part iv • intellectual legal history • søren koch and in particular local and international tradesmen, citizens, and judges.51 He seems to have had two aims when compiling the material: to make legal knowledge assessable to his Norwegian audience; and to enable his audience to use these rules in their struggle with foreign tradesmen, who in his view had too long profited by the locals’ lack of legal experience.52 By restating these provisions in a book written in the vernacular and addressed a local audience, he contributed to the dissemination of legal knowledge. However, the composition of the material and its nature and selection are biased by Edvardsen’s purpose: law here becomes part of his narrative. When his famous disciple Ludvig Holberg published a history of the entrepôt of Bergen in 1737 we find no trace of these legal materials.53 This is remarkable because Holberg borrowed heavily and uncritically from Edvardsen, to the extent that Edvardsen’s collection of historical documents were Holberg’s main if not only source.54 However, while in the second half of the seventeenth century local trade was still under pressure from foreign trade associations, such as the Hanseatic League, the situation had changed considerably by the early eighteenth century. Further, Holberg’s printed account of Bergen addressed a much wider audience and belonged to a different literary genre.55 Audience, purpose, format, and context were decisive factors in the choice of material and 51 Ibid. ii. foreword. 52 See ibid. ii. 265 ff., 74 ff. Edvardsen had little sympathy for German and other tradesmen, who had for centuries dominated overseas trade. 53 Ludvig Holberg, Den berømmelige Norske Handels-Stad Bergens Beskrivelse(Copenhagen: J. J. Høpffner, 1737). 54 Holberg 1737, preface: ‘Anledning til dette Verk er tagen af nogle tilforladelige Manuscripter, sær af Mag. Edvard Edvardsens, som mig er falden i Hænder; og uden hvis Hielp det nu omstunder havde været en Umuelighed at beskrive Bergens gamle Tilstand. Bemældte Mag. Edvardsen har været Conrector udi Bergens Skole, og docerede endnu sammesteds i min Barndom. Han samlede med stor Fliid sammen alt hvad som kunde tiene til Historien af sin Fæderne Stad, og efterlod sig et vidtløftigt Skrift, kaldet Bergens Beskrivelse, hvortil han har betient sig af adskillige ældre skrevne Bøger, sær Mag. Absalons, som jeg ofte har citeret i dette Verk. Af denne Beskrivelse har jeg uddraget alt hvad sommig syntes at være vigtigt.’ 55 Bjørn Bagge, ‘Ludvig Holberg og Edvard Edvardsen: En byhistorisk komparasjon’, in Jørgen Magnus Sejersted & Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen (eds.), Historikeren Ludvig Holberg (Oslo: SAP, 2014), 229 ff. 212
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=