First paragraph:
The chapter on theft in the Norwegian Code of the Realm, compiled through the initiative of King Magnus VI Lawmender (r. 1263–80) and promulgated by him in 1274, opens by declaring theft unlawful.1 However, the Code goes on to stipulate that larceny would not merit punishment in the case of a starving man who steals food after unsuccessfully seeking gainful [End Page 681] employment.2 The Code of 1274 then prescribes the penalties for petit larceny for first-time offenders who do work to support themselves. Thus, the Code explicitly distinguishes between starving unemployed persons who steal food out of necessity and those who steal despite having access to a livelihood. It was a longstanding and widespread norm, as the Code was drafted for the whole of rural Norway and remained in force well into the seventeenth century. In this article, we consider whether this norm could have been inspired by the canonical maxim necessitas non habet legem (necessity knows no law).
Read the article here: DOI 10.1353/jhi.2024.a944582.
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