Christina of Norway

For the Norwegian princess who married an Infante of Castile, see Christina of Norway, Infanta of Castile.

Christina of Norway
Born	circa 1190s (unknown)
Died	1213 Norway
Spouse	Philip Simonsson
House	House of Sverre (Fairhair dynasty) (by birth)
Father	Sverre Sigurdsson
Mother	Margaret of Sweden

Christina Sverresdatter (Old Norse: Kristín Sverrisdóttir) (died 1213) was a medieval Norwegian princess and titular queen consort, spouse of co-regent King Philip Simonsson.

Biography

Christina was the daughter of King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway and his queen consort, Margaret of Sweden. Her father died in 1202, and her mother returned to Sweden, forced to leave Christina behind.

Her marriage was arranged as a part of reconciliation between the Bagler and Birkebeiner parties: In 1208, with no side looking able to achieve victory, bishop Nikolas and the other bishops brokered a peace deal between the Baglers and the Birkebeiners. At the settlement of Kvitsøy, the Birkebeiner king, Inge II of Norway, recognized Philip's rule over the eastern third of the country in return for Philip giving up the title of king and recognizing Inge as his overlord. To seal the agreement, Philip was to marry king Sverre's daughter, Christina.

In 1209, she married Philip Simonsson, king of the Bagler party. She died in labour giving birth to their first child, a son, who also died soon after.

Olympic Mascot

Håkon and Kristin are the mascots of the 1994 Winter Olympics. Håkon is named after Haakon IV of Norway and Kristin after Christina of Norway.

References

• Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian)