The Bjarkey laws ( Old Swedish: ''biærköa rætter'', Old Icelandic: ''bjarkeyjar-rettr'',

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 ...

: ''bjarkøretten'',

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: ''bjærkeret'', ''birkeret'') were the laws and privileges of medieval Scandinavian merchant towns (birks). In

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 the ...

, the Bjarkey laws concerned all the merchant towns and also every location with trade, such as fishing villages and market locations. There are two versions, an early and a late Bjarkey law, of which the early one only remains as fragments and concerned the merchant town of Nidaros. The later Bjarkey law was created primarily for the merchant town 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 o ...

and only the most necessary amendments were made for other merchant towns. The extant manuscripts are very much in agreement, even when they explicitly concern different merchant towns. The late law was accepted at a '' ting'' in

in 1276, and is divided into nine sections of which the last one, the ''Farmannalög'' is a kind of sea law. This was the first of the revised City Laws of

Magnus VI of Norway Magnus Haakonsson ( non, Magnús Hákonarson, no, Magnus Håkonsson, label= Modern Norwegian; 1 (or 3) May 1238 – 9 May 1280) was King of Norway (as Magnus VI) from 1263 to 1280 (junior king from 1257). One of his greatest achievements was the ...

(1238-1280), known as ''

Magnus Lagabøtes bylov ''Magnus Lagabøtes bylov'' ("Magnus Lagabøte's City Law") was promulgated for Bergen in 1276 during the reign of King Magnus VI of Norway (known as Magnus ''lagabøte'' or "law-mender"). Oslo, Trondheim and Tønsberg received their own version ...

'', and integrated into the national ''

Magnus Lagabøtes landslov ''Magnus Lagabötes landslov'' ("Magnus Lagabøte's State Law") was a law covering the whole of Norway, issued by King Magnus VI of Norway between 1274 and 1276. The law was the first to apply to Norway as a whole and is one of the first examples ...

''. In Sweden, it is the oldest law put to paper for a town, and was probably written in the late 13th century or the early 14th century, influenced by the revision of the

Uppland Law Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninh ...

. The oldest manuscript for the law is from c. 1345. The law was created for the young town Stockholm and its

custom Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...

s, but it was also used in

Lödöse Lödöse (), also known as Gamla Lödöse is a locality situated in Lilla Edet Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg and is considered the precursor to modern-day Gothenburg. Gaml ...

and probably in a few other towns, as well. No town was allowed to use the law without the formal permission by the Swedish king. Its use may have become more widespread if it had not been superseded by the new town law by king Magnus Eriksson (1316–1377). The term ''Bjarkey Laws'' was however used for a long time for Magnus Eriksson's law in various locations. Some Swedish scholars have suggested that the laws are considerably older than the 13th century in Sweden. Hadorph proposed that it was created as early as 832 by king

Björn at Hauge Bjorn (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or less oft ...

for the merchant town of

Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of the European continent and ...

Sources

The article ''Bjärköa-rätten'' in ''Nordisk familjebok''

External links

*The oldest version of the Swedis

Lund university. {{Owl Medieval legal codes Legal history of Sweden Legal history of Norway

See also

Sources

External links