Erling Skakke (1115-18 June 1179) was a Norwegian nobleman and a leader of the Baglers during the Norwegian Civil War.
Biography[]
Erling Skakke was born in Etne, Hordaland, Norway in 1115, the son of a local nobleman; he married a daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader. He served in a Mediterranean crusade from 1152 to 1155, and he visited the Levant, Constantinople, and Rome. During a battle with the Sicilian Arabs, he suffered a neck wound which left his head tilted, hence his nickname "Skakke". He later became guardian of King Inge I of Norway during the Norwegian Civil War, and, after Inge's death, he had his son Magnus Erlingsson named King. Erling became Jarl and assumed the regency for his son, fighting off numerous threats. However, in 1177, Sverre, Sigurd Munn's long-lost son, arrived in Norway to stake his claim to the throne, and he defeated and killed Erling at Kalvskinnet.