NEW EXHIBITION AT THE LOFOTEN MUSEUM ABOUT MAGNUS LAGABØTE

02 August 2024

This year we celebrate the 750th anniversary of Magnus Lagabøte’s national law.

In 1274, King Magnus VI Håkonsson gathered the entire Norwegian kingdom under one law. The drafting of the national law is considered a groundbreaking political and legal work. After Magnus died, he was named Lagabøte, the law improver.

You can now visit a new exhibition at the Lofoten Museum about Magnus Lagabøte and Landsloven (the Laws of the Land). This year marks 750 years since the Landslov was approved in Norway. The law was valid for 400 years and carried within it the seeds of our modern society. Among things, the law focuses on the fact that poor people should be treated humanely and that women have rights when it comes to inheritance and who they should marry.

LOCAL CONNECTION IN THE NORTH

When the Landslov was introduced in the north, we hear that it replaced something called Vágabok. Presumably, it was a law book that applied to the area Vágar in the Middle Ages.

In 1291, the archbishop of Nidaros sends out a letter in which he mentions the crimes Bjarne Erlingsson has committed against the church at the thing in Brudarberg in 1282. Among other things, the revocation of the church’s coinage, disagreement over tithing, and not least the declaration that the Vágaboka was invalid. The letter is a content-rich starting point for creating a northern commemoration of the Landslov in the anniversary year 2024.

Vágabok was a law book that was in use in the north, but it is uncertain whether the law book applied to Vágar or also included Hálogaland. In 1282 at Brudaberget, the Vágabok was declared invalid, and replaced with Magnus Lagabøte’s national law.

EXHIBITION ABOUT THE LANDSLOV AND VÁGAR

Through the exhibition, you will get to know Magnus Lagabøte, the law of the land and society in the Middle Ages here in the north. The Middle Ages are often portrayed as dark and gloomy, but was that really the case? What were ordinary people doing? Are there traces from the Middle Ages in the museum area in Storvågan?

The exhibition hangs outdoors down by the boathouses. Inside the Storehouse, you can also read the National Law, and try your hand at various activities such as writing your name in runes or Gothic writing. If you were a king, what law would you make?

Museum Nord has made the exhibition in collaboration with a professor and historian from Nord University and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. It will stand all summer and into the autumn.

Tip! Also visit the medieval exhibition inside the old barn at the Lofoten Museum, where you can learn more about Vágar in the Middle Ages and about archaeological finds from the settlement in Storvågan.

FAMILY DAY AT THE MUSEUM

On Sunday 28 July, we arranged various activities for both children and adults in connection with the exhibition! At that time, many people learned to write with old writings at the Lofoten Museum.

The National Law Anniversary

This year we celebrate the 750th anniversary of Magnus Lagabøte’s national law.

In 1274, King Magnus VI Håkonsson gathered the entire Norwegian kingdom under one law. The drafting of the national law is considered a groundbreaking political and legal work. After Magnus died, he was named Lagabøte the law improver.

The National Library is the national coordinator for the National Law Jubilee, and has put together an eventful program for 2024.