Marriage
“It is the first inheritance that lawfully begotten children inherit their father and lawfully wedded mother, in accordance with God’s and men’s law.”
List of Inheritance, chapter 7
The Laws of the Land did not constitute a romance handbook. Marriage was linked to an ecclesiastical act, but it was also a business agreement, and the Laws of the Land dealt with the latter. Only children born in wedlock could receive the first inheritance from their parents. This meant that a daughter born in wedlock took precedence over a son born out of wedlock in the order of inheritance. In the provincial Gulating law, marriage did not strengthen inheritance rights in the same way. It stated, “It is the first inheritance that the son receives from the father or the father from the son”.
A woman’s infidelity could result in divorce, and repeated infidelity could lead to the (ex-)husband gaining access to her entire fortune. The Laws of the Land say nothing about the consequences of adultery committed by a man. Another reason for divorce could be that the man had sexual intercourse with a relative of the woman (“blood shame”) before they married. One of the preserved Laws of the Land manuscripts also states that a marriage could be dissolved if the man was unable to have intercourse. Canon law did not allow divorce because marriage was considered an unbreakable sacrament. However, as early as the late 12th century, the archbishop stated that separation was possible, perhaps in cases such as those mentioned above.
