61 Facts About Harald Hardrada

Harald Hardrada unsuccessfully claimed the Danish throne until 1064 and the English throne in 1066.

Olaf and Harald Hardrada were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald Hardrada was forced into exile to Kievan Rus'.

Harald Hardrada amassed wealth whilst in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to Yaroslav in Kievan Rus' for safekeeping.

In 1046, Harald Hardrada joined forces with Magnus's rival in Denmark, the pretender Sweyn II of Denmark, raiding the Danish coast.

The co-rule ended abruptly the next year as Magnus died: Harald Hardrada became the sole ruler of Norway.

Domestically, Harald Hardrada crushed opposition, and outlined the unification of Norway.

Harald Hardrada's reign was one of relative peace and stability, and he instituted a coin economy and foreign trade.

Not long after Harald Hardrada had renounced his claim to Denmark, the former Earl of Northumbria, Tostig Godwinson, brother of English king Harold Godwinson, pledged his allegiance to Harald Hardrada, inviting him to claim the English throne.

However, in a number of independent sources associated with the British Isles, mostly earlier than the Icelandic sagas, Harald Hardrada is given epithets deriving from Old Norse harfagri.

However, recognising the independence of some of the Insular sources, historians have since favoured the idea that Harald Hardrada was widely known as Harald Fairhair, and indeed now doubt that the earlier Harald Fairhair existed in any form resembling the later saga-accounts.

Harald Hardrada was born in Ringerike, Norway, in 1015 to Asta Gudbrandsdatter and her second husband Sigurd Syr.

Harald Hardrada thus differed from his two older brothers, who were more similar to their father, down-to-earth and mostly concerned with maintaining the farm.

Harald Hardrada's alleged descent from Harald Fairhair is not mentioned and played no part during Harald Hardrada's own time, which seems odd considering that it would have provided significant legitimacy in connection with his claim to the Norwegian throne.

On hearing news of Olaf's planned return, Harald Hardrada gathered 600 men from the Uplands to meet Olaf and his men upon their arrival in the east of Norway.

The battle resulted in defeat for the brothers at the hands of those Norwegians who were loyal to Cnut, and Olaf was killed while Harald Hardrada was badly wounded.

Harald Hardrada was nonetheless remarked to have shown considerable military talent during the battle.

Harald Hardrada stayed there for some time to heal his wounds, and thereafter journeyed north over the mountains to Sweden.

Harald Hardrada likely spent at least part of his time in the town of Staraya Ladoga, arriving there in the first half of 1031.

Harald Hardrada and his men were welcomed by Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, whose wife Ingegerd was a distant relative of Harald Hardrada.

Badly in need of military leaders, Yaroslav recognised a military potential in Harald Hardrada and made him a captain of his forces.

Harald Hardrada took part in Yaroslav's campaign against the Poles in 1031, and possibly fought against other 1030s Kievan enemies and rivals such as the Chudes in Estonia, and the Byzantines, as well as the Pechenegs and other steppe nomad people.

Thereafter, Harald Hardrada is reported in the sagas to have gone to Jerusalem and fought in battles in the area.

In 1038, Harald Hardrada joined the Byzantines in their expedition to Sicily, in George Maniakes's attempt to reconquer the island from the Muslim Saracens, who had established the Emirate of Sicily on the island.

In 1041, when the Byzantine expedition to Sicily was over, a Lombard-Norman revolt erupted in southern Italy, and Harald Hardrada led the Varangian Guard in multiple battles.

Harald Hardrada was not affected by Maniakes's conflict with Emperor Michael IV, and received honours and respect upon his return to Constantinople.

The Strategikon indicates that the ranks awarded to Harald Hardrada were rather low, since Harald Hardrada reportedly was "not angry for just having been appointed to manglabites or spatharokandidatos".

The sagas state that Harald Hardrada was arrested for defrauding the emperor of his treasure, as well as for requesting marriage with an apparently fictional niece or granddaughter of Zoe, called Maria.

William of Malmesbury states that Harald Hardrada was arrested for defiling a noble woman, while according to Saxo Grammaticus he was imprisoned for murder.

Harald Hardrada became extremely rich during his time in the east, and secured the wealth collected in Constantinople by shipments to Kievan Rus' for safekeeping.

