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Itinéraires du savoir de l’Italie à la Scandinavie (Xe-XVIe siècle)

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Corinne Péneau

La Scandinavie médiévale

The Hälsingelag and Hälsingland as a Political Periphery

Thomas Lindkvist

Texte intégral

  • 1 Samling af Swergies gamla lagar (SSGL), H. S. Collin & C. J. Schlyter (eds.), 1-13, Stockholm 1827 (...)

1The provincial law codes are the most prominent monument of an early vernacular literacy with Latin script in the emerging kingdom of Sweden. Literacy appeared later and was less varied in what was to become Sweden than in Norway, for example. The Swedish provincial law codes are mostly from the late 13th century and the early 14th century. Their importance as a national monument of literacy has been stressed and facilitated by the great and meticulous publication of C. J. Schlyter, at the start together with H. S. Collin, in Samling af Sweriges gamla lagar. In the mid-20th century they were superbly translated into modern Swedish and comprehensively commented by Åke Holmbäck and Elias Wessen.1

  • 2 P. Nyström, ‘Landskapslagarna’, originally published in Ateneum, 1934, reprinted in P. Nyström, Hi (...)
  • 3 E. Sjöholm, Sveriges medeltidslagar. Europeisk rättstradition i politisk omvandling, (Rättshistori (...)

2The laws have often been discussed and been the basis of many studies of the political, social and economic structure of medieval Sweden. Per Nyström in a seminal article in 1934 challenged an established, more or less Germanistic, view. The laws were not reflections of old indigenous judicial customs. The law codes were introduced as part of a deliberate social and political transformation. The law codes were written in order to legitimize a new political and social order.2 The influence of canon and other European legal traditions have been stressed in later research, not least in a prominent and partly provocative study by Elsa Sjöholm. Her thesis that all the provincial laws are to be regarded entirely as a result of reception of foreign law is perhaps not generally accepted, although it is acknowledged that the laws are to be regarded as part of a social and political transformation.3

  • 4 SSGL, vol. 6, Lund 1844; Å Holmbäck & E. Wessén, Svenska landskapslagar, 3, Södermannalagen och Hä (...)

3One of these law codes is the Hälsingelag (the provincial law code of Hälsingland) which is only preserved in one medieval manuscript in Uppsala University Library, UUB B 49. The manuscript is dated to the middle of the 14th century and is lacking some folios. In addition to the manuscript of the Hälsingelag there is also the Ärvdabalk (the section on inheritance) of the Upplandslag. There is also a printed version from 1609 based upon a now lost manuscript; it is also evident that Jonas Bureus, the editor, had other, now lost, manuscripts at his disposal.4

  • 5 Holmbäck & Wessen, s xlvii; a lagman (legifer) is at first mentioned in 1313; DS nr. 1962.
  • 6 The provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen were Norwegian during medieval times. They were transferr (...)
  • 7 Hälsingelagen, Manhaelis balker§ 29; Þungmalae balker § 7:i. G. Hafström, ‘Treding’, Kulturhistori (...)

4Hälsingland was the north of Sweden. What is now the province (or in modern Swedish landskap) of Hälsingland is only a tiny part of the medieval legal province. Medieval Hälsingland consisted of four parts or separate lands: from the south to the north, Alir, Sunded, Medelpad and Ångermanland. The first two lands are the present Hälsingland. Each land had a separate lagman or law-speaker.5 The southern border of Hälsingland was Ödmården; thus the present landskap Gästrikland was a part of Uppland.6 There is also evidence of treding, i.e. the division of a district into three parts. Such divisions are considered to be ancient and their functions often vague and imprecise.7

  • 8 In Hälsingelagen, ÆrfÞa balker § 16 Archbishop Olof is mentioned regarding the prohibition of the (...)

