ABSTRACT
The provincial laws of Zealand consist of Valdemar's and Erik's laws, a church law, and a prologue to Valdemar's Law that corresponds to the prologue to the Law of Jutland. Much of the land in Zealand is rich clay soil, suited for grain production, and the medieval countryside was dominated by farming villages. Roskilde around 1200 was the largest and most important town in Zealand, but it was by no means the only town on the island that had municipal privileges. The main provincial assembly for Zealand was situated in the minor town of Ringsted in the middle of the island. In the early and high Middle Ages, Roskilde was by far the largest and most influential town in Zealand apart from Copenhagen. By contrast, the city of Copenhagen, which during the Middle Ages became the most important economic centre in Zealand, was in the hands of the bishops of Roskilde.
