Levy

Originally, the levy obligation was about providing men, ships and equipment in times of conflict, but during the 12th and 13th centuries, an annual fee was also collected in peacetime. This was equal to half of the burdens for assembling the levy. By the time the Laws of the Land were written, this had become a fixed fee and an important part of the king’s revenue. The levy tax was the first state tax in Norway. Both the levy and the levy tax were calculated on the basis of property and yield, not per capita. Part of the levy tax was set aside to secure new acquisitions and the maintenance of levy ships, boathouses, equipment, et cetera, a scheme introduced by Magnus the Lawmender. As the levy itself was increasingly rarely practised, and never on a large scale, the tax became more important than the defence scheme. The levy tax survived the defence scheme by many centuries, existing until 1939.