Västgötalagen or the
Westrogothic law is the oldest
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
text written in Latin script and the oldest of all
Swedish provincial lawsThe Medieval Scandinavian laws were originally memorized by the lawspeakers, but after the end of the Viking Age they were committed to writing. Initially they were geographically limited to minor jurisdictions , and the Bjarkey laws concerned various merchant towns, but later there were laws that...
. It was compiled sometime during the early 13th century and is known to have been the code of law used in the province of
Västergötland' is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
(Westrogothland) during the latter half of that century. The earliest complete text is dated 1281. Small fragments of an older text have been dated 1250.
This legal code exists in two versions,
Äldre Västgötalagen and
Yngre Västgötalagen (the Elder and Younger Westrogothic law, respectively).
Discussion
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Västgötalagen or the
Westrogothic law is the oldest
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
text written in Latin script and the oldest of all
Swedish provincial lawsThe Medieval Scandinavian laws were originally memorized by the lawspeakers, but after the end of the Viking Age they were committed to writing. Initially they were geographically limited to minor jurisdictions , and the Bjarkey laws concerned various merchant towns, but later there were laws that...
. It was compiled sometime during the early 13th century and is known to have been the code of law used in the province of
Västergötland' is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
(Westrogothland) during the latter half of that century. The earliest complete text is dated 1281. Small fragments of an older text have been dated 1250.
This legal code exists in two versions,
Äldre Västgötalagen and
Yngre Västgötalagen (the Elder and Younger Westrogothic law, respectively). A first printing in modern times was published by Hans Samuel Collin and Carl Johan Schylter in 1827, and a new edition by Gösta Holm in 1976.
A contemporarily current list of Christian Swedish kings, added as an appendix to
Äldre Västgötalagen, was written by a priest called Laurentius in Vedum (same province) around 1325, his source being unknown. It begins with Olof Skötkonung and ends with Johan Sverkersson.
See also
- Geats
- Götalagarna
- Stones of Mora
Stones of Mora was the place where the Swedish kings were elected. The origin of the tradition is unknown.-Mora Meadow:In Lagga parish about 10 km south-east of Uppsala, but in neighbouring Knivsta Municipality, is Mora äng...
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