Gutalag

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gutalag (Swedish: Gutalagen ) is the ancient landscape right of the Baltic Sea island of Gotland , which is already in the 12th century in altgutnischer language , a precursor of Gotland was written. In addition to the legal rules , the code of law also contains the Gutasaga , the legendary history of Gotland. The code was officially in force until 1595, but was applied until 1645.

The Gutalag has come down to us in two manuscripts, one from the mid- 14th century and a copy from 1587, which is said to be a transcript of an older text from the 1470s.

Some content

The Gutalag consists of 65 sections:

The first part of Gutalag implements a Christian legal program:

  • The law begins with a rejection of paganism and an affirmation of Christianity.
  • The second section prohibits the abandoning of newborn children, which is permitted in Nordic paganism, and regulates the related protection and penalties for violations.
  • The third section commands and regulates the payment of tithing to the church.
  • The fourth section forbids sacrifices and sacrificial feasts in favor of or in honor of the pagan gods ( blot ) as well as the erection of bars, cult stakes and shrines in their honor.
  • The 6th section requires rest on Sundays and public holidays and their sanctification.
  • In the 8th, 9th and 10th section, peace is proclaimed especially for the Christmas season , Easter time and Pentecost as well as the time around the solstice and the sowing season (see Christmas Peace ), and crimes, in particular manslaughter, are committed during these times and in churches , are punished more severely.
  • The 11th section states the Thing Peace .
  • The 12th section regulates the peace of the house.
  • The 13th to 16th section regulates negligent homicide and manslaughter and sets the penalties and Wergeld .
  • The 17th section regulates liability for damage caused by animals.
  • The 18th section regulates the punishment for killing an unborn child by harming the pregnant woman.
  • The 19th section, which is very extensive with 37 paragraphs, regulates bodily harm and defines the penalties for many forms and consequences of the crime.
  • The 20th section regulates the inheritance law and heir maintenance in detail.
  • The 21st section regulates the handling of adultery .
  • The 22nd section regulates the punishment for rape of a woman.
  • The 23rd section regulates the punishment of the harassment of women.
  • The 24th section regulates the implementation of weddings .
  • Section 24 a regulates the right of way.
  • The 25th section regulates forest law.
  • The 26th section regulates the handling of fences and their damage or the consequences of damage (especially loss of animals).
  • The 28th section regulates the sale of land.

literature

  • Karl Fredrik: Säve: Gutniska urkunder: Guta lay, Guta saga aoch Gotlands runinskrifter sparingly treats . Stockholm 1859, PA Norstedt & söner, congl. boktryckare
  • Hugo Pipping: Guta lay also Guta saga, ja¨nte ordbok . København, SL Møllers bogtrykker, ISBN 978-1279371077
  • Å. Holmbäck, E. Wessén, “Skånelagen och Gutalagen” , Svenska landskapslagar 4, 1943
  • E. Sjöholm: Laws as sources of medieval history in the north . 1976
  • Ralf G. Päsler: Gutalag and Gutasaga German. Formation of literary interests and acquisition of literature in the Teutonic Order around 1400. in: German-language literature of the Middle Ages in Eastern Europe 2006, pp. 177–198

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Bernt Ender Borg: Gutalagen, s landslag on guteinfo.com (sv); accessed on January 2, 2016
  2. Gutalagen på svenska . on tjelvar.se , (sv) ; accessed on January 2, 2016