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Anund Jacob, also Jakob or James (Old Norse: Ǫnundr Jakob; c. 25 July 1008/10 - c. 1050), was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on 25 July, in either 1008 or 1010 as Jakob,Snorre Sturluson (1992), Nordiska kungasagor: Olav den heliges saga. Stockholm: Fabel", p. 107, 127 (Olav the Saint's Saga, Chapter 88 and 94) the son of King Olof Skötkonung and Queen Estrid. Being the second Christian king of the Swedish realm, his long and partly turbulent reign saw the increasing dissemination of Christianity as well as repeated attempts to influence the balance of power in Scandinavia. Throughout his reign, he tried to subvert the rising Danish hegemony in Scandinavia by supporting the Norwegian monarchy. He also supported the reign of his brother-in-law Yaroslav the Wise in Kievan Rus. He is referred to in positive terms in German and Norse historical sources. His reign was one of the longest in Sweden during the Viking Age and Middle Ages.
Anund Jacob continued the minting of coins in Sigtuna in Central Sweden; however, the issuing of coins was broken off later during his reign, and was only resumed by King Canute I in the late 12th century.Peter Sawyer (1991), När Sverige blev Sverige. Alingsås: Viktoria Bokförlag, p. 33. Snorri mentions Central Sweden, Västergötland and Småland among the regions ruled by Anund Jacob, but his ideas of Sweden might be influenced by conditions in the High Middle Ages.Ove Moberg (1941), Olav den helige, Knut den store och Sverige. Lund: Gleerups, p. 205. A poem from the 1040s, describing a Norwegian battle against Danes and Swedish auxiliaries, suggests that at least some Geats stood under Anund Jacob: "Geatic shield and hauberk / did I bring home from the battle".Snorre Sturluson (1993), Nordiska kungasagor: Magnus den gode till Magnus Erlingsson. Stockholm: Fabel, p. 57 (Magnus the Good's Saga, Chapter 33).
According to Adam of Bremen, Christianity reached rather widely in the reign of Anund Jacob,Adam av Bremen (1984), p. 111 (Book II, Chapter 73). with missionary work led by Bishop Thurgot of Skara in Västergötland until 1030 when he was nominally succeeded by Gottskalk. Both were appointed by the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. Gottskalk, however, was a passive church magnate who preferred to stay home in Germany. An English missionary, Sigfrid, filled the void to an extent. From a Norwegian base, he visited Sweden, Götaland "and all the islands beyond the northern land".Adam av Bremen (1984), p. 102 (Book II, Chapter 57).
King Anund Jacob's political agenda included maintaining the balance of power in Scandinavia, which is why he supported the Norway kings Olaf II (Olav the Saint) and Magnus I against Denmark's and England's king Cnut the Great during the 1020s and 1030s. According to Snorri, Cnut tried to neutralize Anund Jacob, when a dispute flared up with Olaf around 1025, by sending him rich presents and offers of friendship. However, the envoys noted Anund Jacob's strong affinity to Olaf, who was married to his sister Astrid. In fact Anund Jacob traveled with a large entourage to Kungahälla where he met Olaf for a friendly parley.Snorre Sturluson (1992), p. 190, 198 (Olav the Saint's Saga, Chapter 132, 134). Some time later, when Cnut was away tending his English kingdom, Olaf attacked and ravaged Sjaelland, while Anund Jacob came down with a fleet from Svealand to attack Scania. The allies combined their forces and awaited Cnut, who returned from England with a superior fleet in 1026. While the late Norse accounts are highly unreliable, some details of the war are mentioned in contemporary scaldic verses and confirm Anund Jacob's intervention.Snorre Sturluson (1992), p. 231–7 (Olav the Saint's Saga, Chapter 145–149).
