Norwegian society at the time of King Magnus the Lawmender

It has been estimated that there lived somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people in Norway at the time of King Magnus the Lawmender. The vast majority lived in the countryside and subsisted on agriculture. Where the conditions were right, farming and animal husbandry were combined with fishing, hunting, and various handicrafts. Few owned the farms they worked on; most people rented from the church, the nobility or the crown. A local community consisted of everything from wealthy farmers with large properties to poor smallholders. The parish church was the centre of life, and the church yard was the most important meeting place. There was also a local assembly, where one could settle local disputes and resolve common issues. Sea lanes were the lifeblood of medieval society, and the most important towns grew around good and central harbours. Here, trade with near and faraway places was conducted, and conditions were favourable for specialized handicrafts. Due to numerous travelers and immigrants from other countries, it must have been common to hear various foreign languages. With approximately 7,000 inhabitants, Bergen – then called Bjørgvin – was by far the largest town, not only in the kingdom but also in all of Scandinavia. The other big towns, Trondheim – then called Nidaros – and Oslo, probably had around 3,000 inhabitants each, while Tønsberg probably had half that population. The kingdom had no real capital, since the king travelled between towns and royal estates. It was, however, in Bergen that king Magnus spent most of his time. In 1314, King Håkon Magnusson made Oslo his most important residence town. Nidaros (Trondheim) was the seat of the archbishop and the resting place of Saint Olav, the patron saint of Norway. Apart from the big towns, there were also several smaller trading places.