Leidang
The institution known as
leiðangr (
Old Norse),
leidang (
Norwegian),
leding, (
Danish),
ledung (
Swedish),
expeditio (
Latin) or sometimes
lething (in
English language), was a public levy of free farmers typical for the
Viking Age Scandinavians. In
Anglo-Saxon England, the same system was called
Fyrd.
The
leiðangr was however established long before the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the maritime version of the Germanic system of
hundreds which was described as early as
98 A.D. by
Tacitus as the
centeni. Since Tacitus also said that the Swedes (
Suiones) had a powerful fleet, it seems likely that it was based on the leidang.
The
leiðangr was a system organising a coastal fleet with the aim of defence, coerced trade, plunderings and aggressive wars. Normally, the fleet levy was on expeditions for two or three summer months. All free men, i.e. the
peasants, were obligated to take part in or contribute to the
leiðangr. All of the
leiðangr was called to arms when invading forces threatened the land. In the expeditions only a fraction of the ships were taking part, but as the expeditions often were profitable many
magnates and
chieftains tried to join with their people as often as possible. In the 11th century the
leiðangr was very successful. Sections of the Danish and Norwegian
leiðangr conquered Western England under
Canute the Great, mainly a re-conquest of the
Danelaw.
The
lands were divided into districts, ship's crews,
"skipreiða" (Old Norse),
"skipæn" (Danish) or
"roslag" (Swedish). The farmers of the district had to build and equip a rowed sailing ship. The size of the ships was defined as a standardized number of oars, initially forty oars, later the standardized size of 24 was increased. In Norway, there were 279 such districts in
1277, in Denmark two-three times as many. The head of a district was called
"styrimaðr" or
"styræsmand", steersman, and he functioned as captain of the ship. The smallest unit was the crew of peasants who had to arm and provide for one oarsman
("hafnæ" in Danish,
"manngerð" in Old Norse).
According to the
Law of Uppland, the hundreds of
Uppland provided as many as four ships each, those of
Västmanland two ships and those of
Roslagen one ship.
The older laws regulating the leiðangr (the norwegian "Older Law of the Gulating" dates to the early 11th century) require every man to, as a minimum, arm himself with an axe or a sword in addition to spear and shield, and for every rowbench (typically of two men) to have a bow and 24 arrows. Later 12th-13th century changes to this law code list more extensive equipment for the more affluent freemen, with helmet, mail hauberk, shield, spear and sword being what the well-to-do farmer or burgher must bring to war.
In the
11th century,
jarls are mentioned as the chieftain of the
leiðangr, in the
12th century the bishop could also be head of the fleet levy, although typically nobles lead levies in the 12th to 14th centuries.
In parts of the scandinavian countries the
leiðangr evolved to a tax in the
12th century, paid by all (free) farmers until the
19th century, although the ship-levy was frequently called out and used in the 13th-15th centuries, with the norwegian
leiðangr fleet going as far as Scotland in the 1260s. The use of the levy-tax as opposed to the was more prevalent in Denmark and Sweden than Norway, since the norwegian kingdom always depended heavily on fleet-based forces rather.
In
Saxon times, defenses were based upon the
fyrd, the Anglo-Saxon version of the
Scandinavian
leidang. It was a militia of all able-bodied men that was called up from the districts threatened with attack. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and the participants were obliged to provide their own arms and provisions. The origins of the early
militia can be traced back to at least the seventh century. It is likely that the obligation of Englishmen to serve in the fyrd or peoples army is older than our oldest records.
Alfred the Great is credited with the development of the fyrd system.
The fyrd was used heavily by
Harold Godwinson during the
Battle of Hastings against the invading
Normans.
*
Conscription*
History of Norway*
History of Denmark*
History of Sweden
