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(d. 1217), under whom the hostilities with the church still
continued. For a time, however, peace was re-established by Haakon
Haakonssøn (1217-63), a grandson of Sverre, under whom Norway
attained a high degree of prosperity. His father-in-lawr Skule Jarl,
brother of King Inge, on whom he conferred the title of duke, proved
his most serious opponent, but on the death of the duke in 1240 the
civil wars at length terminated. New rights were soon afterwards
conferred on the church, but of a less important character than those
bestowed by Magnus Erlingssem, the clergy being now excluded
from a share in the election of kings. The king also amended the
laws and sought to extend his territory. Since the first
colonisation of Iceland (874-930) the island had been independent, but
shortly before his death Haakon persuaded the natives to
acknowledge his supremacy. In 1261 he also annexed Greenland, which
had been colonised by Icelanders in the 10th cent, and
previously enjoyed independence, so that, nominally at least, hissway
now extended over all the dioceses subject to the see of
Thrond-hjem, including the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Faroes, the
Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. His claim to the Hebrides being
di sputed by Alexander III. of Scotland, he assembled a fleet for the
purpose of asserting it, and set sail for the Orkney Islands, where
he died in 1263. He was succeeded by his son Magnus Lagabøler
(;betterer of laws’), who by the treaty of Perth in 1268 renounced
his claims to the Hebrides and Man in return for a small payment
from Alexander. In his reign, too, the Swedish frontier, long a
subject of dispute, was clearly defined, and the relations between
church and state were placed on a more satisfactory footing.
Constitution. From a’n early period Norway was divided into
four large districts, each presided over by a Thing or Lagthing
(Legthing), a diet with judicial and legislative functions. The
eight Fylker or provinces of Throndhjem sent representatives to
the Frostuthing, so named from Frosten, the meeting-place of the
diet, and to these were afterwards added Helgeland, Namdalen,
Nordmøre, and Romsdalen. The Gulathing, in the Fylke of Gulen,
embraced the Fylker of Firda, Sygna, and Ilørda, to which
Rogaland, Agder, and Sondmøre were afterwards added. The district
of Vigen appears to have had a Thing of its own, which after the
time of St. Olaf met at Sarpsborg and was called the Borgarthing;
hut from the 12th cent, onwards representatives were sent to this
diet by Ranrfki, Vingulmørk, Vestvold, and Grenafytke also.
Lastly the mountain districts of Heina, Hada, and Rauma held a
diet called the Heidsaoisthing, afterwards named the Eidsifathing
from Eidsvold where it assembled. This diet, though separate
from that of Vigen, was under the same law, which had been
declared common to both by St. Olaf. A committee of each diet,
called the Løgretta, chosen hy the king’s officers, performed the
judicial duties of the diet, while the Logthing itself exercised
liAE^EKER’s Norway and Sweden. 4th Edit. d
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