5The Hälsingelag could be described as a shorter and modified version of the Upplandslag, which served as a model for the other laws in the provinces around Lake Mälaren and later for Magnus Erikssons landslag, the law code of the land of the realm, in the middle of the 14th century. It has been assumed that the Hälsingelag was compiled and written down on the initiative of the Archbishop of Uppsala, Olof Björnsson (Archbishop 1315-1332).8

6The legal system was new; the laws are expressions of the implementation of a new political and ideological culture. But laws were also meant to be an instrument of power in an actual society.

  • 9 S. Brink, ’Forsaringen-Nordens äldsta lagbud’, in E. Roesdahl & P. Meulengracht Sørensen (eds.) Fe (...)

7From Hälsingland we have an exclusive example of legal regulations prior to the provincial law code. It is the runic inscriptions of an iron ring at Forsa at Hög in northern present Hälsingland, dated to the 9th century. There are divergent interpretations, but Stefan Brink has recently argued that they contain regulations of the safeguarding of a cultic and assembly site and also references to the law, or legal practice, of the people of the land.9

  • 10 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker, § 15.

8The Hälsingelag per se was part of the integration of the province into the kingdom of Sweden. The integration was mainly ideological. It was also connected with the increasing territorialisation. At the very end of the law, as part of the Rättegångshalk (the section concerning legal proceedings), there is a description of the border between the realms of Norway and Sweden.10 It thus has the character of an anomalous addition. But evidently it was appropriate to mark and define the border of the realm in the manuscript which meant the implementation of a new law.

9The making of a Christian monarchy and the establishment of the ecclesiastical and spiritual institutions were a question of Europeanization. Hälsingland and the north of Sweden could be described as a political periphery and there was a centre where the institutions of political, cultural and ideological power existed.

  • 11 Later, in 1362, the two law districts of Finland participated in the election of a king, but never (...)

10One way to define the kingdom of Sweden and its centre and peripheries is the route of the eriksgata. It was the prescribed route a newly elected king had to take and specified how the election was to be confirmed by the different provinces (länder). The origin of the eriksgata is much debated. It is described in the Upplandslag and the Magnus Erikssons landslag in detail and the description is at least intended to give an archaic impression. The provinces involved in the eriksgata and thus the election were Uppland, Södermanland, Östergötland, Västergötland, Närke and Västmanland. It was thus the provinces around Lake Mälaren and the main provinces of Götaland, which were the political centre.11 Hälsingland remained outside the political centre. In the Magnus Erikssons landslag from around 1350 it is stated that the kingdom of Sweden comprised seven bishoprics, each of which consisted of one or two lawspeakerships. But the Uppsala bishopric consisted only of one lawspeakership (lagmamdöme), i. e. that of Uppland. Hälsingland is not mentioned as a separate lawspeakership. Hälsingland was in some sense associated to the judicial province of Uppland.

  • 12 B. Varenius, ‘The retinue and the ship. An archaeo-sociological study of Scandinavia at the turn o (...)
  • 13 Hälsingelagen, Konungz balker § 7. Carl Gustaf Styffe assumed the existence of twelve skeppslag in (...)
  • 14 H. Sundström, Bönder bryter bygd. Studier i Övre Norrlands äldre bebyggelsehistoria (Bothnica. Skt (...)

11One definition of “Hälsingland” is found in the King’s section (Konungabalk) concerning the ledung and the taxes. Ledung was the duty of the peasantry to provide the royal military naval organization with men, ships and victuals. In Hälsingland it was probably mostly defensive and it might be supposed that the ledung was introduced mainly as a tax or duty.12 In the province of Hälsingland the duty and the taxes were evidently based upon a territorial organization or on collectives based upon the “ships”; i. e. ships as a fiscal fiction replacing the real ships. This tax was based, however, with modifications, on the ledung system introduced in Uppland and the other provinces of the Lake Mälaren region. In Medelpad and Ângermanland it was taxation in fur and cloth; two men had to perform prescribed duties together. In the parishes north of Ångermanland, Umeå and Bygdeå there was a tax paid in furs, but no other taxes; “no other ledung, since they have to shield their land at home”.13 The fiscal and thus the territorial control more or less faded away northwards, at least according to the law code, but interdisciplinary research has demonstrated early colonization along the coastal area of the north Bothnian Gulf.14 The colonization was not initiated by the kingship or the Church. The establishment of fiscal and administrative control from outside was a much later manifestation of power.

