The Norwegian Civil War Era (Norwegian: borgerkrigstiden) is a term used for the period in the history of Norway between 1130-1240. During this time a series of civil wars were fought between rival kings and pretenders to the throne. The reasons for the wars is one of the most debated topics in Norwegian medieval history. The goal of the warring parties was always to put their man on the throne, starting with the death of King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130, a supposedly adored monarch. In the first decades of the civil wars alliances shifted and centered on the person of a king or pretender, but eventually, towards the end of the 12th century, two rival parties emerged, known as the Birkebeiner and the Bagler. After these two parties were reconciled in 1217, a more ordered system of governme