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49-402: The castle has also been used as a military base, a prison and is currently the temporary office of the prime minister of Norway . It is not known exactly when the construction of the castle started but it is believed that it took place around the late 1290s, by King Haakon V , replacing Tønsberg as one of the two most important Norwegian castles of the period (the other being Båhus ). It

98-788: A thing : From the 600s Western Norwegian fish farmers began an exodus to the nearby islands in the North Sea , Orkney and Shetland , and then later to the Western Isles, like the Hebrides and Man, and westward to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. Some of these islands were inhabited when the Norwegians arrived, but the local population was displaced or assimilated by the Norwegian immigrants. Consistently,

147-556: A battle. (This battle forms a major part of the plot of Sigrid Undset 's historical novel In the Wilderness , the third volume of her tetralogy The Master of Hestviken .) The immediate proximity of the sea was a key feature, for naval power was a vital military force as the majority of Norwegian commerce in that period was by sea. The fortress was strategically important for the capital, and therefore, Norway as well. Whoever controlled Akershus fortress ruled Norway. In 1449-1450

196-603: A palace until the turn of the 19th century, with new towers, halls, chambers and gates being added over time. When the king was absent, the castle functioned as the seat of the Steward of Norway . Akershus has also been a prison, with a section of it known as The Slavery ( Norwegian : Slaveriet ) because the prisoners could be rented out for work in the city. It has housed many rebels and criminals through Norwegian history. Particularly well-known people to have been imprisoned there include author Gjest Baardsen (1791–1849), and

245-485: A vassalage under France rather than Norway or Denmark. Although Rollo's ancestry is disputed, it is now common among British, French and Norwegian scientists to have the opinion that, judging from the sources and the possible two alternatives, more sources point to Norwegian ancestry. His descendant, William the Conqueror and his Norman army, would conquer England in 1066 after King Harald III of Norway had failed

294-405: Is considered to be the first Norwegian king who reigned over Kingdom of Norway. However, it is likely that these stories are the saga authors works, to corroborate later Norwegian kings claims over these islands. Some sources find it unlikely that the Norwegian kings had sovereignty in the Hebrides, Man, Orkney and Shetland back to the early 800s. Sigurd Eysteinsson the first Earl of Orkney ,

343-746: The Age of Vikings (793–1066). Beside a chieftain or petty king, each kingdom had its own aristocracy. Between 872 and 1050, during the so-called unification process , the first national aristocracy began to develop. Regional monarchs and aristocrats who recognised King Harald I as their high king , would normally receive vassalage titles like Earl . Those who refused were defeated or chose to migrate to Iceland , establishing an aristocratic, clan-ruled state there. The subsequent lendman aristocracy in Norway—powerful feudal lords and their families—ruled their respective regions with great autonomy. Their status

392-630: The Norway Pavilion at its Epcot theme park. In a further reference to Akershus' royal history, the Epcot replication also houses a Disney Princess character restaurant called Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, which also serves some Norwegian dishes. The year is that in which they first took command. [REDACTED] Media related to Akershus Fortress at Wikimedia Commons 59°54′24″N 10°44′10″E  /  59.90667°N 10.73611°E  / 59.90667; 10.73611 Office of

441-519: The battle at Hafrsfjord (traditional date: 18 July 872), he looked west to the isles that had been colonised by Norwegians for a century already, and by 875 the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland had been brought under his rule and given to Ragnvald Eysteinsson , Jarl of Møre. Iceland was more reluctant to give up its independent rule, so the Icelandic saga author Snorri Sturluson

490-666: The 7th century Norwegian farmers began to exodus from Rogaland and Agder to the nearby islands in the North Sea, Orkney and Shetland. These islands had long been undeveloped when the Norwegians arrived, the Picts , a possibly Celtic people who also stayed in mainland Scotland . The Norwegian settlement resulted in the disappearance of the old population, either because they were few and went back to relatives in Scotland, or because they were made slaves ( thralls ). Most place names on

539-532: The Danish-Norwegian king's lord lieutenant, Christen Munk , responded by burning down the city in order to deprive the attackers themselves of the means of receiving supplies, and eventually the Swedes retreated. The fortress has never successfully been besieged by a foreign enemy. However it surrendered without combat to Nazi Germany in 1940 when the Norwegian government evacuated the capital in

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588-584: The Great , as well as West Norse people of the British Isles. The most important city was called Jórvík (York). France The Duchy of Normandy was ruled by Norwegian and Danish Vikings, under the leadership of Rollo . Following extensive raids on Paris and vast areas in France, the duchy was founded in 911. The main purpose was to gain land for independent Vikings in this region, therefore Rollo swore

637-638: The Prime Minister (Norway) The Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister ( Norwegian : Statsministerens kontor , abbreviated SMK ) is a cabinet department that assists the Cabinet of Norway and the Prime Minister of Norway in the leadership of the Cabinet and Government. It has since 2021 been led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre ( Labour Party ). The State Secretary in charge of

686-491: The Scottish king. Following the great fire of 1624, King Christian IV made the decision to relocate and rebuild the entire city of Oslo . The king ordered the new city to be located closer to Akershus Fortress, renaming the city Christiania . The fortress was subsequently modernized and remodeled, with the new appearance being that of a renaissance castle with Italian inspired bastions . The castle primarily functioned as

735-871: The Swedish during the Nordic Seven Years' War , but later returned to Denmark-Norway as a result of the Stettin treaty of 1570. Idre and Særna, Norwegian since the 12th century, were conquered by Sweden during the Hannibal controversy . Ranríki, Herjárdalr, Jamtaland, Idre and Særna were permanently surrendered to Sweden by the Peace of Brömsebro 13 August 1645. Viken , counties under Borgarþing : Oppland , counties under Heiðsævisþing : Vestlandet , counties under Gulaþing : Trøndelag , counties under Frostaþing : Rest of Norway , counties not attached to

784-553: The aforementioned. Since the 16th century, modern aristocracy is known as nobility ( Norwegian : adel ). The very first aristocracy in today's Norway appeared during the Bronze Age (1800 BC–500 BC). This bronze aristocracy consisted of several regional elites, whose earliest known existence dates to 1500 BC. Via similar structures in the Iron Age (400 BC–793 AD), these entities would reappear as petty kingdoms before and during

833-506: The castle was besieged again, this time by the Swedish king Karl Knutsson Bonde , but he had to lift the siege after a while. The castle was not besieged again until 1502 when Scottish soldiers in the service of the Danish-Norwegian king besieged the castle in order to regain it from the hands of the Norwegian nobleman Knut Alvsson . Akershus was besieged yet again in 1523, this time by Swedish soldiers but Oslo's inhabitants, at

882-536: The castle, the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum and Norway's Resistance Museum can also be visited. The Norwegian Ministry of Defence and the country's Defence Staff Norway share a joint modern headquarters in the eastern part of the fortress. His Majesty the King's Guard is responsible for guarding the fortress, with stationary guard posts during open hours and mobile patrols at night. One of

931-536: The central secretariat for the entire cabinet also became part of the Office of the Prime Minister. Kingdom of Norway (872%E2%80%931397) The term Norwegian Realm ( Old Norse : * Noregsveldi , Bokmål : Norgesveldet , Nynorsk : Noregsveldet ) and Old Kingdom of Norway refer to the Kingdom of Norway 's peak of power at the 13th century after a long period of civil war before 1240. The kingdom

980-487: The command of Hans Mule, burned down their houses in an attempt to drive them out and the Swedes retreated after a short period. King Christian II besieged the castle from 1531 to 1532 but the siege was lifted by forces from Denmark and Lübeck . After this siege the castle was improved and strengthened. In 1567, during the Northern Seven Years' War , the castle was besieged once more by Swedish forces, but

1029-482: The death of King Sigurd the Crusader , his possible half-brother, Harald Gillekrist , broke an agreement that he and Sigurd had made to pass the throne to Sigurd's only son, the bastard Magnus . Already on bad terms before Sigurd's death, the two men and the factions loyal to them went to war. In the first decades of the civil wars, alliances shifted and centered on the person of a king or pretender. However, towards

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1078-537: The end of the 12th century, two rival parties, the Birkebeiner and the Bagler emerged. In their competition for power, the legitimacy dimension retained its symbolic power, but it was bent to accommodate the parties' pragmatic selection of effective leaders to realize their political aspirations. When they reconciled in 1217, a more ordered and codified governmental system gradually freed Norway from wars to overthrow

1127-621: The face of the unprovoked German assault on Denmark and Norway (see Operation Weserübung ). During World War II, people were executed here by the German occupiers, including members of the Pelle group . The fortress was liberated on 11 May 1945, when it was handed over to Terje Rollem on behalf of the Norwegian resistance movement . After the war, eight Norwegian traitors who had been tried for war crimes and sentenced to death were also executed at

1176-469: The fortress. Among those executed were Vidkun Quisling and Siegfried Fehmer . After construction of the castle was finished around 1300, Haakon V gradually started to use the castle as a residential palace, favoring the keep over the Oslo Kongsgård estate despite the fact that the castle likely was unsuited as a residence. The castle becoming a royal residence also played a significant role in

