Guide to Lagabøte
Welcome to the National Library of Norway!
This is the English audioguide for the exhibition Upholding the law. Magnus the Lawmender’s Law of the Land, 1274–2024
The exhibition will be open from February 1st to September 14th 2024.
Welcome to the audio guide! How do I navigate?
Part 1: Introduction
Upholding the law. Magnus the Lawmender’s Law of the Land, 1274–2024
Magnus VI the Lawmender Haakonsson – was this what he looked like?
Timeline
Part 2: Christianity and written culture
Christianity and written culture – a precondition for a uniform national code of law
New technology, new opportunities
The Kristina Psalter
Two fragments from the early Christian period in Norway
Parchment
Part 3: Breakthrough for Christianity
Breakthrough for Christianity
Music binds the country together
Liturgical music from Trondenes Church and Halsnøy Monastery
“Rex perpetuus Norvegiae”, Norway’s eternal king
The Nidaros antiphonary
Part 4: The king and the written word
The king and the written word
The Kings’ Sagas – more than just storytelling
Heimskringla
Cultural adaptation
The Saga of Haakon Haakonsson and Sverris Saga
Strengleikar
Pulp fiction in the Middle Ages
The Saga of Didrik of Bern
The Saga of Barlaam and Josaphat
The ingredients for a Norwegian identity
The Law of the Land and the sagas go hand in hand
Composite manuscript
Part 5: The law before the Law of the Land
The law before the Law of the Land
Judged by their peers
Christian law in the Gulathing Law
The Gulathing Law
The Thing
Thing districts
Becoming law
Part 6: Magnus the Lawmender’s Law of the Land
Magnus the Lawmender’s Law of the Land
Pigments in illuminated medieval manuscripts
The nine chapters of the Law of the Land
Codex Hardenbergianus
Codex Reenhielmianus
Codex Tunsbergensis
Part 7: Magnus the Lawmender’s legacy
Magnus the Lawmender’s legacy
Tangible traces of Magnus the Lawmender
Magnus the Lawmender’s Great Seal
Magnus the Lawmender‘s last will and testament
A gift to the poor
The personal is political
The Chronicle of Lanercost
The King’s Mirror
Seals
Part 8: The Law of the Land’s historic legacy
The Law of the Land’s historic legacy
One law for all?
A trial from Bergen
A lawsuit from Tønsberg
The Thing acclaims the new king