Meet the Middle Ages
BackThe German laws
The German merchants who founded towns brought their own town laws. The laws differed depending on where the merchants came from. The laws gave the merchants advantages, as well as stating that a Council should rule the towns, rather than the King or prince. The law of Lübeck became the most widely spread town law in the Baltic region.
However, in Sweden,the King wanted to control all towns, and Birger Jarl issued a decree in 1250 stating that all Germans had the right to trade in Sweden as long as they followed the Swedish law. This led to quarrels about whether the Swedish or German law should apply to the towns which had existed before 1250. The Germans living in those old towns wanted German law to apply.
One example of this is a quarrel about a legacy in Kalmar about 1255. A German merchant had died in Kalmar and his heirs in Lybeck wanted the legacy. According to Swedish law, though, foreigners’ legacies should go to the King. We do not know who eventually got the legacy.
In the mid-14th century, Sweden got a new law, the Town Law of Magnus Eriksson, which combined German and Swedish law.