1225-408: The island. In Ranríki Konunghella was built as a royal city alongside Túnsberg and Biorgvin . It remained Norwegian until the 1658 Roskilde treaty . Herjárdalr became Norwegian during the 12th century and remained so for five centuries. Jamtaland started paying taxes to Norway during the 13th century and was later absorbed into a part of the mainland territory the same century. It was occupied by

1274-498: The islands are today of old Norwegian ancestry. Old legends says that when Harald Fairhair had implemented their piratical expeditions for the national collection, these islands haunt for Vikings ravaged Norway. King Harald awaking West sea and let themselves under Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides, and got to the Man and harried there. Sagas recounts further that Harald founded Earldom Orkneys, which encompassed all these islands, and he

1323-432: The islands' populations had a Norwegian ancestry, who kept in touch with the homeland over the North Sea. These Norwegians had their own chiefs or kings in the Norwegian tradition, subject to Norwegian royal power when it eventually developed a centralized state. Often, Norwegian kings had enough to contend with on the mainland, so the local power in the villages was often in the hands of local earls who operated on behalf of

1372-461: The king. Holdings in Sweden were in varying degrees Norwegian. By the 9th and 10th centuries, it is reasonable to assume that the population of Båhuslen, Jämtland and Herjedalen had no national affiliation to Norway, Svealand , or Götaland . It lay to the increasingly centralized monarchy to create this, which had to consolidate its right in the border areas above the neighboring kingdoms . Norway

1421-525: The lawful monarch. In 1239, Duke Skule Bårdsson became the third pretender to wage war against King Håkon Håkonsson . Duke Skule was defeated in 1240, bringing more than 100 years of civil wars to an end. Aristocracy of Norway refers to modern and medieval aristocracy in Norway . Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites that—relating to the main lines of Norway's history —are generally accepted as nominal predecessors of

1470-467: The letter does not mention how far the construction of the castle had progressed by then. The fortress has successfully survived all sieges, primarily by Swedish forces, including those by forces led by Charles XII in 1716. The fortress was first used in battle in 1308, when it was besieged by the Swedish Erik, Duke of Södermanland . The siege was eventually broken by a local Norwegian army in

1519-729: The mainland. Norway, whose expansionism starts from the very foundation of the Kingdom in 872, reached the peak of its power in the years between 1240 and 1319. At the peak of Norwegian expansion before the civil war (1130–1240), Sigurd I led the Norwegian Crusade (1107–1110). The crusaders won battles in Lisbon and the Balearic Islands . In the Siege of Sidon they fought alongside Baldwin I and Ordelafo Faliero , and

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1568-402: The office is Kristine Joy Nordenson Kallset  [ no ] . The office has about 55 employees. Since the establishment of the first Norwegian government , in 1814, the Prime Minister has had secretaries to help him with tasks, though these were not collectively assigned to his office until 1945. The office was given the current title in 1950, but not formally created until 1956. In 1969

1617-471: The process where the capital of Norway was moved from Bergen to Oslo . Several significant figures from the Norwegian middle ages, including Haakon V, Queen Euphemia , Ingeborg Eriksdottir and Queen Margaret , all resided at the castle, which functioned as the official Norwegian royal residence for several decades. The last Norwegian king prior to the establishment of the Kalmar Union , Olaf II ,

1666-542: The same year. Scotland Yngling / Fairhair dynasty Lade dynasty Trygvason dynasty Lade dynasty (restored) Saint Olaf dynasty Lade dynasty (restored, second time) Saint Olaf dynasty (restored) Hardrada dynasty Gille dynasty Hardrada dynasty (female line) Sverre dynasty Gille dynasty (female line) Sverre dynasty (restored) The civil war era began in 1130 and ended in 1240. In this period of Norwegian history , some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim

1715-540: The siege resulted in an expansion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Leif Erikson , an Icelander of Norwegian origin and official hirdman of King Olaf I of Norway , explored America 500 years before Columbus. Adam of Bremen wrote about the new lands in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (1076) when meeting Sweyn I of Denmark , but no other sources indicate that this knowledge went farther into Europe than Bremen, Germany . The Kingdom of Norway

1764-610: The similarly idealized thief Ole Høiland . Also, many early Norwegian socialists (supporters of Marcus Thrane , 1817–1890) also spent time in the cells of Akershus. The prison was also a plot element in the film Fante-Anne (1920). Following the 1852 Laestadian Sámi revolt in Guovdageaidnu , all men except the two leaders Aslak Hætta and Mons Somby (who were beheaded in Alta ) ended up in Akershus Fortress –

