Christian Law (Norway)

As Christians law in Norway is called the medieval legal system of the church in Norway as from the four districts Thing Gulating , Frostathing is narrated Borgarthing and Eidsivathing. The respective provisions were negotiated at the individual thing meetings between King Olav II. Haraldsson (1015-1030) and the thing farmers present and are therefore not identical. It is similar in its provisions, however, that one assumes today that on a rich inter-meeting at the Moster , a draft was drawn up in 1024, which was then treated on each Thing meetings.

Emergence

The model was probably based on similar laws in England, where the main initiator, Bishop Grimkjell, came from. This Christian law even survived the great unification of law by King Magnus Håkonsson Lagabøte, who inserted the title Christian law into his land law , but did not include any provisions under it. However, he has recently been assigned a “New Christian Law for the Borgathing”, which is said to be based on his father's preliminary work. During his reign, the dispute between the Church and the royal power over the balance of power in the state was in full swing, so that it was not possible to fix a future-oriented reorganization in writing, despite the Tønsberg Concordat of August 9, 1277, which brought a provisional agreement. It was therefore left with the existing and developed further. It is thanks to this fact that a text from the eastern Thing districts of Borgarthing and Eidsivathing has survived at all. Its rules of purely civil law, which were outdated by King Magnus, have been lost.

The Christian rights of the two archbishops should rather be seen as political declarations of intent and programs, as they did not have their own legislative power. The legal development can be demonstrated by the juxtaposition of old anti-pagan and meanwhile obsolete formulations and the establishment of saints' feasts, the saints of which were only later included in the saints calendar, e.g. B. Thomas Mass on December 29th for Thomas Becket , who was only canonized in 1173.

In addition to the Christian rights of the four Thing districts, there is still a set of rules of Archbishop Øystein (1157–1188) called Gullfjóðr and one of Archbishop Jon (1267–1282).

The surviving texts are not laws, but private works to support the memory of the law speaker. The version of the oral presentation on the thing applied. In Borgarthingslov it is expressly stated: “ Now Christian law has been presented as we remember it. If something is missing, the bishop may correct it according to his authority. “Nevertheless, it was inevitable that over time the written version would gain greater authority on the question of what was applicable law. Since the law spokesman was also interested in the line of development of the law, contradicting statements often appear side by side. There are very old and relatively new provisions, so that the question of the age of the legal system cannot be answered. Essentially, however, the provisions go back to the time before the establishment of the Archdiocese of Nidaros. The archbishop is rarely mentioned, in Borgarthingslov not at all, and in Frostathingslov, in whose territory Nidaros was, the bishop in Nidaros is often spoken of. There is nothing in Christian rights about King Sverres' sharp arguments about the right to be appointed bishops. The Eidsivathingslov is still based on the necessary cooperation of the king. But all of them assume that the bonds will play a decisive role in the appointment of the priests.

Christian law was civil law like the right to purchase, the holiness of a man and other legal relationships with penalties and penalties up to and including peacetime with expulsion from the country and loss of property.

Memories of Paganism

Christian rights are introduced with the ancient formula that people should be Christians and reject paganism. The Christian should bow to the east during prayer and not to the north like the heathen during magic. The pagans sacrificed for Yule til og ARS friðar , for the good annual yield and peace. This custom was adopted by the church and associated with a blessing over the beer to be drunk. Anyone who secretly adheres to the old faith will be punished with the loss of all their property. In the Christian law of King Sverrir, the forbidden pagan customs are described in more detail: “If it is known by someone and this is proven to him that he is building up hills and making a house that he calls “ hearg ”or erects a pole and calls it“ poem pole ” , ... “This pole was set up to mock the enemy and was often combined with magic spells. Egill Skallagrímsson set up such a pole ( niðstöng ) against King Erik and his wife Gunnhild . A later version of Gulathingslov calls magic, witchcraft, belief in prophecy, in beings that dwell in hills and waterfalls, sitting outside to inquire about fate, denial of God and the Church in order to find treasures in burial mounds or otherwise rich or getting clever, trying to wake revenants or hill dwellers. Eidsivathingslov deals with domestic cults and the possession of magical objects that can no longer be clearly identified today is a criminal offense. The Borgarthinglov also speaks of magic remedies: "... and if witch stuff is found in people's beds or pillows, human hair or frogs' feet or human nails or other things used for magic ..." and "If a woman If it is proven that she is a troll, then she should leave the area with her belongings, since she is not to blame for being a troll. ”Also the so-called“ white magic ”was forbidden:“ A woman who believes, with To be able to cure forbidden remedies is at the expense of three marks … ”. Another custom is "when a woman bites off a finger or a toe of her newborn for a long life ..." although it remains unclear whose life should be extended.

