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The fællig and the family: the understanding of the family in Danish medieval law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008
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1 General introductions to Danish legal history are Henrik, Matzen, Forelæsninger over den danske retshislorie: Privatret I (Copenhagen, 1895)Google Scholar and Jørgensen, Poul Johs., Dansk retshistorie (Copenhagen, 1947).Google Scholar For the constitutional struggles in Denmark in the thirteenth century see Aksel, E. Christensen, Kongemagt og aristokrati: epoker i middelalderlig dansk statsopfattelse indtil unionstiden, Københavns Universitets fond til tilvejebringelse of læremidler (Copenhagen, 1968).Google Scholar
Interesting use of the law codes to illuminate the anthropological assumptions of the law has been made by Søren Lau, Moeslund ‘“Thet callum wi men alt fæthernis iorth”: slægt-individ relationer omkring jord’, Den Jyske Historiker 42 (1987), 68–84Google Scholar, while the conflicts between canon law and the landskabslove receive treatment in Thyra Nors, ‘Kampen om ægteskabet: en konfliktfyldt historie om kirkens forsøg på at genne lægfolk ind i den hellige ægtestand’, Den Jyske Historiker 42 (1987), 28–46.Google Scholar
2 To maintain a consistent orthography, I am using the modern Danish word fællig instead of the many variant spellings of the old Danish word felágh used in the compilations.
3 In this article I shall also be making use of the Liber legis scanie (also called Anders Sunesøn's paraphrase), a contemporary Latin paraphrase of the Skånske lov. The liber legis scanie appears not to have enjoyed any legal authority on its own, but its systematic presentation of the canons of law contains useful analyses of the historical development of the institutions found in the Skånske lov.
The landskabslove and the Liber legis scanie, their variants and later translations into Middle Low German, Middle High German and Latin are published in excellent modern editions in Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen and Paul Johs. Jørgensen, general editors, Danmarks gamle landskabslove med kirkelovene (Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab; 8 vols., Copenhagen, 1933–1961), hereafter DGL.Google Scholar A translation into modern Danish was made by Erik, Kroman and Stig, Iuul: Danmarks gamle love pånutidsdansk (3 vols., Copenhagen, 1945–1948).Google Scholar
4 This is hardly surprising since there are eight bishops among the eleven nobles mentioned among those who passed the law in Vordingborg. The other three were King Valdemar's sons, Erik, Abel and Christoffer (see Erik, Kroman), ‘Danmarks gamle love: deres alder og indbyrdes slægtskab’, Acta Philologica Scandinavica: Tidskrift for Nordisk Sprogforskning, 29 (1971–1972), 111–26.Google Scholar The sources for the prologue are traced by Stig Iuul in the notes in Erik, Kroman and Stig, Iuul, Retshistorisk indledning, kommentar, sagregisler, Vol. III of Danmarks gamle love på nutidsdansk, 133–6.Google Scholar
5 See Jørgensen, , Dansk retshistorie, 148–59.Google Scholar
6 Stig, Iuul, ‘Kompaniskab’, in Olaf, Olsen, Peter, Skautrup, Niels, Skyum-Nielsen and Axel, Steensberg eds., Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder (27 vols., Copenhagen, 1959–1977).Google Scholar
7 See Iuul, , ‘Retshistorisk indledning’, XXVII.Google Scholar
8 The most important study of the Danish fællig is Iuul, Stig, Fællig og hovedlod: studier over formueforholdet mellem agtefæller i tiden før Christian V's danske lov (Copenhagen, 1940).Google Scholar
9 By the term ‘legally competent’, I understand the ability to assume rights over property and to dispose of it. This ability can be more or less comprehensive, that is it can include one or more of the following legal obligations: contracts of employment, arrangements for wills and ordinary contracts and powers to discharge obligations such as purchases, sales, loans, rents and sureties. I also include the right to pursue these obligations in the courts. Legal competence also includes the right to dispose of capital, property or a certain privilege. Although based on the definition of legal historian Inger Dübeck, my definition deviates from hers in not distinguishing between habilitet and kompetance (see Inger, Dübeck), Købekoner og konkurrence: studier over myndigheds og erhvervsrettens udvikling med stadigt henblik på kvinders historiske retsstilling, Skrifter fra det Retsvidenskabelige Institut, 29 (Copenhagen, 1978; 36.)Google Scholar
10 Jyske lov does not allow a member to withdraw his share of the fællig at all. However, it does allow the children to withdraw from the fællig without compensation, see below.
