Of the three older Scandinavian States, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, conditions were long the least favorable for the development of jurisprudence and legal philosophy in Norway for various reasons. Norway was in union with Denmark from 1380 to 1814 under Danish kings and without a national parliament. To a considerable extent Norway was ruled as a Danish province particularly after the Protestant reformation. From 1814 to 1905 Norway was in union with Sweden under the King of Sweden, although she had a separate parliament. Hence Norway has been a separate state only for half a century, excluding of course the period before 1380. There was no Norwegian university before 1809 whereas Sweden had a university since 1477 and Denmark since 1479. From 1600 to 1809 Norwegian law students studied almost exclusively at the University of Copenhagen.1 It follows that Denmark was long more influential than any other state in the development of Norwegian legal philosophy.