12The fiscal system, which could be described as the most prominent example of a territorial and fiscal control of a state, i.e. the right to permanent and regular appropriations, was established and was adapted and modified from a Central Swedish model to the particular economic and social circumstances.

  • 15 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker § 1; Upplandslagen, Þingmalæ balkær § 1.

13The lagmän in Hälsingland had quite another position than in the other provinces. In Uppland, for example, there was a difference between the lagman and the domare (judge). The lagman of Hälsingland roughly corresponded to the title and functions of the domare. The election of a lagman in the Hälsingelag corresponds to the election of a judge (domare) in the Upplandslag.15 The lagmän in Västergötland and Uppland, for example, were in general members of the upper aristocracy. They were members of the council and the men that elected the king. Hälsingland was dominated by the peasantry, with very few members of a privileged frälse. The lagman of Hälsingland was evidently more of a representative of the local communities. The hierarchy was flatter in the north.

  • 16 See notably S. Brink, Sockenbildning och sockennamn. Studier i äldre territoriell indelning i Nord (...)
  • 17 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker § 3. The function of the länsman is unclear. The location of the c (...)
  • 18 T. Lindkvist,’Kollektiv eller territoriell indelning. Socknen som profan gemenskapsform i Sveriges (...)
  • 19 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalæ balker § 6, 7:1, Manhaelis balker g 29.

14The parochial organization (socken) was well settled and established when the law was written.16 The secular territorial organization was less established and settled in Hälsingland and there were notably no härads or hundares. Those secular territorial units evidently played an important role in the judicial system that was established when the provincial law codes were written in central Sweden. The parish (socken) was a judicial unit and had in general more secular functions than further south in Sweden. Court sessions of the parish were held twice a year, led by the King’s länsman and no more were allowed unless on command from the King.17 The parish was more of an arena of local communities in Hälsingland than in other parts of Sweden which might also be an indication that the parish inherited functions of earlier communities. The parish was foremost a community rather than a territory.18 On some occasions the skeppslag and the treding were units for court sessions.19

  • 20 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker § 6. The panels were for cases of breaking the edsöre. In ÆrfÞa balk (...)
  • 21 H. Bjørkvik, ’Veitsle’KLNM, vol. 19, Malmö, 1975, col. 632-634.
  • 22 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker § 10, 11.

15The King was absent from Hälsingland. Instead there was the årman, or the kungsåre. The ârman of the King visited the province only occasionally. Certain panels of justice were appointed by him for settling certain cases.20 He entered Hälsingland at Mårdbäck, which was the name of a small stream on the border between Gästrikland and Hälsingland. He evidently travelled according to certain routes and collected the taxes for the King. The peasantry was obliged to provide horses and keep roads clear of snow; evidently this royal representative made his journey in the winter. This official was entitled to certain provisions, termed veitsla, or væzla. This term was common in Norway and was the duty to sustain a king, his representative or another person at the top of the social hierarchy.21 In Sweden it is only known from the Hälsingelag. The konungsåre was held in peace and crimes and offences against him were punished by high fines.22

  • 23 DS nr 2107. See notably B. Fritz, Hus, land och län. Förvaltningen i Sverige 1250-1434, 2 (Stockho (...)
  • 24 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker §11:1. The farms were Hög in the south (probably Norrala in Alir), H (...)
  • 25 S. Brink, ‘Sockenbildningen i Sverige’, in O. Ferm (ed.), Kyrka och socken i medeltidens Sverige ( (...)
  • 26 Yngre Västgötalagen, Mölno balker § 8.
  • 27 J. Rosén, Kronoavsöndringar under äldre medeltid (Skrifter utgivna av Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenska (...)

