The Borgarting was one of the major popular assemblies or

thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...

s (''lagting'') of medieval

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 ...

. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the southern coastal region of Norway from the south-eastern border with Sweden, westwards to the today's

Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...

in Aust-Agder. Borgarting was named after its seat, the town of Borg (today

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

). It was established before 1164 when it absorbed the districts

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, in the south-east of Norway. Located in the southeastern part of the county, Grenland is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, and Siljan. Sometimes the ...

and

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. When Norway was united as a kingdom, the first lagtings were constituted as superior regional assemblies. The ancient regional assemblies –

Frostating The Frostating was an early Norwegian court. It was one of the four major Thing (assembly), 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 ...

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 ...

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 Borgarting – were eventually 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. J ...

. King Magnus Lagabøte had the existing body of law put into writing (1263–1280). In 1274, Magnus promulgated the new national law (''

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 ...

''), a unified code of laws to apply for the Kingdom of Norway. This compilation of the codified

laws (''Gulatingsloven'') applied throughout the realm extending to overseas possessions including 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 ...

and Shetland. ''Gulatingsloven'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

References

Other sources

*Andersen, Per Sveaas (1977) ''Samlingen av Norge og kristningen av landet : 800–1130'' (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget) *Larson, Laurence Marcellus (2011) ''The Earliest Norwegian Laws'' (The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd)

See also

References

Other sources

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