In paganism, the father had the right to decide the life of a newborn. This custom was restricted in various ways, either by allowing only abortions to be exposed after baptism, or prohibiting exposure altogether or making it dependent on the consent of the bishop. In the Christian law of the Borgarthings there is even no mention of baptism. Rather, one should let it die and, as with uncanny beings in paganism, “be covered with stones in an uncanny place where neither man nor cattle can walk, that is the scary place of evil. “What happens to stillbirths is not regulated, except that it cannot be buried in the churchyard when unbaptized. In Frostathingslov it is expressly forbidden to cut open women who died in pregnancy in order to take out the pagan child so that the woman could be buried in a Christian way. She should also be buried in such a Christian way. The suspension must have been the custom for a long time, because in the 12th century King Magnus Erlingsson considered it necessary to impose the strictest punishment of peacelessness on suspension , while Olav the Saint had only set a fine of three marks for it. In Borgarthingslov and Eidsivathingslov the suspension is not mentioned at all.

At the funeral it is expressly forbidden to lay the deceased in mounds or under piles of stones. The funeral rites of the priest are seen not only as a blessing for the deceased, but also as a protection of the living from the revenants feared in paganism . The prayers and the sprinkling of holy water on the coffin have magical functions. The (Latin) funeral song (líksöngr) is considered a magic song. If the corpse is buried in the absence of the priest, he must immediately make up for the magic:

“En þa he prestr kemr home. þa scal staura niðr i kistu. oc steypa helgu vatne i. En hann scal syngia ivir liksong. "

"When the priest comes home, he should drill into the coffin and pour consecrated water into it and sing the líksöngr about it."

- Gulathingslov § 23

Even the oath kept still pagan memories. Originally, it was a conditional self-curse if untruth was invoked. By the magic of the word, the swearing man bound supernatural powers with absolute necessity to destroy him if he uttered untruths. Therefore, there was no special penalty for perjury. The oath was sworn on a sacred temple ring that was taken during the oath. In its place were relics or the Bible or the door post of the church. The self-curse was turned in a Christian way: “ God be gracious to me when I speak the truth, hostile when I lie. “But the church did not trust the fear of self-curse and imposed a penalty of three marks for perjury. The compatriots were also punished, albeit less. Oath assistants did not invoke the content of the oath, but the credibility of the sworn and that nothing else was known to them than what was sworn.

Notable church regulations

Baptism and emergency baptism were regulated in detail , as the Church was of the opinion that unbaptized children necessarily fell prey to eternal damnation. It is noteworthy that everyone involved in baptism becomes spiritual relatives, which excludes marital intercourse. So when the child's father performs emergency baptism, he becomes a spiritual relative of the mother, and the bishop must first allow the marriage to continue before marital intercourse can be resumed.

Regarding the church buildings, it is determined that there are main churches ( fylkeskirkjur ), Gaukirchen ( heraðskirkjur ) and so-called convenience churches ( hægendiskirkjur ). The latter are the own churches on the farm. Quarter and eighth churches are also mentioned. The laws are usually based on the existence of the churches and only regulate entertainment, which suggests a late version. Only the Borgarthingslov still has the old rule that the Bonden should build a Fylkeskirche from all men of the Fylkes. Like the other laws, the Borgarthingslov sets a deadline for restoring a destroyed (e.g. burned down) church (between one and three years) and regulates the penalties for exceeding deadlines. As a last resort, however, it allows the king to go into the army against the defaulting people, with the restriction that he may only take away the possessions of those responsible. Killing or burning of the farm property is prohibited. The church remains consecrated after the Borgarthingslov and the Gulathingslov as long as its four corner posts are still standing. When everything has burned down, the replica has to be rededicated. After the Frostathingslov, the church remains consecrated as long as the stones of the altar are not out of place and the altar itself is undamaged. But the bishop should according to a letter from Pope Alexander III. to the Archbishop of Nidaros in this case sprinkle holy water on the walls of an otherwise newly built church. Consecration was lost when blood was shed with “hating hands” in church or in the cemetery. This is related to the fact that the church was the place of many assemblies and legal acts, so many conflicts were discussed there. The release took place at the church, oaths were taken in or at the church, and legal declarations and notices were made at the church, so that the church was on an equal footing with the thing assembly in many respects. Anyone who violated the church peace by using weapons and was killed himself in the process was not allowed to be buried in the cemetery. If the funeral was enforced, the church became subject to interdict until the body was removed.

The cemetery at the church was organized corporatist: The most densely lay at the church the lendr menn (vassals of the King), farthest away at the fence the unfree. The men were south to bury the women north of the west-east facing church.

There is no mention of monasteries. But it is stipulated that a woman may only remove the veil with the consent of the heirs, and there is a special penal provision regarding sexual intercourse with a nun.

