The Story of Norway by Hjalmar Hjorth Boysen

Haakon Sigurdsson lost no time in proclaiming himself king of all Norway, though he dispensed preliminarily with the ceremony of a formal proclamation at Oere-_thing_. As he was but a boy of fourteen, it was, of course, his advisers who dictated his actions. He was a tool in the hands of a few ambitious liegemen, who had staked their fortunes on the chance of his ascendancy. For the purpose of portioning out lucrative offices among his adherents, he called a secret meeting in the church of St. Hallvard in Oslo. As it was of great importance to Erling Skakke to know how these men felt toward him, his wife Christina bribed the priest who kept the keys of the church, to conceal one of her friends where he could hear the proceedings. She then sent a messenger to her husband, enjoining him under no circumstances to trust Haakon or his party.

But Erling was too conspicuous a man to be allowed to preserve neutrality; and as he could not declare for Haakon, he was obliged to declare against him. He then proposed, though scarcely in good faith, to make the child, Nicholas Simonsson, the son of Simon Skaalp and Harold Gille's daughter Maria, the head of the opposition and to proclaim him king. There were, however, serious objections to this course; and after many consultations, Erling allowed himself to be urged to do, what had been his intention from the beginning, viz., to proclaim his own son Magnus. Magnus, to be sure, was not of royal birth, but he had royal blood in his veins, being the grandson of Sigurd the Crusader. By shrewd manoeuvres, Erling succeeded in rallying the greater part of King Inge's party about his son, who was but five years old, and to induce the liegemen to swear him allegiance. A _thing_ was then summoned to meet in Bergen, and Magnus was formally acknowledged as king (1161).