ABSTRACT
The medieval kingdom of Denmark consisted of three major legal provinces or regions: Scania, in the east; Zealand in the middle; and the peninsula of Jutland to the west. For centuries the study of the medieval Danish laws has been the core of Danish legal history. The majority of the inhabitants of rural medieval Denmark lived in villages where householders cultivated the soil together. Villages were mainly found in areas where the soil was rich: Scania, Zealand, Funen, the other islands and eastern and southern Jutland. Few sexual crimes are regulated in the laws. The laws give a vivid picture of the different kinds of offences which could lead to punishment or the payment of compensation. In the thirteenth century the Old Danish word lething covered both active military service in the fleet and the special taxes paid to subsidize warfare in general. The texts of the Danish laws were all collected and written down in Danish.
