238 dingar and substitutes, about 1 100 and 370 respectively. Some special invest!- gations of matters of particular interest were also carried out. The rules of appointing a häradshövding prescribed that the härad had to put forward three men living in the härad. The king then appointed one of those three to the häradshövding. No one could hold more than one office. The purpose of these rules must have been, on the one hand, to give people in the härad a say in the appointment; on the other hand to secure that the häradshövding would always be available to hold häradsting (the district court) every week or whenever necessary for justice in the härad. Fromthe beginning occasional deviations were made fromthese rules. Members of the high nobility not living in the härad were appointed. Others received more than one office. In these cases substitutes from the härad mostly took over, and the work was carried out in a proper way. For one and a half centuries the intent of the rules was fulfilled despite the law not being formally followed. About 1500 a newdevelopment starts. The offices were given away as grants to lower royal officials fromoutside the härad. Even the substitutes came from this category. The power of appointment had changed to the benefit of the central power. The office of the häradshövdingar clearly had the character of a privilege for the nobility. The high nobility was involved, especially in the second half of 14th century; but the low nobility predominated. The predominance of this group was in fact even greater since they were often substitutes as well for the high nobility. A fewhäradshövdingar came from the burgher class and from the peasantry. Substitutes are found during the whole period. It could be a temporary arrangement, but sometimes they took over the office completely. This often was the case when the formal holder was from the high nobility. At the end of the period, one finds ”professional” substitutes, bailiffs or writers from towns which were entiteled to a number of härad. The revenue for the häradshövdingar consisted of a share m fines and a fee from the peasants. The amount received from the fines could change very much fromyear to year. The fee consisted of fodder for two horses fromevery peasant. This was a constant income and could in härad with a great number of farms result in a large income. Häradsting could be held every week during three terms: winter (JanuaryFebruary), summer (June-July) and autumn (October-November). In the middle of 15th century, the summer term was changed by a new law to MayJune. The investigation shows that this change started about half a century earlier. In the middle of the 16th century häradsting was held only once every term. There are signs that this change also began mthe 15th century. It was not legalized until the beginning of 17th century. These two changes show that
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