36 THE KING'S MIRROR 



influence of events in the preceding century of Nor- 

 wegian history. So long as thfijehurch-of Norway was 

 umfcr th*> gnpftrincinn ^LJarpigT] firchbishops. first the 

 metropolitan of distant Hamburg and later the arch- 

 bishop of the Danish (now Swedish) see of Lund, there. 

 of anv serious-dash betwea-*he. 



rival powers of f^ 11T> rh and ctqt ^ But when, in 1152, an 

 <Jrchiepiscoaj>see was established at Nidaros (Trond- 

 hjem) trouble broke out at once. Thejvave of enthusi- 

 ^sjfl for a powerful and indepgH p P f phnrffr, which Jlgl 

 Developed iir>i vijofor in the Havs oLfiregorv VII. was 

 gftfl) rising high. Able men were appointed to the new 

 metropolitan office and the Norwegian church very soon 

 put forth the usual demands of the time: separate eccle- 

 siastical courts and immunity from anything that looked 

 like taxation or forced contribution to the state. At first 

 these claims had no reality in fact, as the kings would 

 not allow them; but in 1163 * an opportunity came for 

 the church to make its demands effective. In that year 

 a victorious faction asked for the coronation of a new 

 king whose claims to the throne came through Jbis 

 mother only* The pretender was a mere child and tjie 

 actual power was in the hands of his capable and am- 

 bitious father^ Erling Skakke. The imperious archbishog 

 Eystein agreed to consecrate the boy king if he would 

 consent to become the vassal of Saint Olaf, or, in other 

 words, of the archbishop of Nidaros. Erling acquiesced 

 and young Magnus was duly crowned. It was further 

 . Stipulated that j 



* The date usually given is 1164; but Ebbe Hertzberg argues quite conclu- 

 sively for the earlier year. " Den f orste norske Kongekroning " : Historisk 

 Tidsskrift, Fjerde Rtekke, III, 30-37. 



