Vikings And Democracy
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Did you know that the Vikings had democracy? Viking democracy started in Thingvellir, which is located in Iceland.
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The Vikings were famous for being progressive for their times. At least that is what the historians reckon. This is because the Vikings practiced a form of democracy and they even went to the extent of giving their women rights that other women in Europe did not enjoy during those times.
The democracy practiced by the Vikings was on the oligarchic lines, and this meant that all men were not considered equal especially the slaves. A Viking woman could inherit chieftainship of her tribe but she could not actually exercise it as the Vikings thought that women were incapable of the kind of violence the role of the chieftain required.
The Viking society was divided into three classes. The highest in the society was the elite class which had the economic power, this was followed by the free-holding farmers who had the right to bear arms and finally there were the slaves who had no rights whatsoever.
In Viking democracy, the learned men quoted the laws and then lawsuits were heard. If the cases were simple cases, everyone present would judge the case. However, for more important cases, 12 chosen men would end up judging the case. This is believed to the beginning of modern jury system.
Many experts and historians believe that the Vikings were not barbarians as is usually portrayed in books and movies. In fact, the democratic culture of the Vikings led to the formation of the modern western democracy.
The Viking political and democracy system has been described as the King being dependent on the will of the people. Furthermore, what was decided by the people was more important than the will of the King unless what the King decided appeared to be more reasonable. During war time, the Vikings blindly obeyed the orders of their King but during peace time, they considered themselves equal to their King.
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