Even before the introduction of tithe (around 1111), the bishop received a fee for his services in the amount of one Ertog per 40 noses in his diocese. If he did not do this properly, he would lose his entitlement to the part of his diocese where he had neglected his duty. A major source of income, however, may have been the penalties, even if they were to be shared with the king as a rule, since a violation of canon law also represented a violation of legal peace. In Eastern Christian law, the bishop did not yet have a particularly prominent position, but, like all bonds, had to appear to the thing and listen to the legal lecture. In the west, in Gulathingslov and Frostathingslov, he soon received princely rank and was put on an equal footing with the Jarlen. The bishop could still be married, and the gulathingslov regulates the rights of the bishop's son. According to all Christian rights, tithe was divided into four parts, a quarter for the bishop, a quarter for the preservation of the church, a quarter for the priest and a quarter for the welfare of the poor. For this, the priest had to perform his necessary services free of charge, except for the night watch over a corpse, for which he could claim two ells of vadmál (woven woolen material, a common currency). For the legal status before the introduction of the tithe, the Borgarthingslov contains a catalog of fees: 12 monthly amounts of butter and flour. The priest reads prayers about the sick, three are free, another six cost a penny each, and more are paid by arrangement.

The observance of fasts and the Sunday sanctification with work bans occupy a large area. The holiday begins with the ninth of the previous day and lasts until the cock crow of the following day. The ninth is determined in summer when the sun is in the southwest and in winter when the sun goes down. All the subtleties of journeys started during the working day or activities that could not be completed in time, as well as the care of the cattle, are regulated. In 1247, on the occasion of the coronation of King Håkon Håkonsson , Cardinal Wilhelm von Sabina decreed significant relief by allowing fishing and field work, if the weather conditions required, on Sundays and public holidays. The food saved by fasting was to be given to the church and intended for the welfare of the poor. Numerous exceptions have also been made here.

The new marriage law also brought drastic restrictions. The old custom of buying a bride remained decisive. This took place at the engagement. The contract was made between the groom and the bride's closest male relative. “ The brothers have their sister, two or more. One of them betrothed her to a man. hen the others want to cancel the engagement, they should therefore lose who should decide. If the lot falls on the one who has engaged, it stays that way. otherwise not. ". The girl herself had nothing to say about it. Here the Church, which demands marriage consensus, has strengthened women's rights. In the Eidsivathingslov it says that two respected men, one from the company of the advertiser, one from the relatives of the girl with the advertisement should go to the girl. If she says yes or is silent, then the contract can be concluded. Otherwise there will be no engagement. But either it used to depend on the girl's ability to assert herself , or the story about Harald Hårfagre's advertisement to Gyda Eiriksdottir , according to which she made the condition that he should become king over all of Norway, is formed by Snorri Sturluson under the impression of the already existing Christian law been. The engagement was also binding for the Church. The wedding can also be omitted. The legal status of premarital children is also dealt with. Any sexual intercourse with animals or boys is punished with peacelessness. The expansion of the barriers to marriage was a severe limitation in sparsely populated areas. The regulations do not deal with dispensing.

Nor did the pagan ancestors know the institute of the will. The succession was regulated by customary law and the testator could not influence it. Even during his life, the testator was subject to severe restrictions on disposal, so that he was actually more of the administrator than the owner of the property. This independence of the estate comes very close to the family entails. It was a break with the traditional when, on the occasion of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Nidaros, it was determined that a man could donate a tenth of his movable property and a quarter of his self-acquired property without the permission of the heirs of the church for the salvation of his soul. This foundation was called the main tithe and was confirmed by King Håkon Håkonsson in 1224.

Paganism knew no divine judgment. The gods did not judge. The one who won the duel turned out to be the more capable and thus also the one who deserves to be followed and that he keeps the right as the better. The gods helped out of affection and spoiled out of disregard. The ordeal was introduced by the Church as evidence. It was the iron test and the immersion of the hand in a kettle of boiling consecrated water ( kettle trap ). The judgment of God took place under church guidance and supervision. Pope Alexander III In a letter to the Archbishop of Nidaros in 1169, it banned the iron test because it contradicted canon law, and the 4th Lateran Council of 1215 forbade divine judgment at all. But it was also used afterwards to clear up serious accusations or to testify to the marital status and inheritance of a king's son.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Robberstad p. 12.
2. ↑ Bjørg Dale Spørck: Kong Magnus lagabøters kristenretter. Innhold, språk og overlevering Diss. Oslo 2006.
3. ↑ He took a hazel stick in his hand and walked with it to a rocky spire that looked far into the country. He took a horse's head and put it on top of the pole. Then he did the feud parable, and said, "Here I present the envy rod and turn this insult against King Erik . And Queen Gunnhild" He then briefed the Ross head against the interior of the country and continued: "Even I turn this insult against the Guardian spirits of the land who live in this land, that they should all wander around and find no resting place anywhere until they have driven King Erik and Gunnhild out of the land. ”(Egils saga chap. 57)
4. ↑ Borgarthingslov I, 16
5. ↑ Frostathingslov II, 15
6. ↑ Frostathingslov II, 3
7. ↑ Gulathingslov 200
8. ^ Gulathingslov 51

literature

• Rudolf Meißner: The Norwegian national church according to the four old Christian rights. Germanic Rights New Series Issue 2. Weimar 1941.
• Felix Niedner (ex.): The story of the skald Egil. Cologne 1963.
• Knut Robberstad: Mostratinget 1024 og Sankt Olavs Kristenrett. Lecture given on July 28, 1974 in Moster.