Scanian Law

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Codex runicus, a vellum manuscript from c. 1300 containing one of the oldest and best preserved texts of the Scanian Law, written entirely in runes.

Scanian law (Danish: Skånske Lov, Swedish: Skånelagen) is the oldest Danish and also the oldest Nordic provincial law, covering the geographic region of then Danish Skåneland (at the time including Halland, Blekinge and the island of Bornholm) as well as, for a short period, the island of Zealand. Denmark acceded Skåneland to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, and the Swedish government enforced Swedish customs and laws in the former Danish provinces from 1683 forward.

Scanian law was recorded in the Codex Runicus^[1], and was originally set down between 1202 and 1216 using runic lettering on parchment.

[edit] Context

A number of medieval Scandinavian provincial and national law collections have been preserved. The dates cited below are the dates of the oldest verifiable extant copy; various laws have been asserted to be older and thing-derived provincial laws^[2] clearly predate these recorded laws.^[3] . In the timeline below, blue bars denote provincial laws while pink bars denote national laws.

[edit] References and notes

1. ^ The Codex Runicus can be found at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
2. ^ The thing met at regular intervals, legislated, elected chieftains and petty kings, and judged according to oral law, memorized and recited by the "law speaker" (the judge).
3. ^ Sawyer, Birgit, Peter Sawyer (1993). Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, circa 800-1500. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. ISBN 0-8166-1739-2.