16This konungsåre is unique in Sweden. He is not mentioned for any other area. In 1317 a royal officialis is mentioned in Hälsingland. He was the representative of the king and held meetings of the court of justice and collected the royal taxes. Thus, this officialis was the Latin term used for the kungsâre of the law.23 Probably the farms of Uppsala öd were central in the administration of the itinerant kungsâre. Uppsala öd comprised the farms belonging to the royal domain; the estate that followed the office of the King. In the Hälsingelag the Uppsala öd farms are mentioned by name: three in present-day Hälsingland, one in Medelpad and two in Ångermanland. Those farms were not to be alienated from the Crown.24 Close to the Uppsala öd of Hälsingland there are remarkable churches with strong towers; they have been interpreted by Stefan Brink as manifestations of royal power.25 The only corresponding naming of royal farms is found in the second version of the Västgötalag.26 Västergötland was a province with a mighty indigenous aristocracy and this in contrast to Hälsingland. But Västergötland was also a province with absent kings when eastern Sweden and notably the Lake Mähren district became the political centre and main royal arena. It might therefore be supposed that these were the only royal farms in the different peripheries.27 The origins of the konungsåre and of the nature of the Uppsala öd farms are of course difficult to identify, but the law code was part of the process of establishing an administrative control over the province, although rough and primitive.

  • 28 See G. Dahlbäck, Uppsala domkyrkasgodsinnehav med särskild hänsyn till perioden 1344-1527 (Studier (...)

17Hälsingland was part of the archbishopric of Uppsala. It was, however, a vast periphery of the diocese. The estates of the archbishopric and the different sections of the cathedral were overwhelmingly concentrated in the province of Uppland.28

  • 29 Hälsingelagen, Kyrkiu balker § 5; 15:2; Ærfa balker 16pr, 19:3,13:3.

18The deans (in Swedish, prostar) were important as the representatives of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The dean had an important role as the representative of the bishop.29 And there were four deans in Hälsingland, one at Bollnäs, one at Forsa and one respectively for Medelpad and Ångermanland.

  • 30 Diplomatarium Suecanum, Stockholm 1929-(DS) nr 1850.

19Although it was not always necessary the dean resided in his deanery. The will of the dean of Bollnäs, Ingemund, in 1312 mentions inter alia his vicarius in Bollnäs, Gottskalk. The landed possessions of Ingemund, mentioned in his will, were all in Uppland, and probably he was more attached to the chapter at Uppsala cathedral than to the deanery at Bollnäs.30 The deans were, however, more permanent and constant representatives than the konungsåre.

  • 31 DS nr 268.

20The establishment of the ecclesiastical organization was another form of integration within the realm. There were difficulties in collecting the tithe in Hälsingland; special regulations were issued. In 1232 there were complaints that the inhabitants of Hälsingland had refused to deliver their tithe. The archbishop of Uppsala had to be compensated.31

  • 32 DS nr 1202.
  • 33 Hälsingelagen, Kyrkiu balker § 7.

21The tithe of Hälsingland was regulated in a statute issued by King Birger Magnusson and Archbishop Nils Allesson of Uppsala in 1297. It was evident that the tithe was well adapted to the particular economic structure, notably in that the tithe was required in fish, seal, furs and hides. The catches of hunting and fishing were plentiful and were reflected in the taxes to the King as well. There had evidently been disputes between the clergy and laymen of Hälsingland concerning the tithe and other duties and fees to the Church.32 Disputes were, in the future, be decided by four men, two appointed by the clergy and two by the laymen; if they disagreed the case had to be settled by the dean. From the Hälsingelag it can also be deduced that the tithe was settled by agreement between the communities and the clergy.33

  • 34 DS nr 1205.

22Somewhat later in 1297, the marshal of the realm, Torgils Knutsson, severely admonished the inhabitants of Hälsingland and demanded that they discharge their fiscal duties to the clergy.34 The resistance to integration within the realm was mainly against the economic power imposed upon society.

