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- Macleod Genealogy athttp://www.macleodgenealogy.com/ACMS/D0008/I8864.html says:
"SOURCE: Encyclopedia Britannica 99 CD-ROM, article "Harald IIISigurdsson". byname HARALD THE RUTHLESS, Norwegian HARALD HARDRAADE, or1066, Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, Eng.), king of Norway (1045-66). Hisharsh suppression of lesser Norwegian chieftains cost him their militarysupport in his unsuccessful struggle to conquer Denmark (1045-62). Theson of Sigurd Sow (Syr), a chieftain in eastern Norway, and of Estrid,mother of the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldsson (St Olaf), Harald foughtat the age of 15 against the Danes with Olaf II in the celebrated Battleof Stiklestad (1030) in which Olaf was killed. He then fled to Russia,where he served under the grand prince of Kiev, Yaroslav I the Wise,whose daughter Elizabeth he later married. After enlisting in themilitary service of the Byzantine emperor Michael IV (reigned 1034-41),he fought with the imperial armies in Sicily and Bulgaria and is said tohave made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His military exploits under MichaelIV were described by both Byzantine and Norse medieval historians. WhenHarald returned to Norway in 1045, he agreed to share the Norwegianthrone with the reigning king, his nephew Magnus I Olafsson. Haraldbecame sole ruler in 1047, when Magnus died in a military expedition thatthe two rulers had launched against Denmark. He spent the next 15 yearsattempting to wrest the Danish throne from Sweyn (Svein) II. AfterSweyn's defeat in the Battle of Niz (1062), the two rulers recognizedeach other as sovereign in their respective countries. Harald alsoquarreled with Pope Alexander II and Adalbert, the archbishop of Bremenand the Holy Roman emperor's vicar for the Scandinavian countries. Haraldantagonized the two prelates by maintaining the independence of theNorwegian church. Harald expanded Norway's colonial possessions in theOrkney, Shetland, and Hebrides islands and in 1066 attempted to conquerEngland, allying himself with the rebel earl Tostig against the newEnglish king, Harold II. After gaining initial victories, Harald's forceswere routed by the English king in September 1066 at Stamford Bridge,where Harald was killed. His son Magnus (c. 1048-69) succeeded him andruled jointly with Olaf III, another of Harald's sons, until Magnus'death in 1069. "
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