Articles of Association of Alsnö

The statute of Alsnö (swed. Alsnö stadga ) is a statute drawn up by the Swedish King Magnus Birgersson in the 1280s at the Alsnö hus royal court (located on the island of Adelsön in Mälaren ). The original document has been lost, but there are several copies. The copies give the year 1285 as the date of issue, but recent historical research suggests that the statutes were issued before 1281, probably on the Lord's Day of 1280.

The statute is one of the most discussed documents of the Middle Ages in Swedish historical research . In the statutes, certain groups - namely bishops, knights, squires and royal servants - are exempted from royal legal entitlement (in most interpretations related to taxes and penalties). In addition, men are also named who serve the king with battle horses, but historians do not agree on whether they too were fully covered by the royal privileges.

This statute created a privileged class, called frälse in Swedish , which is to be equated with the European nobility. In contrast to the time before, this layer included not only the families of the former tribal chiefs or large farmers, but also royal servants and followers, who were bound by an oath of allegiance to the king according to the feudal principle.

literature

• Jerker Rosén: Article "Frälse" in: Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for nordisk middelalder. Vol. 4. Copenhagen 1959. Col. 670-693, 687.