23The Hälsingelag is an abridged version of the Upplandslag. There are sometimes identical paragraphs, but not always corresponding to the content of the Hälsingelag.

  • 35 H. Klackenberg, Moneta nostra. Monetarisering i medeltidens Sverige (Lund Studies in Medieval Arch (...)

24Differences have also been explained as negligence, especially concerning the Manhelgdsbalk, the section concerning homicide. Fines were often prescribed in elns of cloth (vadmal) which could be understood as a lesser degree of monetarization in the north of Sweden. The introduction of a monetary economy was, according to Henrik Klackenberg, no later in the coastal areas of Hälsingland (Norrland) than in the Lake Mälaren area. More comprehensive monetarization took place especially in the 14th century.35

  • 36 Upplandslagen, WiÞerbo balker § 19, 20.
  • 37 Concerning landownership in Hälsingland, notably in the late middle ages, see S. Brink, Hälsinglan (...)

25There are several minor differences between the Hälsingelag and the Upplandslag. Notably it is shorter, but there are no substantial differences. The section concerning inheritance is shorter, but in content it is the identical structure imposed in the peripheral north. In Jordabalken, i. e. the section concerning possession and tenancy of land, there are only the paragraphs and introductions of the subsections transferred from the Upplandslag to the Hälsingelag. In Byalagsbalken, i. e. the section with regulations concerning the villages and the framework of agriculture, animal husbandry and use of outlying lands, there are differences. The rather detailed regulations of the Upplandslay concerning pasture lands and forests between villages and about commons are lacking in the Hälsingelag.36 There were differences in the structure of settlement, but also in landownership. Most of the land was owned by the peasantry and there was virtually no aristocracy. These peculiar social circumstances might be the explanation of the laconic interests in these matters.37 The Hälsingelag is the only Swedish provincial law code to lack regulations concerning the unfree thralls. Slavery was probably nonexistent or of minor importance. The new social and ’European’ structure evolving in Sweden with a Church and a lay aristocracy basing its privileged positions upon appropriation of the agrarian produce was less marked in a periphery like Hälsingland.

  • 38 Holmbäck & Wessen, op.cit, p. LXII-LXIII.

26It has been pointed out that the judicial system was somewhat different in Hälsingland. Canon law had less influence on the position of the clergy, which was less autonomous than according to the Upplandslag, for example.38

  • 39 Hälsingelagen, Manhælis balker § 38.
  • 40 The concept ättesamhälle has been criticized and rejected, mainly because there is no evidence of (...)

27There are regulations in this law which have been regarded as archaic. This is based upon the assumption that there was an earlier judicial system, a traditional system replaced through the influence of the Church. One of the particularities of the Hälsingelag is the ättarbot (ætta bot). The Hälsingelag belongs to the category of Swedish laws where the compensation for slaying a man was a question known as ätt. It was a collective fine for compensating the killing of a man and it had to be distributed collectively. The groups were the respective kin and bilateral kinship was relevant. It was stated that this ättarbot should only be given once. If a man committed a second homicide he was responsible for the fines himself.39 This is in itself no indication of a throwback to a tribal society, ättesamhälle or Sippengesellschaft40 but rather an indication that the Hälsingelag was part of establishing control over the judicial procedures; fines were to be controlled and appropriated by the new overlordship represented by the kingship and/or the Church.

  • 41 Äldre Västgötalagen, Af mandrapi § 1:4; cf. Yngre Västgötalagen, Draepare bolkaer § 6, 7.
  • 42 DS nr 3106.
  • 43 Östgötalagen, Drapa balkaer § 7. In the Östgötalag there was another division, two thirds were giv (...)

28There are similarities in other laws. In the first version of the Västgötalag it was stated that beside the wergild there was an additional ättarbot, which was a collective fine of the ätt of the offender and had to be redistributed amongst the ätt of the victim.41 This practice was forbidden in the statute issued by King Magnus Eriksson in 1335 at Skara. It was laid down in a new law that for Västergötland the ättarstudha for homicide was henceforward abolished, or at least was no longer mandatory but only voluntary.42 A similar regulation is found in the Östgötalag, the oranbot, but is only mentioned by name.43

  • 44 Häisingelagen, ÆrfÞa balker § 16.

