Olaf Magnusson of Norway

Olaf Magnusson (1099–22 December 1115) was king of Norway 1103–1115. He was the son of King Magnus Barefoot and Sigrid, daughter of Sakse of Vik.^[1]

Olaf became king together with his half-brothers Sigurd Jorsalfar and Øystein Magnusson when his father Magnus Barefoot died in 1103. He was king of Norway in twelve years, but did not like their brothers leave a lasting impression. Since he was still very young, his older brothers acted as regents for his part of the kingdom. In 1107, King Sigurd was to lead a Norwegian crusade in support to the newly established crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, returning to Norway in 1111. During this period, King Øystein served as regent for his brother, using his energy and willpower to create a strong and stable country.

In 1115, Olaf fell ill and died when he was only 17 years old. He was succeeded by his co-ruler brothers. His historical insignificance is shown by the fact that later historians, when constructing ordinals for Norwegian monarchs, left Olaf out from numbering - he would have been Olaf IV but that ordinal is used for Oluf Haakonsson who reigned over two and a half centuries later. Olav V of Norway (d. 1991), who clearly reigned using the official ordinal, would have been Olav VI, had this child co-king been numbered.

References

Ancestry