Christianity section

The Christianity section underlines the values of the Christian faith and the role that Christianity should have in the kingdom. It first describes the faith and then the doctrine of the two swords, which concerns the king’s and bishop’s areas of responsibility, i.e. the division of secular and ecclesiastical power. The reason why the Christianity section is so short is that the Church developed its own Christian Law as a consequence of the doctrine of the two swords. Furthermore, the line of succession to the throne is defined, from the king’s eldest true-born son and downwards to the 13th level in line of succession, and guidelines are laid down for the election of the king should there be no pretenders at any level. The section then describes which properties and assets accrued to the king’s successors and what could be inherited by other family members. Finally, it describes the king’s oath and the subjects' oaths of loyalty, from duke to peasant. It thus provides insights into the king’s oath and the declarations of loyalty that are thought to have been made, either when the royal successor was proclaimed king or at his coronation. Because the Christianity section deals with the legal foundation of the kingdom—the relationships between ecclesiastical and royal power and between the king and the people—it may well be called a “constitutional law”. The Christianity section is based on the first Christian Law, which, according to the saga writer Snorri Sturluson, was said to have been adopted at a thing assembly at Moster about 250 years earlier, around 1024.So, in 2024 Norway celebrated not only the 750th anniversary of the Laws of the Land but also the 1,000th anniversary of the Christian Law.