In Birger’s and his son’s reigns, especially Magnus Birgersson’s ( 1275 – 90 ), the
political structure became more stabilised and institutionalised. Permanent taxes were
introduced, an incipient administration began, castles were built, not least for control of
land and people, and the royal council emerged gradually as more or less a permanent
political institution. Offices or permanent more or less specialised functions beside
the king emerged. Birger Magnusson upheld good relations with the papacy and the
Swedish bishops (Harrison 2002 ; Schück 2003 ).
The emergence of Sweden also meant the gradual transformation of the economy.
Slavery faded away. A variant of a manorial economy emerged, partly initiated by the
Church and monasteries. The peasantry became burdened with innovative demands:
taxes, fines, different kinds of leases and fees were introduced. A European social order
based mainly on control and appropriation of agrarian produce gained ground, although
acclimatised to existing social and economic structures.
In the second half of the thirteenth century many of the formal and legal frameworks
of the general social and political order of the Europeanised Christian monarchy became
settled. With the synod of Skänninge in 1248 vital parts of the canonical law were
introduced. The chapters of the cathedrals were introduced and established. An
autonomous position of the Church was hereby strengthened.
The privileges of the aristocracy and the Church became settled in around 1280.
According to the statutes of Alsnö in 1280 all men serving the king with a knight and
mounted horse were exempted from the permanent royal taxes and duties. And the
collaboration between the king and the Church resulted in a general privilege with
comprehensive exemption of royal duties and levies. The clergy and the aristocracy
became separate and privileged groups (Rosén 1952 ; Andræ 1960 : 146 – 71 ).
The first great achievement in literacy in the vernacular – and with Latin script – was
the provincial law codes. The oldest is the first version of Västgötalagen (the provincial
law of Västergötland) from probably the 1220 s. It reflected very much the interests of
the provincial aristocracy. The great volume of laws comes, however, from the late
thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Upplandslagen from 1296 was promulgated in
the name of the minor king Birger Magnusson. The influence of Church and of canonical
law in this legislation is nowadays considered to be great. It was probably not, as has
been suggested, entirely a result of a reception of foreign law, but they were all mainly
in the interests of the secular and spiritual aristocracy. But in many respects, a
new, Europeanised social order is found there, not least concerning the rights of land,
property and marriage (Sjöholm 1990 ; Lindkvist 1997 ).
With the election of Valdemar Birgersson the royal title was confined within one
family, but it was far from uncontested within the royal family. The late thirteenth and
early fourteenth centuries were characterised by internal and intensive struggles
between royal brothers. During the late thirteenth century there was a mighty
aristocracy, secular and spiritual, that in many respects formulated the new political
culture in Sweden. The internal inter- and intra-dynastic struggles paved a way for a
very aristocratic monarchy. The charter issued in 1319 when the infant Magnus Eriks-
son was elected king after inter-dynastic disastrous conflicts circumscribed the rights of
the king. And it was the identical group of leading aristocrats, the law speakers, who
swore the oath on behalf of the king; and then swore the loyalty of the different
provincial communities (land) to the king. The position of the political elite, the council
with the bishops and the law speakers, was confirmed, the possibilities for the king of
–– chapter 49 : The emergence of Sweden––