Translation: Jens Ulff-Møller.
A strict definition of kinship - a canonical one - was in introduced in to the Nordic medieval legislation. This replaced a looser definition. According to a canonical definition of kinship - constructed after the Church's incest prohibitions, you were obligated towards all your blood-relatives. This doctrine applies where: 1) The kin group acted as a legal person towards a third party in cases about paying of wergeld, and where the kinsmen collectively took an oath. 2) Rights and obligations between the kindred regulated land transactions either by inheritance, donations or sale. Here the obligations were at their widest. The moral requirement for love and cohesiveness was strengthened by more substantial rules to ensure, that land was not transferred at the expense of kinsmen.
Author(s): Helle Vogt
Series: Medieval Law and Its Practice, 9
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: XX+282
Abbreviations ix
Kings of Denmark xi
Kings of Norway xiii
Kings of Sweden xv
Maps xvii
Introduction 1
PART ONE. THE IDEOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCIAL LAWS
Chapter One. Kinship as Strategy 9
Chapter Two. The Legal Sources 27
Chapter Three. The Scandinavian Societies at the Time of the Provincial Laws 33
Chapter Four. The Emergence of the Provincial Laws and their Dating 61
Chapter Five. The Fathers of the Laws 81
Chapter Six. The Peace Ideology 87
Chapter Seven. The Legislator and the Law 95
Chapter Eight. The Application of the Provincial Laws 105
PART TWO. THE FUNCTION OF CANONICAL KINSHIP IN THE PROVINCIAL LAWS
Chapter Nine. The Function of Kinship in Legal Disputes 111
Chapter Ten. Collective Sanction 125
Chapter Eleven. Inheritance Law in the Provincial Laws 155
Chapter Twelve. Donations, Pious Donations, and the Right of Disposal of Property 185
Chapter Thirteen. The Right of "Allodium" 209
Chapter Fourteen. "Fledføring" — Elder Care 225
Chapter Fifteen. Marriage 235
Conclusion 259
Bibliography 267
Index of Names and Places 277
General Index 280
