ABSTRACT
Courts of law in the Swedish realm operated on the basis of a changing legislation. On the basis of their work, there were medieval rural and town laws (Lands Lag of Christoffer the Bavarian from the mid-fifteenth century, sometimes translated as the law of the land, pertaining to rural areas; and the town law from the mid-fourteenth century). These were updated, amended and completed by a range of separate orders, edicts and stipulations on various issues as needs arose. This had made the legal basis of action both old and fragmented. Moreover, old, often oral customs survived and were still in use beside the written laws, and despite the strive toward uniformity within the realm, these customs appear to have been different in different parts of the country (Letto-Vanamo, 1991; Inger, 1980).
