 

 came to the King's Crag, that man came to him whose 

 name was Matthew, sent from the emperor Frederick 

 with many noble gifts. Along with him came from 

 abroad five Bluemen (negroes)." f Just how acceptable 

 such a gift would be in medieval Norway the chronicler 

 does not state. There can be no doubt, however, that 

 Hakon returned the courtesy. The saga mentions several 

 men who were sent on flipl nm aj-.j c erra.n fa to the imperial 

 court. One of these(eniissarl^ had to go as far as Sicily, 

 " and the emperor received him well."! 

 The 



*" 



The King's Mirror states that 



kings fin^ i* ripppggpry f,o 



Q pnmmr>Ti 



thf> mpm^pi of thp variou 



nrrrfully thfr tniitQintii mH mnnnrn of th^ other groups^ 

 These meetings were usually held at some point near 

 the mouth of the Gota River, where the boundaries of 

 the three kingdoms touched a common point. In 1254 

 such a meeting was held at which Hakon of Norway, 

 Christopher of Denmark, and the great Earl Birger 

 of Sweden were in attendance with their respective 

 retinues. 1 1 



j^The kings of the North were not limited, however, in 

 their diplomatic intercourse to the neighboring monarch- 

 ies; their ambassadors went out to the remotest parts 



* Hdkonar Saga, c. 191. f Und-, c. 243. J Ibid., c. 191. 



C. xxix. 1 1 Hdkonar Saga, c. 281. 



