Magnus the Lawmender (1 or 3 May 1238 – 9 May 1280), also known as Magnus Haakonsson, was
King of Norway
The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...
from 1263 to 1280.
[''Magnus 6 Håkonsson Lagabøte – utdypning'' (Store norske leksikon)](_blank)
/ref> One of his greatest achievements was the modernisation and nationalisation of the Norwegian law-code. He was the first Norwegian monarch known to have used an ordinal number
In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets.
A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the leas ...
, counting himself as Magnus IV. In modern sources, he is also known as Magnus VI.
Early life
Magnus Håkonsson was the youngest son of King Håkon Håkonsson and his wife Margaret Skulesdatter
Margaret Skulesdatter (Old Norse: ''Margrét Skúladóttir'') (1208–1270) was a Norwegian queen consort, spouse of King Haakon IV of Norway and queen consort of Norway from 1225 to 1263.
Biography
Margrete was the daughter of Jarl Skule Bårds ...
. He was born in Tunsberg and was baptised in May 1238. He spent most of his upbringing in Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
. In 1257 his older brother Håkon died, leaving Magnus the heir-apparent to the kingdom. His father gave him the title of king the same year. On 11 September 1261, he married Ingeborg, the daughter of King Eric IV of Denmark, after she was practically abducted by King Håkon's men from the monastery she was living in. The struggle to claim Ingeborg's inheritance from her murdered father later involved Norway in intermittent conflicts with Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
for decades to come. Magnus and Ingeborg were crowned directly after their marriage, and Magnus was given Ryfylke
Ryfylke is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the northeastern part of Rogaland county, Norway. The district, encompassing about 60% of the county's area is located northeast of Stavanger and east of Haugesund. It includes the mainla ...
for his personal upkeep. On 16 December 1263 King Håkon died during a campaign against the Scottish king over the Hebrides
The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...
, and Magnus became the ruler of Norway.
Reign
Foreign policy
Magnus' rule brought about a change from the somewhat aggressive foreign policy of his father. In 1266 he gave up the Hebrides and the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
to Scotland, in return for a large sum of silver and a yearly payment, under the Treaty of Perth
The Treaty of Perth, signed 2 July 1266, ended military conflict between Magnus the Lawmender of Norway and Alexander III of Scotland over possession of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man.
The Hebrides and the Isle of Man had become Norwegian t ...
, by which the Scots at the same time recognised Norwegian rule over Shetland
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
and the Orkney Islands
Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...
. In 1269 the ''Treaty of Winchester'' cemented good relations with the English king Henry III. Magnus also seems to have had good relations with the Swedish King Valdemar Birgersson, and in the 1260s, the border with Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
was officially defined for the first time. When Valdemar was deposed by his two brothers and fled to Norway in 1275, this stirred Magnus into gathering a leidang-fleet for the first and only time in his reign. With a large fleet, he met with the new Swedish King Magnus Ladulås
Magnus Ladulås (, ) or Magnus Birgersson ( 1240 – 18 December 1290) was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.
He was a son of Birger Jarl, and became a king after a rebellion against his brother Valdemar, King of Sweden ...
to try to bring about a settlement between the two brothers, but without success, Magnus of Sweden would not give in to pressure and Magnus of Norway retreated without engaging in hostile actions.
Internal policies
In internal politics, Magnus carried out a great effort to modernise the law-code, which gave him his epithet ''law-mender''. These were adopted at the Things in the years 1274 (''Landslov'') and 1276 (''Byloven''). In 1274 he promulgated the new national law, known as ''Magnus Lagabøtes landslov
''Magnus Lagabøtes landslov'' () was a law covering the whole of Norway, issued by King Magnus VI of Norway, constituted by the regional courts (cf. Things) between 1274 and 1276. The law was the first to apply to Norway as a whole and is one of ...
'', a unified code of laws to apply for the whole country, including the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
and Shetland
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
. This replaced the different regional laws which had existed before. It was supplemented by a new municipal law (a law for the cities) in 1276, ''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 or 'law-mender'). Oslo, Trondheim and Tønsberg received their own versions of the City Law about the same time, w ...
'', and a slightly modified version was also drawn up for Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. A unified code of laws for a whole country was at this time something quite new, which had until then only been introduced in Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
and Castile. His code introduced the concept that crime is an offense against the state rather than against the individual and thus narrowed the possibilities of personal vengeance. It increased the formal power of the king, making the throne the source of justice. The municipal law gave the cities increased freedom from rural control. A specific section fixed the law of succession to the throne, in accordance with the arrangements laid down by King Håkon Håkonsson in 1260.
The royal succession was an important and prickly matter, the last of the civil wars, fought for decades over disputed successions to the throne, having finally ended only in 1240. In 1273 Magnus gave his eldest son, five-year-old Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...
, the title of king, and his younger brother Håkon the title of duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
, thus making it unequivocally clear who would be his heir.
Although Magnus was by all accounts a personally very pious king, his work with the law-codes brought him into conflict with the archbishop, who resisted temporal authority over the church, and sought to preserve the church's influence over the kingdom. The Tønsberg Concord (''Sættargjerden in Tønsberg'') signed in 1277 between King Magnus and Jon Raude, Archbishop of Nidaros, confirmed certain privileges of the clergy, the freedom of episcopal elections and similar matters. The church preserved considerable independence in judicial matters, but gave up its old claim that the Norwegian kingdom was a fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
under the ultimate authority of the Catholic Church.
In cultural terms Magnus continued his father's policy of introducing European courtly culture to Norway. In 1277 he replaced the old Norse titles lendmann and skutilsvein with the European titles baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
and ''ridder'' (knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
), at the same time giving them certain extra privileges and the right to be addressed as ''lord'' (''herre''). Magnus is probably also the first Norwegian king to have named himself using an ordinal number
In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets.
A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the leas ...
- he called himself "Magnus IV" (he did not count Magnus Haraldsson (II) and Magnus Sigurdsson (IV)). Immediately after his father's death, he commissioned the Icelander Sturla Þórðarson to write his father's saga
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...
, or biography. In 1278, he commissioned the same man to write his own saga. The Saga of Magnus the lawmender (''Magnúss saga lagabœtis'') thus became the last of the medieval Norwegian kings' sagas
Kings' sagas (, , ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...
; unfortunately, only a short fragment of it has been preserved.
Death and aftermath
In the spring of 1280, Magnus fell ill in Bergen. He planned to have his son Eric crowned at midsummer as co-ruler, but died on 9 May. Eric succeeded him at the age of 12. Real power fell to a circle of advisors, prominent among them Magnus' widow, Ingeborg. Magnus was remembered as a good ruler, who ruled by law rather than by the sword.
The nationalist-conservative historian Oscar Albert Johnsen, who headed the Institute of Medieval Texts, founded during the occupation of Norway by the Nazis, considered Magnus a weak king for giving up the Hebrides and acquiescing to the demands of the Church.[e.g. Oscar Albert Johnsen, ''Noregsveldets undergang'' (Kristiania, 1924)] Mostly considered a rather wise king, sparing the kingdom of unnecessary and unfruitful wars, while preserving stability at home and finally bringing the Icelandic Commonwealth
The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing () in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. W ...
under Norwegian control.
Magnus was buried in the church of the Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
monastery in Bergen, which has since the 16th century been the Bergen Cathedral (''Bergen Domkirke'').
Notes
References
Other sources
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{{Authority control
1238 births
1280 deaths
13th-century Norwegian monarchs
Fairhair dynasty
People from Tønsberg
Burials at Christ Church, Bergen
House of Sverre
Sons of kings