Magnus Erikssons landslag

Legal code (c. 1341) of Magnus IV of Sweden
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Swedish. (April 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
  • Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 315 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Swedish Wikipedia article at [[:sv:Magnus Erikssons landslag]]; see its history for attribution.
  • You may also add the template {{Translated|sv|Magnus Erikssons landslag}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Magnus Erikssons landslag
"Deliberate Assault" illustrated in Codex B 68 of the Magnus Erikssons landslag from 1430.

The Magnus Erikssons landslag ('Country Law of Magnus Eriksson'), also known as simply the Landslagen ('Country Law'), was a Swedish law passed by king Magnus IV around 1341. It was the first attempt to apply a legal code to the entire nation of Sweden, replacing the previous local county laws under medieval Scandinavian law. The Country Law applied to the entire countryside, but not to the cities, which were governed according to the Stadslagen ('City Law'), which were issued in about the same time, but were separate. The Kristofers landslag from 1442, was an amended version this law, in effect in Sweden until the Civil Code of 1734.

The royal oath that was stipulated in Magnus' country code said that:

The King shall strengthen, love and look after all justice and truth and shall suppress all injustice and untruth and he shall be his peasantry faithful, so that he shall not destroy any poor or rich in any way to his life or limbs without being judged according to the law and he shall not take any property from anyone without being judged according to the law.[1]

The law was divided into the following chapters (Swedish: balkar):

  • Kyrkobalken - The Church
  • Konungabalken - The King
  • Giftermålsbalken - Marriage
  • Ärvdabalken - Inheritance
  • Jordabalken - Land
  • Byggningabalken - Buildings
  • Köpmålabalken - Merchants
  • Tingmålabalken - Court
  • Edsöresbalken - Breach of Peace
  • Högmålsbalken - Capital cases
  • Dråp med vilja - Intentional homicide
  • Dråp med våda - Involuntary manslaughter
  • Såramål med vilja - Deliberate Assault
  • Såramål med våda - Accidental assault
  • Tjuvabalken - Theft

References

  1. ^ Ruffert, Matthias (2011). Legitimacy in European Administrative Law: Reform and Reconstruction. Europa Law Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 9789089520982.
  • Nationalencyklopedin (NE)

Further reading

  • King Magnus Eriksson's Law of the Realm: A Medieval Swedish Code. Acta Societatis Fennicae Iuris Gentium C 2. Translated by Donner, Ruth. Ekenäs: Ius Gentium. 2000. ISSN 1235-2683.