29There are also odd regulations concerning ordeal.44 There are no corresponding rules in the Upplandslag, for example. It is stated that in 1320 the archbishop Olof complained that ordeal was practised in Hälsingland. Ordeal was banned at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and evidently this ban was introduced in Sweden during the visit of the papal legate Cardinal William of Sabina in 1248, at the synod of Skänninge. Ordeal as a judicial procedure had been reintroduced in Hälsingland after having been abolished by Kings Magnus and Birger, i.e. Magnus Birgersson Ladulås (1275-1290) and Birger Magnusson (1290-1318), according to the law. Ordeal was replaced by judgment by a panel, nämnd, i. e. the system of making judgements imposed by the Church and the King in most of the provincial law codes.

30Here, as in the case of the ättarbot, the law made, or tried to make, the practices and customs of Hälsingland fit into the legal framework promoted by Church and King.

31The emergence of a medieval kingdom and state formation in Sweden was a long and complicated process. The second half of the 13th century was the period when a more regular administration emerged. This was the period when administrative literacy became more established. This was of course concentrated in the areas where the kingship and the Church organization had their main centres. The Upplandslag of 1296 was a great achievement with the introduction of a new legal system, regulating various social and economic relations of a more ’Europeanized’ society. The Upplandslag was a deliberate royal, ecclesiastical and aristocratic enterprise to change the legal system.

32Hälsingland was a province incorporated into the new political structure. But since it was a province without an aristocracy or a group that could evolve into a landowning and privileged frälse, integration was mainly accomplished through the adaptation of selected parts of the legal system of the areas of the plains around Lake Mähren. A provincial law code reflects the introduction of a new social order, the adaptation of a new legal system. It was imposed from above, by the King, the Church and the aristocracy. These agents were, however, to a certain extent “absent friends” in Hälsingland and the law was adjusted to the particular social, economic and political environment where it was intended to function.

Notes

1 Samling af Swergies gamla lagar (SSGL), H. S. Collin & C. J. Schlyter (eds.), 1-13, Stockholm 1827-1877; Sveriges landskapslagar tolkade och förklarade för nutidens svenskar, Å. Holmbäck & E. Wessen (eds.), 1-5, Stockholm 1933.

2 P. Nyström, ‘Landskapslagarna’, originally published in Ateneum, 1934, reprinted in P. Nyström, Historieskrivningens dilemma och andra studier, T. Forser (ed.), Stockholm 1974, p. 62-78.

3 E. Sjöholm, Sveriges medeltidslagar. Europeisk rättstradition i politisk omvandling, (Rättshistoriskt bibliotek, 41) Lund 1988. See also S. Gagner, Studien zur Ideengeschichte der Gesetzgebung, Uppsala, 1960.

4 SSGL, vol. 6, Lund 1844; Å Holmbäck & E. Wessén, Svenska landskapslagar, 3, Södermannalagen och Hälsingelagen, Stockholm, 1940, p. xliii-xlv.

5 Holmbäck & Wessen, s xlvii; a lagman (legifer) is at first mentioned in 1313; DS nr. 1962.

6 The provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen were Norwegian during medieval times. They were transferred to Sweden late through the peace treaty at Brömsebro in 1645. Jämtland, however, belonged to the archbishopric of Uppsala but is not mentioned in the Hälsingelag.

7 Hälsingelagen, Manhaelis balker§ 29; Þungmalae balker § 7:i. G. Hafström, ‘Treding’, Kulturhistoriskt lexikon for nordisk medeltid (KLNM) vol. 18, Malmö, 1974, col. 575-578.

