The small lands round the southern end of Lake Vättern: Tveta (round the later Jönköping), Vista (round Gränna, with the royal island of Visingsö), Vedbo (Norra and Södra Vedbo, round the later Tranås and Eksjö) and Mo to the west, which used the Västgöta law in the later thirteenth century (en.wikipedia).
Each of Småland's small lands had its own law and thing in the Viking age and early Middle Ages, and by tradition could declare itself neutral in a Swedish king's war (en.wikipedia, Småland); none of these laws survives except the later Tiohärad law of the fourteenth century. The road of the Eriksgata between Östergötland and Västergötland runs through here, and the Sverker house's island residence of Visingsö lies off Vista's shore.
Who holds it
- Name
- no leader named
- Title
- the things of the small lands
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
King Sverker II
What it holds
- Tveta, Vista, Norra and Södra Vedbo, Mo
- the road round the south end of Vättern
How things stand that morning
Quiet under the Swedish king.
Law and courts
Their own laws and things (lost); Mo under the Västgöta law later in the thirteenth century.
Why a province
No lord is known in these lands apart from the king's island of Visingsö (drawn under Sverker II).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Known as lands from thirteenth-century and later sources; drawn together for want of detail.
On the map: Drawn as four modern municipalities for Tveta, Vista and Vedbo; Mo is not drawn (its parishes lie in today's Gnosjö and Gislaved, drawn with Finnveden).
Primary sources for Sweden
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig. Read online
- Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire. Read online
- The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
- The sagas of the Baglers (about 1210 to 1220, in a shorter and a longer version). Begins with Sverre's death in March 1202 and the reigns of Hákon Sverrisson, Guttorm and Inge Bårdsson against the Bagler kings Erling Steinvegg and Philippus, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- The Danish diplomatarium: charters and letters concerning Denmark, with Danish translation (documents of 789 to 1448; the online edition is continuing). Twenty-seven documents are dated to 1200: Innocent III's letters of February and March 1200 to Philip Augustus and Queen Ingeborg and his order for the interdict on France, Otto IV's letter to the pope expecting King Knud VI to move into Saxony, the reports of the legate Octavian and the French bishops on the lifting of the interdict in September, the pope's letters to Knud VI asking him to send advocates for his sister, Knud VI's ordinance on manslaughter for Skåne of 28 December 1200, and private gifts to Roskilde and Næstved. Read online
- The Swedish diplomatarium and its main register, SDHK (documents of 817 to 1540). The register of every known Swedish medieval letter, with full texts for the early centuries. Read online
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.