legal compilation in early modern denmark and norway In the second half of the eighteenth century, compiling as a technique lost much of its importance in Denmark–Norway. But why did early modern authors use compilation as a technique to produce legal literature? A combination of social, economic, political, and cultural factors seems to hold the answer. Practical need was one – the introduction of a legal exam in 1736 in Denmark–Norway boosted the demand for legal literature that could hardly be satisfied by the very few learned lawyers in either country, and compiling was an obvious interim solution.86 Financial considerations were certainly another, as Hedegaard indicated in his foreword to Højer’s Collegium: compiling was a very cheap, swift, and efficient way of producing legal texts and reaching out to the intended audience. Importantly, it left the compiler less vulnerable to censorship (a constant threat to authors in eighteenth-century Denmark–Norway, apart from Struensee’s brief time in power in 1770–1772).87 Text production by compilation promoted the dissemination of knowledge in accordance with the universal educational ideals of the Enlightenment, which as we have seen obviously applied for law.88 Compilation was facilitated by the idea that law, despite local particularities and demands, was based on universal principles, which could be found in natural law and derived from the ratio scripta of Roman law, and, closely connected to this, compiled texts often derive authority from the author of the original texts and the sources used by the original texts.89 The dissemination of legal knowledge by compilation created new authoritative sources for practising lawyers, helping them build their arguments around a single, easily accessible, and comprehensive source, particularly if the compiler 86 See the ordinance for the establishment of a legal exam at the University of Copenhagen, ‘Forordning anl. Examinibur Juridicis ved Khavns Universitet’, issued 10 Feb. 1736. 87 For censorship inDenmark–Norway in general, see Øystein Rian, Sensuren i Danmark-Norge: Vilkårene for offentlige ytringer 1536–1814(Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2014), 145 ff. et passim. 88 Gierl 1999; Hirschi 2003. 89 Holberg’s natural law may serve as an example for that. On the title page of the first edition (1716) he stated that his book was based on excerpts (utdrag) of the distinguished (forneme) jurists Hugo Grotius, Samuel Pufendorf and Christian Thomasius. As late as 1798 Schlegel directly refers to Immanuel Kant’s intellectual authority in his account of natural law. 219
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