Harald Hardrada's journey went through Lake Ladoga, down the Neva River, and then into the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea.

Harald Hardrada arrived in Sigtuna in Sweden, probably at the end of 1045 or in early 1046.

Notably, Harald Hardrada had to agree to share half of his wealth with Magnus, who at the time was badly in need of funds.

In 1047, Magnus and Harald Hardrada went to Denmark with their leidang forces.

On hearing the news of Magnus's death, Harald Hardrada quickly gathered the local leaders in Norway and, declaring himself king of Norway as well as of Denmark, prepared ousting his former ally from the Denmark.

Einar, an opponent of Harald Hardrada, claimed that "to follow Magnus dead was better than to follow any other king alive".

The coins minted under Harald Hardrada's rule appear to have been accepted as a commonly used currency.

Harald Hardrada wanted to re-establish Magnus's rule over Denmark, and in the long term probably sought to restore Cnut the Great's "North Sea Empire" in its entirety.

Harald Hardrada eventually set out from Norway with a great army and a fleet of around 300 ships.

Sweyn did not appear at the agreed time, and Harald Hardrada thus sent home his non-professional soldiers, which had made up half of his forces.

The battle resulted in great bloodshed as Harald Hardrada defeated the Danes, but many ships and men managed to escape, including Sweyn.

Fatigue and the huge cost of the indecisive battles eventually led Harald Hardrada to seek peace with Sweyn, and in 1064 the two kings agreed on an unconditional peace agreement.

Harald Hardrada maintained control of his nation through the use of his hird, a private standing army maintained by Norwegian lords.

Still facing opposition from the farmers, Harald Hardrada embarked on a campaign to crush the areas that had withheld their taxes.

Since the regions contained several rich rural communities, Harald Hardrada strengthened his economic position by confiscating farming estates.

Harald Hardrada's reign was marked by his background as a military commander, as he often solved disputes with a brute force.

One of his skalds even boasted about how Harald Hardrada broke settlements he had made, in his battles in the Mediterranean.

Harald Hardrada is considered to have instituted good economic policies, as he developed a Norwegian currency and a viable coin economy, which in turn allowed Norway to participate in international trade.

Harald Hardrada initiated trade with Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire through his connections, as well as with Scotland and Ireland.

Harald Hardrada continued to advance Christianity in Norway, and archaeological excavations show that churches were built and improved during his reign.

Harald Hardrada imported bishops, priests and monks from abroad, especially from Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire.

Harald Hardrada's misusing funds from the pilgrimage to Nidaros as well as his bringing bishops to the country who were either not consecrated in France and England or not consecrated at all, brought him into conflict with Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen.

Once he had returned to Norway, Harald Hardrada seems to have displayed an interest in exploring his own realm, as for instance the Morkinskinna recounts Harald Hardrada's trip into the Uplands.

Harald Hardrada is said to have explored the seas beyond his kingdom, as the contemporary Adam of Bremen reports of such naval expeditions conducted by Harald Hardrada:.

Once there Harald Hardrada saw Godwinson's forces approaching, heavily armed and armoured, and greatly outnumbering Harald Hardrada's.

Harald Hardrada was struck in the throat by an arrow and killed early in the battle, later termed the Battle of Stamford Bridge, in a state of berserkergang, having worn no body armour and fought aggressively with both hands around his sword.

Eystein picked up Harald Hardrada's fallen banner, the "Landwaster", and initiated a final counter-attack.

Harald Hardrada is described by Snorri Sturluson to have been physically "larger than other men and stronger".

Harald Hardrada reportedly had big hands and feet, and could measure five ells in height.

The tall stature of Harald Hardrada is substantiated by a story that relates that before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, Harold Godwinson offered Tostig back the earldom of Northumbria, and Harald Hardrada "six feet of the ground of England, or perhaps more seeing that he is taller than most men" or "six feet of English ground, or seven feet as he was taller than other men".

Harald Hardrada is portrayed as a man very concerned with the way that his image will be presented and memory shaped.

Harald Hardrada was clearly interested in advancing Christianity in Norway, which can be seen by the continued building and improvement of churches throughout his reign.