Magnús
description
Magnús lagabœtir ‘Law-mender’ Hákonarson, son of Hákon Hákonarson, Norw. king (r. 1263-1280) --Anon Mlag 2/1
Sagas: Hák, Mlag.
Magnús lagabœtir ‘Law-mender’ was the youngest son of Hákon Hákonarson and Margrét Skúladóttir. He was born in 1238 and Hákon gave him the title of king upon the death of his older brother, Hákon ungi ‘the Young’, in 1257. He was crowned king on 14 September 1261 and became the sole ruler of Norway after his father’s death in 1263. Magnús married Ingibjǫrg, the daughter of the Danish king Eiríkr plógpenningr ‘Plough-penny’ Valdimarsson, on 11 September 1261, right before his coronation. As his nickname shows, Magnús was celebrated for having modified and unified the laws of Norway (landslǫg ‘the law of the land’, 1274; see NGL II, 1-178) and of Norwegian cities (býlǫg ‘the law of the cities’, 1276; see NGL II, 179-290). He also promulgated a law code for Iceland (Jónsbók ‘Jón’s book’; see NGL IV, 183-340), which was sent to Iceland in 1280 and ratified at the alþingi (the general legal assembly) in 1281. Magnús died of an illness in Bergen, Norway, on 9 May 1280.
Event documented in poetry: Magnús’s coronation and his marriage to Ingibjǫrg in 1261 (Sturl Magndr). See also Anon Mlag.
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