Gulating ( non, Gulaþing) was one of the first
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
legislative assemblies, or ''
things,'' and also the name of a present-day
law court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...
of western Norway. The practice of periodic regional assemblies predates recorded history, and was firmly established at the time of the unification of Norway into a single
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
(900–1030). These assemblies or ''lagþings'' were not democratic, but did not merely serve elites either. They functioned as judicial and legislative bodies, resolving disputes and establishing laws.
Gulaþing, along with Norway's three other ancient regional assemblies, the
Borgarting
The Borgarting was one of the major popular assemblies or things (''lagting'') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the southern coastal region of Norway from the south-eastern border with Sweden, westwar ...
,
Eidsivating
Eidsivating was the name of one of the original Norwegian popular assemblies or '' Things''. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for the eastern parts of Norway.
Summary
Traditionally, Eidsivating was the court for the populatio ...
, and
Frostating
The Frostating was an early Norwegian court. It was one of the four major Things in medieval Norway. The Frostating had its seat at Tinghaugen in what is now the municipality of Frosta in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name lives on in the pr ...
, were joined into a single
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
during the late 13th century, when King
Magnus the Lawmender had the existing body of law put into writing (1263–1280). They provided the institutional and legal framework for subsequent legislative and judicial bodies, and remain in operation today as superior regional courts.
History
The Gulaþing was an annual parliamentary assembly which took place in
Gulen
is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik. Other villages in Gulen include Brekke, Byrknes, ...
, on the west coast of Norway north of
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, from approximately 900 to 1300 AD and was one of the oldest and largest parliamentary assemblies in medieval Norway. The Gulatinget Millennium Site is a symbol of the history of this Norwegian representative form of parliament, with traditions reaching over a thousand years back in time.
Initially farmers from Western Norway met at Gulen to discuss political matters, things like taxation, the building of roads and churches, and military service. The assembly also passed judgments in civil disputes and criminal cases. Special legislation, ''Gulatingslova'' (the Gulaþing law), was drafted to aid the discussions. A fairly complete
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
of the legislation from around 1250 has survived, ''Codex Ranzovianus'' (E don. var. 137 4to at the
Danish Royal Library
The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...
); however, the text represents all the laws adopted and amended by the farmers at the ''thing'' over several centuries.
The assembly site was established early in the 10th century and the original legislative area covered the regions of
Hordaland
Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...
and
Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...
. Initially the Gulaþing was an 'allthing' or common assembly, where all free farmers had the right to participate.
Snorri Sturlason’s ''
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...
'' recounts that
Håkon the Good
Haakon Haraldsson (c. 920–961), also Haakon the Good (Old Norse: ''Hákon góði'', Norwegian: ''Håkon den gode'') and Haakon Adalsteinfostre (Old Norse: ''Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri'', Norwegian: ''Håkon Adalsteinsfostre''), was the king of ...
(935–961) took an active part in the parliamentary assemblies at Gulen, and under his rule the regions of
Rogaland
Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
,
Agder
Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...
and
Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...
were brought into the area covered by the ''thing'', with
Valdres
Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...
and
Hallingdal
Hallingdal ( en, Halling Valley) is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.
Hal ...
also being incorporated later.
The practice of periodic regional assemblies of leading men predates recorded history, and was firmly established at the time of the unification of Norway into a single
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
(900–1030). These assemblies or ''lagþings'', functioned as judicial and legislative bodies, resolving disputes and establishing laws. The Gulaþing received delegates from
Lyngør
Lyngør is a village area on a group of small islands in the municipality of Tvedestrand in Agder county, off the southeast coast of Norway. The village is about northeast of Tvedestrand and approximately southwest of the town of Risør. in the south to north of
Ålesund
Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...
, and its laws were observed from the eastern inland valleys of
Valdres
Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...
and
Hallingdal
Hallingdal ( en, Halling Valley) is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.
Hal ...
to the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
in the west.
Jon Gisle ''Lagting'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>
The Gulaþing served as the model for the establishment of the legislative assemblies of Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
(the Althing
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...
) and of the Faeroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betwee ...
(the Løgting
The Løgting (pronounced ; da, Lagtinget) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm.
The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ''l ...
), areas settled by people from western Norway.
While the Gulating
Gulating ( non, Gulaþing) was one of the first Norwegian legislative assemblies, or '' things,'' and also the name of a present-day law court of western Norway. The practice of periodic regional assemblies predates recorded history, and was fi ...
was not a democratic assembly in the modern sense of an elected body, it effectively represented the interests of a large number of people rather than a small elite. The laws were typically crafted as social contract
In moral and political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships betw ...
s. §35 for instance states, "None of us shall take goods from others, or take the law into our own hands" (Robbestad, 1969). The laws nevertheless applied for every person inside the "law area" ''Gulaþingslǫg''. If a stranger stole from a Gulaþingsman, that was also in breach of the laws, but the law set no limits to how he could be punished.
Gulaþing, along with Norway's three other ancient regional assemblies, the Borgarting
The Borgarting was one of the major popular assemblies or things (''lagting'') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the southern coastal region of Norway from the south-eastern border with Sweden, westwar ...
, Eidsivating
Eidsivating was the name of one of the original Norwegian popular assemblies or '' Things''. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for the eastern parts of Norway.
Summary
Traditionally, Eidsivating was the court for the populatio ...
, and Frostating
The Frostating was an early Norwegian court. It was one of the four major Things in medieval Norway. The Frostating had its seat at Tinghaugen in what is now the municipality of Frosta in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name lives on in the pr ...
, were joined into a single jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
during the late Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
, and King Magnus the Lawmender had the existing body of law put into writing (1263–1280). They provided the institutional and legal framework for subsequent legislative and judicial bodies, and remain in operation today as superior regional courts.[Jon Gisle ''Borgarting'' (Store norske leksikon)](_blank)
/ref>
The assembly site was selected as the millennium site
A millennium site ( no, tusenårssted) is a site selected by a Norwegian municipality or county municipality to mark the transition to the 2000s. In Norway it was decided that the counties and municipalities would choose one millennium site for ...
for Sogn og Fjordane county.
Judgments
Violence was dealt with by fines, which were imposed not only on the murderer, but also on his relatives—a practice that distinguishes Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
law from the Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
practice of holding only the individual responsible. Homicide of an heir to a property, according to Gulaþing law §218-228, is punished by a collective fee of 189 cattle, where each responsible party's share is spelled out in detail.
See also
* Frostathing Law
Frostathing law (Frostating's law, Frostating Law, Frostathinglaw, Frostaþing law) (''Frostatingsloven'') is one of Norway's oldest laws. It concerned the Frostating, which covered large parts of Norway, and derives its name from the ancient cour ...
* Medieval Scandinavian law
Medieval Scandinavian law, also called North Germanic law, was a subset of Germanic law practiced by North Germanic peoples. It was originally memorized by lawspeakers, but after the end of the Viking Age they were committed to writing, mostly by ...
References
Other sources
* Larson, Laurence M. (1939) ''The Earliest Norwegian Laws: being the Gulathing law and the Frostathing law'' (New York: Columbia University Press)
* Robbestad, Knut (1969) ''Gulatingloven.'' (Oslo: Norrøne bokverk. Det Norske Samlaget)
External links
Gulatinget official website
Thingsites.com - Official website for the Northern European Thing sites
{{Authority control
Legal history of Norway
Thing (assembly)
Law of Norway
Millennium sites