Administration of Norway (Middle Ages)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The administration of Norway in the Middle Ages depended on the respective rule structures.

prehistory

In the last millennium BC Along the coast of north-west Norway, society was largely oriented towards southern Scandinavia. She had integrated agriculture into her economy to varying degrees and also signaled her “southern” connection through, among other things, Risvik ceramics (Norway) and burial mounds. These societies were probably also characterized by increasing hierarchy . In the centuries after the turn of the century, the agriculture industry solidified. Further processes of social stratification in the more recent Roman times and in the Migration Period (200–600 AD) led to hierarchically organized chiefdoms becoming the dominant form of society in coastal societies up to South Troms and Central Norrland. The rule was based on a redistributive economy , that is, the chief legitimized his rule by distributing the taxes he received to his clientele. The rulers were limited to the coastal region. The interior was the Sami territory .

The contrast “we - the others” had a geographical and economic component that had been institutionalized over many generations to a relatively tight border where one could settle as Norrøn. This mental discipline of “geographic behavior” can also have been strengthened and justified by ideas about the land of the “others” as dangerous or inhabited by evil forces. To go into the "wasteland" in the interior of the fjord or inland meant leaving the safe world, which was characterized by the courtyard and the cultivated land.

In the Sami areas of Norway, rule was divided between the clans and, according to the interpretation of archaeological finds, largely egalitarian. This applies both to the sea seeds on the coast and to the nomadic hunting communities in the inland.

At the end of the Metal Age, the peoples of Germanic ethnicity began to stratify their society, moving from the south to the north. In the early Viking Age , the landscape units were largely independent and were ruled by small kings chiefs. They were subordinate to the genders of large farmers with their clientele and their backers. It was a combination of territorial rule and allegiance.

middle Ages

Beginning

With Harald Hårfagre , a trend towards centralization gradually began. "Lendr maðr" stood by the king's side. It was a matter of a few particularly powerful large landowners who were assigned estates by the king or a jarl. But unlike feudalism, their power rested on their own landed property.

The 12th century the name " Sysle " was introduced for an administrative district. The division into Sysla was carried out under King Sverre . There were 50 sysla of different sizes. At the same time, a new office organization was created, and with it a new official nobility of the “Sysselmen” was created. They ordered " Lensmen " for their district . Over time, this nobility became feudal , and when King Magnus Lagabætir issued the Landslov in 1273, this process was largely complete and the Sysselmann was a royal administrator who also collected the royal taxes. He exercised police powers and the office of crown bailiff. He was also the commander of the Suffering Militia in his district. This abundance of power soon aroused resistance. King Hwkon V. abolished in 1308, this concentrated position of power and pulled the crown lands again. It was replaced by an administrative organization modeled on England. It had three levels: Lensherr, Vogt and (farmer) lensmann. The Vogt was subordinate to the liege lord. When the feudal lord later disappeared, the bailiff became an important member of the royal administration. He was responsible for law and order on behalf of the king. He often delegated tasks to the feudal man.

With regard to the inland areas inhabited by Sami, the institute of "supremacy" came up in the 13th century, which was connected with the obligation to pay tribute.

In addition to the royal administration, there was also an episcopal administration of the ecclesiastical properties, insofar as they were not owned by the monastery. It was carried out by the Setesvein on behalf of the bishop .

Late period

Administrative areas of Norway in the Middle Ages.

In the Middle Ages until the end of the 18th century, Norway was divided into two administrative divisions: "Nordafjelske Norge" and "Sønnafjelske Norge". This demarcation was an important division in the 15th century and during the Reformation . In the last period of its existence, the Norwegian Imperial Council was divided into two bodies, namely the "Imperial Council Nordanfjells" and the "Imperial Council Sunnanfjells". Each of the two met for himself and the king and others corresponded with them separately. Both parts of the country also had their own governors; In 1525 Olav Galle was named "staets holdher søndenfieldtz i Norge" and Henrik Krummedike was named governor "Söndanfjels". During the Reformation, the terms “Nordafjels” and “Sønnafjels” came into common use.

Around 1500 Lindesnes is also mentioned as the southern border. But normally the whole of Agder (today divided into Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder ) was counted under Sønnafjelske Norge. During the period of absolutism and under Struensee , Nordanfjellske Norge also included Vestlandet all the way down to Åna-Sira . "Sønnafjelske Norge" was south of Dovre and east of Langfjell. The administrative capital for "Nordafjelske Norge" was Bergen, for "Sønnafjelske Norge" Oslo. Dovrefjell was later perceived by the population as the border between the two areas, a rather recent division. In the 19th century, the border between the two areas was roughly based on the 60th parallel.

literature

  • Lars Ivar Hansen, Bjørnar Olsen: Samenes Historie fram til 1750. Oslo 2007, ISBN 978-82-02-19672-1 .
  • Per Hovda: Det nordanfjellske og sunnanfjellske Noreg i millomalderen. In: Historisk Tidsskrift. Vol. 33, 1943, pp. 595-599.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hansen p. 56.
  2. ↑ Hansen p. 65 f.
  3. ↑ a b c Police history. ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Police.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.politi.no
  4. ^ A b Karl Vilhelm Hammer: Syssel . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 28 : Syrten-vikarna – Tidsbestämning . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1919, Sp. 3–4 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  5. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum VII No. 580: Letter from King Frederick of June 15, 1524 to "her Vincencio Lunge rittere atwere vore statzhollere vdi vor riige Norge norden fore Lindesnes" (... our kingdom of Norway north of Lindesnes). Diplomatarium Norvegicum VIII No. 530: Friedrich's letter of March 14, 1525 to "Norgis riges tro raadtt Nordenfieldts" about the imminent attack by Christian II.
  6. ↑ Diplomatarium II No. 1081.
  7. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum VIII No. 518.
  8. ↑ Hovda p. 596.
  9. ↑ Steinar Imsen. In: Norsk Historisk leksikon . Oslo 2004, ISBN 82-456-0552-2 (article “Nordafjelske Norge” p. 296 and “Sønnafjelske Norge” p. 438).
  10. ↑ Langfjell is the name of the part of the mountain range lying south of Dovrefjall, which extends from northern Norway to almost the southern tip (Arstal – Skattum: Geografi for middelskolen. Aschehoug 1919. p. 11.)
  11. ↑ a b Hovda p. 595.