ABSTRACT

In the context of studying urban legal culture, this chapter seeks to explore how law worked in the smaller towns of Norway and to identify the expectations that inhabitants had of the legal system in these market towns. When discussing the impact of urban law, it is of interest to define the parameters of this law. Following Bertelsen's approach, the chapter seeks to analyse the sources of urban legal culture in Norway's smaller towns. We find high-ranking judges in the market towns as well: from Konghelle, we have nothing but documents of royal origin or concerning conflicts and agreements within the royal administration. It is evident that the distinction was similarly blurred in the Norwegian market towns as the rural cases dominate the surviving charters originating in them.