The actual circumstances of the Battle of Helgeå are debated among historians due to conflicting sources. The near-contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle asserts, under the year 1025 (error for 1026): "This year King Cnut went to Denmark with a fleet to the holm by the holy river Helge; where against him there came Ulf and Eilaf, with a very large force both by land and sea, from Sweden. There were very many men lost on the side of King Cnut, both of Danish and English; and the Swedes had possession of the field of battle." Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The identity of Ulf and Eilaf (probably subordinate officers to Anund Jacob) is not known - possibly they are identical with two brothers by that name who were sons of the Swedish or Geatish magnate Ragnvald Ulfsson.Snorre Sturluson (1992), p. 120 (Olav the Saint's Saga, Chapter 93). They could also be the Anglo-Danish Ulf Jarl and his brother Eilaf, since some late accounts allege that Ulf fought on the Swedish-Norwegian side in the war. Saxo Grammaticus, Danmarks krønike A contemporary scaldic verse by Sigvat Thordarson partly conforms with Snorri by stating that Cnut beat back or stopped the Swedish attack (Svíum hnekkðir Þu) and defended his realm against two kings.Snorre Sturluson (1992), p. 240 "Olav the Saint's Saga", Chapter 150. However, this is a poem in praise of Cnut and thus not an impartial source. It is therefore not entirely clear if Anund Jacob and Olaf were victorious over or defeated by Cnut. It has even been suggested that the battle in fact was fought in southeastern Uppland, where a river appears to have been called Helgå in the Middle Ages. According to that hypothesis, the site fits the topographical details of Snorri's account much better than eastern Scaniae.Bo Gräslund (1986), "Knut den store och Sveariket: Slaget vid Helgeå i ny belysning", Scandia" 52:2.[4]
Thus, the results of the war are not clear in either of the sources. It is obvious, however, that the Swedish-Norwegian attack failed, since Cnut remained master of his realm and was able to make a pilgrimage to Rome in 1027. On his way back to Denmark he dictated a letter, saying that he intended to make peace with the peoples and nations which had tried to deprive him of his kingdom and life but had failed since God deprived them of their power.Curt Weibull (1921), Sverige och dess nordiska grannmakter under tidigare medeltiden. Lund: Gleerup, p. 150. In the following year Olaf II was driven from Norway and Cnut was hailed as overlord in his stead.Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [5]. Cnut also claimed to be king over part of the Swedes in these years. Coins in the name of Cnut were minted in Svealand at about the same time. All this suggests that the peoples around Lake Mälaren may have ousted Anund Jacob for a while, and hailed Cnut. N. Beckman, "Anund Jakob", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon The possibility of a brief Danish suzerainty in Central Sweden has engendered considerable debate; on one hand Cnut's coins might simply be copied from the Anglo-Danish coinage in a mechanical way, but on the other hand a number of numismatists have argued that the coins are too original in making to be considered copies.Bo Gräslund (1986), p. 213–6. Curiously, coins stating that the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung was King of England have also been found in Sigtuna. At any rate King Anund Jacob was in power again around 1030.
Anund Jacob took tribute from the Baltic people called Semigallians or in the Yngvars saga the Baltic Seimgalir. The tribe had refused to pay taxes to Olof Skötkonung for some time so Olof sent Anund Jacob his son and Ingvar to reestablish the tax system. With three ships, they arrived to convince the Semigallian leaders to continue to pay taxes to the Swedes, as they were the tribes in the Baltic area that refused to pay such taxes. Most Semigallian chieftains and their king now accepted paying tributes to Sweden. Due to Ingvar's convincing persuasion, the Semigallians and Swedes reached an agreement.
Three tribal Semigallian chieftains, however, refused to pay the tributes and armed their troops to banish the Swedes. A war followed which the Swedes won after lethal battles. The Semigallian king provided Anumnd Jacob and Ingvar with soldiers to defeat the rebels, and the most rebellious Semigallian leader was captured and hanged. The two other chieftains escaped. The Vikings or Swedes took plenty of gold, silver and precious things from the Semigallian rebels after the war. Ingvar became the most powerful chief in Sweden after the king.
Olof Skötkonung received the tribute from the Semigallians after the war.
A major Swedish Viking expedition to the east led by Ingvar occurred around 1040 and is mentioned on a large number of rune stones from Central Sweden. Judging from the inscriptions the enterprise ended up in Serkland (the Muslim lands to the southeast of Russia), apparently under disastrous circumstances. A late Icelandic saga contains all sorts of fantastic details about the expedition.
Two are known to have served Anund Jacob: Sighvatr Þórðarson and Óttarr svarti.
The Hervarar saga from the 13th century concludes with a chronicle of the Swedish kings which briefly epitomizes Anund Jacob's reign:
| Önundr hét sonr Óláfs konungs sænska, er konungdóm tók eptir hann ok varð sóttdauðr. Á hans dögum fell Óláfr konungr inn helgi á Stiklastöðum. Eymundr hét annarr sonr Óláfs sænska, er konungdóm tók eptir bróður sinn. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Guðni Jónsson's og Bjarni Vilhjálmsson's edition at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad». | King Olaf the Swede had a son called Önund who succeeded him. He died in his bed. In his day fell King Olaf the Saint at Stiklestad. Olaf the Swede had another son called Eymund, who came to the throne after his brother. The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, in Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, translated from the Norse (Icelandic and Faroese), by N. Kershaw.Cambridge at the University Press, 1921. |
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