11 See below.
12 Skånske lov 52, in Johannes, Brøndum-Bielsen and Svend Aakjær, eds. (with the collaboration of Erik Kroman), Skånske lov: Text I–III, in DGL. (Numerals in references to the Danish law codes here and below are to canon numbers; where they are preceded by Roman numerals, these refer to books within the code.)Google Scholar
13 Iuul, , ‘Retshistorisk indledning’, XXV.Google Scholar
14 Skånske lov 20; Liber legis scanie 11, in Svend, Aakjær and Erik, Kroman eds., Skånske lov: Anders Sunesøns parafrase, skânske kirkelov m.m., in DGL; Jyske lov I.9, in Peter, Skautrup ed., Jyske lov: Text 1: NkS 295 8°, in DGL.Google Scholar
15 From hoved (head) and lod (share).
16 Eriks sjællandske lov I.31, in Peter, Skautrup (ed.), Eriks sjællandske lov: Text 1–2, in DGL; Skånske lov 38; Skånske lov 40; Liber legis scanie 15.Google Scholar
Jyske lov did not deal specifically with parents entering the religious life. Instead it limited the wife's right to grant bequests to the church on her death-bed: if there were children in the marriage, the husband had to consent to the bequest, presumably to prevent the alienation of an undue proportion of the wealth of the fællig.
17 Eriks sjællandske lov I.38; Eriks sjællandske lov I.39; Eriks sjællandske lov I.40; Eriks sjællandske lov I.41.
18 Women, being legal minors, could not be merchants abroad.
19 Valdemars sjællandske lov 1.
20 Eriks sjællandske lov 1.7.
21 Skånske lov 17. The laws are unclear as to whether a child was required to leave the fællig upon marriage. The Zealand compilations only provide instructions for the payment of their shares if they leave, while the Skånske lov, Jyske lov and Liber legis scanie leave it up to the husbonde how much he should pay the child who leaves. None of the laws mentions the child's obligation to leave the fællig in any of the cases mentioned above.
22 Valdemars sjællandske lov 69.
23 Eriks sjællandske lov I.34.
24 Jyske lov I.12.
25 Eriks sjællandske lov III.52; Valdemars sjællandske lov 145. Compare Valdemars sjællandske lov 144; Jyske lov I.90.
26 Eriks sjællandske lov III. 52. Women's possession of keys carried both symbolic and legal significance: the symbol of the wife's authority was her bundle of keys to the rooms and coffers of the house. If stolen goods were found in the rooms to which she had the key, she was liable for punishment (Jyske lov II.96–99; Eriks sjællandske lov III. 19; Valdemars Sjællandske lov 87; Skånske lov 141; Liber legis scanie 87). The concubine who carried a man's keys for three years was granted the rights of a married woman over his goods (Jyske lov I.27). For an encyclopedic treatment of the legal and social implications of the possession of the keys see the article ‘Nyckelbärare’, in Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder.
27 Skånske lov 141; Liber legis scanie 87.
28 Forty marks (most mss. more realistically add ‘or three marks’).
29 Jyske lov I.90; Jyske lov I.100.
30 Liber legis scanie 9.
31 Skånske lov 17; Liber legis scanie 10.
32 Eriks sjællandske lov III.46.
33 Erika sjællandske lov I.45.
34 Eriks sjællandske lov I.45.