Birger Brosa

Birger Brosa (Brosa means "smiling"), earl of Sweden 1174-1202, d. 9 January 1202 on Visingsö, was a son of Bengt Snivil and a member of the powerful Folkung party. In the medieval texts he is either called the earl of the Swedes or the earl of the Swedes and the Geats.

Related Topics:
1174 - 1202 - 9 January - Visingsö - Bengt Snivil - Folkung - Geats

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He appears to have administered the whole Swedish kingdom and he was appointed earl during the reign of Knut Eriksson and he maintained the position during Knut's successor Sverker II until his death in 1202.

Related Topics:
Knut Eriksson - Sverker II - 1202

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Before 1170, Birger was married to Brigit Haraldsdotter, the daughter of the Norwegian king Harald Gylle, and who had formerly been married to the Danish impostor Magnus Henriksson, who ruled in Uppsala 1160-1161.

Related Topics:
1170 - Brigit Haraldsdotter - Harald Gylle - Magnus Henriksson - Uppsala - 1160 - 1161

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Birger appears to have maintained peace in Sweden during the civil wars that ravaged Denmark and Norway. Many of the pretenders in these kingdoms sought refuge with Birger, and among them the Birkebeiner chieftains Eystein Meyla and Sverre Sigurdsson who were Birgit's kinsmen.

Related Topics:
Denmark - Norway - Birkebeiner - Eystein Meyla - Sverre Sigurdsson

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Birger owned estates in Ostrogothia, Nerike, Vermland and Södermanland. He was a great donor to the convent of Riseberga in Nerike, where Birgitta spent her last years after Birger's death.

Related Topics:
Ostrogothia - Nerike - Vermland - Södermanland - Riseberga

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As soon as he was dead civil war broke out. The bloody rebellion against king Valdemar in 1251 was in a large part incited by Birger's descendants.

Related Topics:
Valdemar - 1251

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