A Haandfæstning (

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

da, Håndfæstning &

no, Håndfestning, lit. "Handbinding", plural ''Haandfæstninger'') was a document issued by the

kings of Denmark This is a list of Monarchy of Denmark, Danish monarchs, that is, the kings and queens regnant of Denmark. This includes: * The Kingdom of Denmark (up to 1397) ** Personal union of Denmark and Norway (1380–1397) * The Kalmar Union (1397–1536) ...

from 13th to the 17th century, preceding and during the realm's

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

with the kingdoms of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Following Sweden's independence, similar documents were also issued by its kings. In many ways it is a Scandinavian parallel to the English

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

History

The haandfæstning was the result of the strength of the power of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. The first Danish king who was forced to sign this kind of charter was King

Eric V Eric V Klipping (1249 – 22 November 1286) was King of Denmark from 1259 to 1286. After his father Christopher I died, his mother Margaret Sambiria ruled Denmark in his name until 1266, proving to be a competent regent. Between 1261 and 1262, t ...

in 1282. It was used as a regular

coronation charter The Charter of Liberties, also called the Coronation Charter, or Statutes of the Realm, was a written proclamation by Henry I of England, issued upon his accession to the throne in 1100. It sought to bind the King to certain laws regarding the t ...

for the first time in 1320. Between 1440 and 1648 it was a normal condition for the recognition of a new king. When

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...

was introduced in 1660 the last haandfæstning was mortified. Unlike in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

there was no permanent charter to sign; every new king had to accept a new one that applied to his own reign. On the other hand, all haandfæstninger were based on the same model. The king had to promise that he would rule as a just king; that he would co-operate with the nobility; that he would never imprison any free man; that all leading offices (what one would today call "cabinet minister posts") and all

local administration Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

would be filled only by noblemen; and that questions of war and peace depended on the acceptance of the nobility. The charters did not necessarily transform the kings into puppets; most of them were able to create a solid base of power during their reign. And hardly any Danish king of the period totally kept the rules of the håndfæstning. The severity of the demands of the nobility also wavered from time to time. In modern

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, the word 'handvest' still can mean both '

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

' and (as a

loan translation In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

) '

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End of the era

Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 ''Kongeloven ("

King's Law The King's Law () or ''Lex Regia'' () (also called the Danish Royal Law of 1665) was the absolutist constitution of Denmark and Norway from 1665 until 1849 and 1814, respectively. It established complete hereditary (agnatic-cognatic primogenitu ...

")'' of Denmark-Norway, which ordered that the Monarch "shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone".A partial English translation of the law can be found in Ernst Ekman, "The Danish Royal Law of 1665" pp. 102-107 in: ''The Journal of Modern History'', 1957, vol. 2. This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the

Council of the Realm The Council of the Realm ( es, Consejo del Reino) was a corporate organ of Francoist Spain, created by the Law of Succession to the Headship of the State of 1947. Within the institutional complex created to hierarchize the regime of Francisco Fran ...

Legacy

Some modern

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

s have regarded the ''haandfæstninger'' as (primitive) predecessors of the modern

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

s. This might be true as for the limitations of the

royal power Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

but it would not be fair to call them real

democratic constitution Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

s. First of all their purpose seems to have been to secure the power of the nobility and they expressly tried to keep commoners and other people of "low birth" away from any kind of political influence. Unlike their English parallel they therefore do not seem to have inspired any kind of modern Danish constitutional theory.

References

Sources

* ''Samling af danske Kongers Haandfæstninger og andre lignende Acter. Af Geheimearchivets Aarsberetninger.'' Copenhagen, 1856–58, reprint 1974. (Source collection of handbindings in Danish and Latin) {{DEFAULTSORT:Handfaestning Denmark–Norway Kalmar Union