8 In Hälsingelagen, ÆrfÞa balker § 16 Archbishop Olof is mentioned regarding the prohibition of the ordeal in 1320. Thus it is probable that the Hälsingelag is from the 1320s or the first years of 1330s. A. Nelson, ‘Hälsingelagen’, in Lex Helsingiae (Hälsingelagen) e codice Bibl Univ Upsal B 49 (Corpus codicum Suecicorum Medii Aevi, 7), Copenhagen, 1948, p. xxxiv-xxxvii. Archbishop Olof was later mentioned as sapiens, which might be an indication of his activities as promoting the making of a Hälsingelag. Cf. G. Hafström, ‘Hälsingelagen’, KLNM, vol. 7, Malmö, 1962, col. 233-235.

9 S. Brink, ’Forsaringen-Nordens äldsta lagbud’, in E. Roesdahl & P. Meulengracht Sørensen (eds.) Femtende tuaeifaglige Vikingesymposium, Århus uniuersitet 1996, Århus 1996, p. 27-55; S. Brink, ‘Law and Legal Customs in Viking Age Scandinavia’ in J. Jesch (ed.) The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century. An Ethnographic Perspective, Woodbridge, 2002, p. 87-110.

10 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker, § 15.

11 Later, in 1362, the two law districts of Finland participated in the election of a king, but never Hälsingland. In the eastern part of the Swedish realm the Hälsingelag was the mostly applied provincial law code, K. Pirinen, ‘Finlands rättssedvänjor’, KLNM, vol. 4, Malmö, 1959, col. 274.

12 B. Varenius, ‘The retinue and the ship. An archaeo-sociological study of Scandinavia at the turn of the last millennium and the following centuries’, Current Swedish archaeology, vol. 7, 1999, p. 173-182; M. Mogren, Faxeholm i maktens landskap. En historisk arkeologi, (Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology, 24), 2000, p. 133-135.

13 Hälsingelagen, Konungz balker § 7. Carl Gustaf Styffe assumed the existence of twelve skeppslag in Ångermanland and eleven in Medelpad. A skeppslag might be defined as a collective responsibility for a ship of the ledung. But the skeppslag also implied a rudimentary territorial division, or an emerging territorial partition. C. G. Styffe, Skandinavien under unionstiden, Stockholm, 1911, p. 392, 394. Concerning the taxes of Hälsingland, see F. Dovring, De stående skatterna på jord 1400-1600, Lund, 1951, p. 380-7.

14 H. Sundström, Bönder bryter bygd. Studier i Övre Norrlands äldre bebyggelsehistoria (Bothnica. Sktifter utgivna av Norrbottens museum, 4), Lund, 1984; T. Wallerström, Norrbotten, Sverige och medeltiden. Problem kring makt och bosättning i en europeisk periferi, 1 (Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology, 15:1), Lund, p. 39-173; T. Wallerström, ‘Om riksbildning, “maktmaifestationer” och den politiska verksamhetens historiska utveckling i medeltidens Sverige’, in A. Andren et al. (eds.), Från stad till land. En medeltidsarkeologisk resa tillägnad Hans Andersson, Stockholm, 2001, p. 389-97.

15 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker § 1; Upplandslagen, Þingmalæ balkær § 1.

16 See notably S. Brink, Sockenbildning och sockennamn. Studier i äldre territoriell indelning i Norden (Studier till en svensk ortnamnsatlas, 14), Uppsala, 1990, p. 139-349.

17 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalae balker § 3. The function of the länsman is unclear. The location of the court sessions was decided by the inhabitants of the parish, but not on the site of the priest’s farm. The different functions of the parish were thus marked.

18 T. Lindkvist,’Kollektiv eller territoriell indelning. Socknen som profan gemenskapsform i Sveriges medeltidslagar’in O. Ferm (ed.), Kyrka och socken i medeltidens Sverige (Studier till Det medeltida Sverige, 5) Stockholm, 1991, p. 505-17.

