During Haakon's reign the war with Denmark, which had lasted for twenty-eight years, was finally ended by the Peace of Copenhagen (1309), by which Haakon obtained the province of Northern Halland in settlement of his maternal inheritance. His rule was also in other respects firm and prudent. He curtailed some of the privileges of the Hansa towns and reduced the power of the bishops. He abolished the positions of earls and liegemen, and adopted stricter regulations for other officers, holding them to a faithful compliance with the laws. He built the fortress of Akershus, near Oslo, where he resided much of the time. King Haakon had no sons, but only a daughter, Ingeborg. In 1302 he therefore proclaimed a new law of succession extending the right of inheritance to the female line. By the same law a council of twelve men were to conduct the government during the minority of an heir to the throne. The king's daughter, Ingeborg, was afterward married to Duke Erik of Sweden, and, in the year 1316, she bore a son, who was christened Magnus. This caused great joy in Norway, and the king on this occasion conferred knighthood on twenty-five men. But the joy was of short duration. Duke Erik and his brother, Duke Valdemar, had been quarrelling with their brother, King Birger of Sweden. The latter pretended to desire a reconciliation and invited them to a feast at the castle of Nyköping. During the night the sleeping-room of the dukes was entered, and they were thrown into prison, where soon afterward they died. Rumor said that they were starved to death. The tidings of this tragedy so affected King Haakon that it hastened his death. He died at Tunsberg, May 8, 1319, and with him the male line of the royal house of Harald the Fairhaired became extinct. CHAPTER XXXV _Magnus Erikson "Smek" (1319-1374)--Haakon VI. Magnusson (1355-1380)_ Magnus, the son of King Haakon V.'s daughter Ingeborg and Duke Erik of Sweden, was only three years old at the death of his mother's father. While he was in his minority the affairs of the government were managed by a regency, the members of which had been selected by King Haakon. In Sweden King Birger, who had become generally hated on account of his treatment of his brothers, was deposed, and Magnus was proclaimed king of Sweden. Thus, for the first time, Norway and Sweden were united under one king. Both countries retained their own government and laws, and the king was to divide his time equally between the two countries. The Norwegians soon became dissatisfied with the government, which was conducted mainly by the king's mother, Duchess Ingeborg, who caused great scandal by her recklessness and wasted much of the revenue on her lover, Knut Porse, duke of Halland, whom she afterward married. At a general Thing, in Oslo, February 20, 1323, the regency was abrogated, and the knight Erling Vidkunson of Biarkoe and Giske was appointed regent.