Storting

History

The Storting in its present form was first constituted at Eidsvoll in 1814, although its origins can be traced back to the allting[?] or common assemblies as early as the 9th century. The alltings were localised assemblies charged with discussing legal and political matters. These gradually were formalised so that the tings, or assemblies, grew into regionalised meetings and acquired backing and authority from the crown, even to the extent that on occasions they were instrumental in effecting change in the monarchy itself.

As Norway became unified as a geopolitical entity in the 10th century the lagtings[?] were established as superior regional assemblies. The archaic regional assemblies, the Frostating[?], the Gulating[?] and the Eidsivating[?] were amalgamated and the corpus of law was setdown under the command of King Magnus Lagabøte[?] during the mid 13th century. This jurisdiction remained significant until King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway proclaimed absolute monarchy in 1660; this was ratified by the passage of the King Act of 1665[?], and this became the constitution of the Union of Denmark and Norway and remained so until 1814 and the foundation of the Storting.