19 Hälsingelagen, Þingmalæ balker § 6, 7:1, Manhaelis balker g 29.

20 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker § 6. The panels were for cases of breaking the edsöre. In ÆrfÞa balker § 16:1 another panel partly appointed by “the King’s man” is mentioned. It is not clear who this man was, but probably he was the konungsåre. This latter panel was appointed concerning accusations of theft. There are no equivalents to these judicial proceedings in other law codes.

21 H. Bjørkvik, ’Veitsle’KLNM, vol. 19, Malmö, 1975, col. 632-634.

22 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker § 10, 11.

23 DS nr 2107. See notably B. Fritz, Hus, land och län. Förvaltningen i Sverige 1250-1434, 2 (Stockholm Studies in History, 18), Stockholm, 1973, p. 53.

24 Hälsingelagen, Konungx balker §11:1. The farms were Hög in the south (probably Norrala in Alir), Hög in Sunded (Hog, north west of the later town of Hudiksvall), Hög a norÞstighi (probably Husaby in the parish of Jättendal), Näs (Selânger, Medelpad), Norrstig (Säbrå, Ângermanland) and Kutby (probably Bjärtrå, Ångermanland).

25 S. Brink, ‘Sockenbildningen i Sverige’, in O. Ferm (ed.), Kyrka och socken i medeltidens Sverige (Studier till Det medeltida Sverige, 5), Stockholm, 1991, p. 134-5; see also concerning a possible royal church in Ångermanland, A. C. Bonnier, ‘Kyrktorn som symbol och kassaskâp. En betraktelse med anledning av Styrnäs kyrka’, in L. Grundberg & P. Nykvist (eds.), En norrlandsbygd möter yttervarlden. Styresholmsprojektets medeltidssymposium på Hola folkhögskola (Styresholmsprojektets skrifter, 3), Härnösand, 1994, p. 47-53·

26 Yngre Västgötalagen, Mölno balker § 8.

27 J. Rosén, Kronoavsöndringar under äldre medeltid (Skrifter utgivna av Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskapssamfundet i Lund, 46), Lund, 1949, Ρ· 70-71.

28 See G. Dahlbäck, Uppsala domkyrkasgodsinnehav med särskild hänsyn till perioden 1344-1527 (Studier till Det medeltida Sverige, 2), Stockholm, 1977.

29 Hälsingelagen, Kyrkiu balker § 5; 15:2; Ærfa balker 16pr, 19:3,13:3.

30 Diplomatarium Suecanum, Stockholm 1929-(DS) nr 1850.

31 DS nr 268.

32 DS nr 1202.

33 Hälsingelagen, Kyrkiu balker § 7.

34 DS nr 1205.

35 H. Klackenberg, Moneta nostra. Monetarisering i medeltidens Sverige (Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology, 10), Lund, 1992, p. 139-146.

36 Upplandslagen, WiÞerbo balker § 19, 20.

37 Concerning landownership in Hälsingland, notably in the late middle ages, see S. Brink, Hälsinglands äldsta skattelänyd. Hjälpskattelängden “Garder och hjälper” från är 1535, Uppsala, 1994, p. 126-34.

38 Holmbäck & Wessen, op.cit, p. LXII-LXIII.

39 Hälsingelagen, Manhælis balker § 38.

40 The concept ättesamhälle has been criticized and rejected, mainly because there is no evidence of large kin groups being the basis of social organization. D. Gaunt, Familjeliv i Norden, Hedemora, 1983, p. 186-210; C. Winberg, Grenverket. Studier rörande jord, släktskapssystem och ståndsprivilegier (Rättshistoriskt bibliotek, 38) Stockholm, 1985, p. 10-30.

41 Äldre Västgötalagen, Af mandrapi § 1:4; cf. Yngre Västgötalagen, Draepare bolkaer § 6, 7.

42 DS nr 3106.

43 Östgötalagen, Drapa balkaer § 7. In the Östgötalag there was another division, two thirds were given/received on the paternal side, and one third on the maternal.

44 Häisingelagen, ÆrfÞa balker § 16.

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