1813-428: The stationary guard posts at the entrance is a popular photography spot for tourists visiting the fortress. The castle's Royal Mausoleum is the final resting place of a number of Norwegian royal figures. This includes King Sigurd I , King Haakon V , Queen Eufemia , King Haakon VII , Queen Maud , King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha . Since restoration of the main building, the castle has frequently been used as

1862-651: The throne . The Civil War period can be divided into three phases: the first phase is sporadic strife between the kings from 1130 to the second phase where there are extensive battles between them from 1160 to 1184 and the final phase in which the Birkebeiners defeat the rest in 1240. In the absence of formal laws governing claims to rule, men who had proper lineage and wanted to be king came forward and entered into peaceful, if still fraught, agreements to let one man be king, set up temporary lines of succession, take turns ruling, or share power simultaneously. In 1130, with

1911-652: The venue for official events and dinners for dignitaries and foreign heads of state. After the 22 July attacks in 2011 , the Office of the Norwegian prime minister has been located close to the fortress in a building that originally belonged to the Norwegian Ministry of Defence . Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida just outside Orlando in the United States replicates a portion of the fortress at

1960-512: The women were imprisoned in Trondheim . Many of the rebels died after a few years in captivity. Among the survivors was Lars Hætta (18 years at the time of imprisonment), who during his stay was allowed time and means to write the first translation of the Bible into North Sámi . Although still a military area, the Akershus Fortress is open to the public between 6:00 and 21:00 daily. As well as

2009-474: Was a loosely unified nation including the territory of modern-day Norway, modern-day Swedish territory of Jämtland , Herjedalen , Ranrike ( Bohuslän ) and Idre and Särna , as well as Norway's overseas possessions which had been settled by Norwegian seafarers for centuries before being annexed or incorporated into the kingdom as 'tax territories'. To the North, Norway also bordered extensive tax territories on

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2058-485: Was born at the castle in 1370. In September 1589, Anne of Denmark tried to sail to Scotland when she was betrothed to King James VI , but after difficulties with her ships and weather , she made her way to Akershus with the Scottish Earl Marischal . After they married, when they were at Elsinore ( Kronborg ), a servant of Axel Gyldenstierne, captain of Akershus, was rewarded for bringing letters to

2107-543: Was by no means equal to that of modern nobles; they were nearly half royal. For example, Ingebjørg Finnsdottir of the Arnmødling dynasty was married to King Malcolm III of Scotland . During the civil war era (1130–1240) the old lendmen were severely weakened, and many disappeared. This aristocracy was ultimately defeated by King Sverre I and the Birchlegs , subsequently being replaced by supporters of Sverre. From

2156-476: Was constructed in response to the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg 's earlier attack on Oslo that occurred in 1287. In the aftermath of the attack, it became clear that the city's existing defences weren't effective and therefore, a stronger defensive centre was needed. The castle is mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1300 in a letter from King Haakon to a church in Oslo. However,

2205-672: Was given a royal invitation to the court of King Haakon Haakonsson and was there convinced that Iceland was by right Norwegian. So began the Age of the Sturlungs , a time of political strife in Iceland. The Sturlungs worked to bring Iceland under Norwegian rule, spreading propaganda through their positions at the Althing and even resorting to violence before the Old Covenant was signed in 1262, which brought total Norwegian rule over

2254-420: Was initiated by King Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway resulted in the first known Norwegian central government. The country, however, soon fragmented, and was again collected into one entity in the first half of the 11th century. Norway has been a monarchy since Fairhair, passing through several eras. When Harald Fairhair became king of Norway after

2303-609: Was placed under the archbishop of Uppsala . Uppsala was established later, and was the third metropolitan diocese in Scandinavia after Lund and Nidaros. The church participated in a political process both before and during the Kalmar Union that aimed at Swedish side, to establish a position for Sweden in Jämtland. This area had been a borderland in relation to the Swedish kingdom, and probably in some sort of alliance with Trøndelag , just as with Hålogaland . A unified realm

2352-416: Was the second European country after England to enforce a unified code of law to be applied for the whole country, called Magnus Lagabøtes landslov (1274). The secular power was at its strongest at the end of King Haakon Haakonsson 's reign in 1263. An important element of the period was the ecclesiastical supremacy of the archdiocese of Nidaros from 1152. There are no reliable sources for when Jämtland

2401-521: Was then the first to integrate these areas into its kingdom. Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland remained under Norwegian administration until 1814. The treaty of Perth (1266) accepted Norwegian sovereignty over Shetland and Orkney; in turn Norway had to give the Hebrides and Isle of Man to Scotland. Vassals annexed by King Magnus III in 1098. Ireland Scotland Wales England Eric I of Norway ruled Northumbria for two separate periods. Northumbria has also been ruled by Norway under Cnut

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