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Haakon I the Good (Håkon gódi Haraldsson)
(ca. 920–ca. 960) king of Norway known as “Æthelstan’s
foster-son”
Born about 920, a son of King Harold Fairhair (r. 860/
880–930/940), Haakon returned to NORWAY from EN-
GLANDin about 935 to challenge his half brother Erik I
Bloodaxe (r. 930–934/935) for the throne by exploiting
the civil wars under way. He soon won the support of
powerful jarls, or lords, and was proclaimed king in about
- When Haakon moved against him, Erik fled. He
claimed to be king of all of Norway, but his power was
confined to the southwest of the kingdom.
Haakon enjoyed a reputation as a just ruler and
was called “the Good.” He reformed the district assem-
blies, the things,to make them more representative and
easier for him to consult. He created a system of army
and naval levies, and he divided the coastal areas into
districts that had to provide a certain number of ships
and men. A beacon system was built to warn of attacks
by sea. Haakon made some attempt to gets the Norwe-
gians to accept Christianity by inviting missionaries to
travel there from England. He gave up and was remem-
bered at his funeral as a defender of PAGANISM. Around
955, the sons of Erik Bloodaxe launched attacks on
Norway with the support of the Danes. At the Battle
of Fitjar in about 960, Haakon was wounded and
died soon afterward. He was given a pagan burial
and was succeeded by Erik’s son, Harald II Greycloak
(r. 959/961–968).
Further reading: Peter G. Foote and David M.
Wilson, The Viking Achievement: The Society and Culture
of Early Medieval Scandinavia(London: Sidgwick and
Jackson, 1970); Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings
(1968; rev. ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984).
Habsburg dynasty(Hapsburg) They were a dynasty
originally from the upper Rhine region but were firmly
settled in AUSTRIAfrom the 13th century. From 1438,
the Habsburgs essentially monopolized the imperial
Crown.
The first known members of the family can be
traced to the 10th century. Their castle, Habichtsburg
(The Hawk’s Castle), later called Habsburg, in the
Aargau in northern SWITZERLAND, was built in about
1020 and the title count of Habsburg first appeared
in 1108. The Habsburgs built up their establishment in
southwestern Germany through war, money, MARRIAGE,
and the support of the HOHENSTAUFEN in the 12th
century.
RUDOLF IV of Habsburg was elected king of the
Romans as Rudolf I in 1273 and conceded Austria and a
neighboring region called Styria to his sons as FIEFSof the
empire; this gave the dynasty a territorial core in the
southeast of the empire and made them princes of the
empire. Yet the imperial crown escaped Rudolf’s succes-
sors. His son Albert I (r. 1298–1308) obtained it but was
assassinated, and a grandson, Frederick the Handsome
(d. 1330), failed in a double election.
The Habsburgs remained one of the most important
dynasties in the empire. They gave themselves the title of
archdukes on the basis of a 1358–59 forgery and from
the mid-14th century dedicated themselves to uniting
effectively their western and eastern principalities. They
had successes in Carinthia, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and Upper
SWABIAall between 1326 and 1363. But this led to
clashes with the Swiss cantons, who defeated the Habs-
burgs, gaining independence. By 1474 the Habsburgs
had to accept the territorial consequences of their
successive defeats and the divisions of their territories