The rights of the legitimate child and the firstborn child

Until the 13th century, all sons of a king had equal inheritance rights. This resulted in periods of joint kingship during which several kings recognized each other and ruled at the same time, often with centres of gravity in different parts of the kingdom. However, disputes could also arise – especially when those who claimed to be heirs and had armies to assert their claims did not recognize each other as kings. Battles for the throne were a central part of the Norwegian Civil War era (1130–1240). The last time such a dispute occurred was in 1239–1240. Then, Duke Skule, the maternal grandfather of Magnus the Lawmender, took the royal name in opposition to his son-in-law, King Håkon Håkonsson – that is, Magnus’ father. For King Håkon and Magnus, it became important to clearly formulate the birthright to the throne. At the same time, the Church insisted on the principle that the person entitled to inherit the throne should be a legitimate child. This had not been a requirement in older Norwegian inheritance practice. Because Håkon Håkonsson was born out of wedlock, from the perspective of the Church, he had a “deficiency” in royal rights. Then, this also contributed to the fact that King Håkon was crowned in 1247, 30 years after he became king and after long negotiations with the Church. The principle in the Laws of the Land that the eldest among the legitimate children had the first right to succession is included in the Constitution of Norway. Today, however, women and men have equal rights to succession.