1066: Halsingar Under Threat
In the year 1066, while momentous events were occurring far away across the North Sea that would help shape the Western world, a young nobleman rose to become the Count of a small independent
landskap in what is now central Sweden. His name was Bjorn av Halsingland, and he was just 18 years old when he became Count. Bjorn was a warlike and ambitious man with a great taste for the trappings of power, and even while he still lived, he would become a legend among his people.
Halsingland (medium blue) is bordered to the south by Sweden (dark blue) and to the west by Norway (light blue).
To the north are independent counties and areas controlled by pagan tribes.
Halsingland was a sparsely populated area, mostly mountainous, rocky, and heavily wooded. Close to the river Ljusnan the soil was fertile and large farms grew up, but most of the province was relatively barren, with large areas covered in nearly impassable bogs. It was probably because of its tough terrain and relative lack of wealth that it had so far been left as an independent province by its powerful neighbors, the Kingdom of Norway to the west and the Kingdom of Sweden to the south. Why battle through mountains, forests and bogs to conquer a fiercely independent province, where the locals (much more familiar with the terrain) could efficiently run a guerrilla war against you for years, when the rewards weren't that great in the first place? Especially when there were much richer areas still to annex further to the south.
That had been the logic in the courts of the nearby Scandinavian kingdoms until now. However, by the time Bjorn came to power, that was beginning to change. The expansion through the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula had almost reached its conclusion, with nearly all the provinces there possessions of Sweden or Norway - and all eyes were beginning to turn north for further expansion. It might be a hard fought campaign, but the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Swedish or Norwegian armies would surely yield a victory in the end? And those dense forests would come in useful for building ships and siege machines...
Bjorn av Halsingland at the beginning of his reign in 1066
Halsingar legend tells of Bjorn being visited by an angel, who informed him that he would be the great warrior who brought Christianity to the pagan tribes in the lands to the north of Halsingland. But the truth behind his aggressive expansion into the north of the peninsula are much more likely to have been geopolitical in nature. Bjorn was a man of little subtlety, but he was not stupid. He knew that at least one and maybe both of the great kingdoms surrounding him (Sweden controlled nearby Gastrikland and Dalarna, while Herjedalen was a vassal of Norway) would soon come knocking at the door. Only able to muster a few hundred soldiers, the Halsingar would be powerless to resist. Sure, they could harry the invaders for years, maybe decades after the enemy had officially taken control, but the trappings of power that Bjorn loved so much would be gone, and the attempt to maintain their independence would ultimately be futile. The only way to defend themselves was to go on the attack - if he could conquer the lands to the north and bring the fierce heathen warriors who lived there to his banner, then they would stand a fighting chance of resisting any aggression from their neighbors.
First Blood: The Conquest of Medelpad
First in line for conquest was the County of Medelpad. Medelpad was a poor area, though slightly more densely populated than Halsingland, with most of the land lying between the two rivers of Ljungan and Indalsalven (hence the name - Medelpad means "middle land"). Similar to Halsingland, it was an independent Catholic
landskap ruled by the young Count Kolbjorn. Until now, the Halsingar had been glad to have Medelpad as a buffer between themselves and the heathen tribes of the north, but with his plans to bring those tribes to heel now set, a buffer was no longer necessary.
The scholars in Bjorn's court worked hard to establish tenuous links between Bjorn's family and the province to give him a legitimate claim to the title of Count of Medelpad, but the truth was that this was a naked power grab by the young Halsingar, and everyone knew it. Poor Medelpad, with no allies to speak of, no liege to appeal to, and too small to be worthy of notice to the church or the more powerful kingdoms of Europe, was powerless to resist. Bjorn marched his small army over the border between the two counties, and led them into a brief pitched battle against the defending forces of Medelpad. The two armies were relatively well matched in terms of size, but Kolbjorn of Medelpad was no solder, and the Halsingar armies led by Bjorn and his fierce marshal Hakan Ulv, a childhood friend and sparring partner, were easily victorious.
Halsingar troops invade Medelpad
According to later accounts, Bjorn then forced the surrender of the entire province by sheer force of personality. The battle had been an easy victory for the Halsingar, yes, but it had by no means been conclusive - the majority of the Medelpad force had escaped and was now holed up behind the protective walls of the town of Sundsvall. With such a small force under Bjorn's command, a siege would be a difficult, protracted affair, and ultimate victory was by no means assured. But the Halsingar stories tell us that as they approached the town, the intimidating Bjorn rode out ahead of his troops and roared to the townspeople that they must give up Kolbjorn and surrender, or none within the walls would be spared. Terrified, the townspeople opened the gates just minutes later bearing the disembodied head of the man who up until a few seconds ago had been their Count, and pleading for mercy.
How much of this is true and how much is hyperbole, we'll probably never know, due to the lack of reliable historical records from the time. Recent historians have hypothesized the more likely scenario that Bjorn's spymaster, a wily old man by the name of Gustav Fluga, had somehow placed men on the inside of the siege - who managed to sow dissension among the defenders, spread rumors that Bjorn was on a mission from God and was therefore invincible, and then assassinated the count for good measure. Leaderless, already beaten in battle, and facing a foe that was at best a fierce, merciless warrior, and at worst some sort of invincible prince of destruction, the inhabitants of Medelpad gave up and came quietly. Medelpad was annexed in 1068, and Bjorn returned to Halsingland victorious.
