|1263 to 1266.|
Magnus VI. (1263–1280), who had been crowned during his father’s life, now ascended the throne. He had the wisdom to make peace with the Scots, by ceding to them all the islands off their coast except the Orkneys, but not in full sovereignty. For these he was to receive 4000 marks, and an annual tribute of 100 marks. At the same time Margaret, the daughter of Alexander, was betrothed to the son of Magnus. These islands had never produced any benefit to the crown: to maintain them would have entailed a ruinous expenditure of money and blood. But the Orkneys, though frequently independent, had been so long connected with the mother-country, and lay so much nearer, that though their preservation might bring no great advantage, they were useful as nurseries for seamen. In the reign of Magnus, too, Iceland became thoroughly dependent on the Norwegian crown.
|1263 to 1280.|
Internally, the reign of this prince exhibits considerable improvement. One of his most serious objects, (which had also been his father’s) was to establish, on fixed principles, the succession to the throne. As in other European countries, that succession was now made to depend on the law of primogeniture, in the male line only. To this regulation the bishops gave their assent; and, in accordance with it, they not merely recognised Eric as the successor of Magnus, but crowned that prince. Hence they no longer insisted on the obnoxious compact between Magnus V. and the primate of that day[[166]]—a proof that they do not merit all the abuse which modern history has poured upon them. It is indeed true that in return for their sanction of this new and fundamental law of succession, they obtained some favours; but most of them related to their own matters. They were excepted, for instance, from the secular tribunals; but so they were in every other country in communion with Rome. They refused laymen to exercise any influence over the election of dignitaries, and they did right. But when each prelate claimed the right of coining money, and of maintaining a body-guard of forty men-at-arms, he surely forgot his spiritual character, and remembered only that he was a temporal baron. This reign too witnessed some other changes. The allodial proprietors became vassals: the old jarls and hersers were replaced by dukes and barons and knights; feudal usages were introduced in lieu of the ancient national customs. As a necessary consequence, the small landed proprietors, equivalent to the English yeomen, began to disappear, and to be replaced by farmers. Still in the national character there was that which prevented the worse evils of feudality. If the peasant had no longer a voice, or we should rather say a vote, in the assembly of the states, except by representation, he yet continued to be free, and to bear arms. In the cities and towns of the kingdom there was also a modification of the old system. In proportion to the increase of commerce, and to the prosperity of the great depôts, was that of municipal rights. These rights were, as much as possible, assimilated to those of the German towns. For the two important cities of Bergen and Drontheim, Magnus himself drew up a code of regulations, to define the rights of the guilds and of the different classes of burghers. And for the defence of the coasts he revived the ancient act of division of the maritime districts, each of which was to furnish a certain number of ships, and to maintain its beacon fire, so that intelligence of an invasion might speedily fly throughout the country.
But the fame of this monarch chiefly rests on his legislative talents: hence his surname of Lagabeter, or law-mender. To the code which he compiled from the centenary observances of the four Norwegian provinces, and which he designed for general use throughout his dominions, we shall allude in the proper place.
|1280 to 1289.|
Eric II., while yet a minor, succeeded his father without opposition; but his reign was not one of peace. His first disputes were with the church. At his coronation, he promised rather to amplify than to curtail its privileges. In virtue of this promise, the archbishop of Drontheim drew up a list of offences against the canon laws, and claimed for the clerical tribunals the pecuniary mulcts demanded on such occasions. These mulcts were considered the right of the crown, and as such were claimed by royal councillors, on behalf of the king. So far the conciliations were justifiable; but when they persuaded him to revoke all the privileges which his father had conceded, they wantonly perilled the tranquillity of the kingdom. They were excommunicated by the primate, who in his turn was banished. Both parties appealed to Rome; but the pope seems to have been a moderate man; and, though not disposed to surrender any right which the church universal possessed, he doubtless saw that the Norwegian branch of it had usurped some that were inconsistent with civil government. The successor of the primate consented to abandon one or two of the more obnoxious claims, and to become the liege vassal of Eric. The king too was embroiled with Denmark, through the protection which he afforded to the assassins of Eric Glipping.[[167]] Long and disastrous was the war which raged between the two countries. At length, both opened negotiations for peace; but it was not signed during the life of Eric.
|1289 to 1299.|
These disputes with the church and his royal neighbour prevented Eric from engaging in another war, for which he might have urged a better reason. In conformity with the treaty between his father and Alexander III., he married Margaret of Scotland. The issue was a female, who, on the death of her grandfather in 1289 (her mother was no more), was undoubted heiress to the throne of that kingdom. The claims of the “Maid of Norway” were urged by her father; but she had a rival in our Edward I., who had determined to render the northern ruler his vassal. To unite the two crowns on the same brow was an object still more desirable; and in this view the English king proposed a marriage between his son and the Maid of Norway. The proposal was readily accepted by Eric; but before it could be carried into effect, the princess died in the Orkneys. If Eric exposed himself to ridicule in claiming the Scottish crown in her right, he had an indisputable claim to his queen’s dowry, most of which had never been paid. For this cause he might have troubled the kingdom; and he had another reason for interference. His second wife was Isabel, daughter or sister of Robert Bruce, whose pretensions he might have supported against those of Baliol. But he declared for neither party—a degree of moderation, as we have intimated, attributable rather to his disputes with the church and with Denmark, than to any other cause.
|1299 to 1319.|