Frostating in the context of Nordmøre

Magnus Lagabøtes landslov (lit. 'Magnus the Lawmender's Law of the Land') was a law covering the whole of Norway, issued by King Magnus VI of Norway, constituted by the regional courts (cf. Things) between 1274 and 1276. The law was the first to apply to Norway as a whole and is one of the first examples of comprehensive national legislation from a central authority in all of Europe. The law is the reason that the king was given the name Lagabøte, "the one who improves the law". Albeit mending the law, with this much more detailed formulation of the law into written text, codification, the law-giving power was to a great extent taken away from the popular assemblies, these higher level regional things (Borgarting, Eidsivating, Gulating and Frostating), by King Magnus VI. He managed to circumvent the traditional authority of these traditional things by the elaboration and codification of the Bjarkeyjarréttr, laws and things for the market-places, cities and towns with trade-rights, also temporary markets (cf: Birk (market place) and Bjarkey laws) that eventually made the cities (Nidaros which is Trondheim, Bergen, Tønsberg) independent from the traditional things (assemblies).

Tautra is an island in Frosta Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Trondheimsfjord, just north of the city of Trondheim. The island is connected to the rest of the municipality by a 2.3-kilometre (1.4 mi) long causeway bridge.

The island is located almost in the middle of the Trondheimsfjord, in the heartland of what once was the central area of the Vikings. There are remains of the medieval Tuterø Abbey, a Cistercian monastery, that was established here in 1207 and dissolved during the Protestant Reformation. The monastery was placed strategically, very close to the Frostating assembly site—the central law-making institution in this region of Norway. In that context, the Cistercian monks of Tautra monastery became a part of the nation-building in Norway. In 2003, Queen Sonja laid the cornerstone of Tautra Abbey, a new Cistercian nunnery on the island.

Gulating (Old Norse: Gulaþing) was one of the four ancient popular assemblies or things (Norwegian: lagting) of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for most of Western Norway and the assembly took place in what is now Gulen Municipality in Vestland county. It functioned as a judicial and legislative body, resolving disputes and establishing laws.

Gulating, along with Norway's three other ancient regional assemblies, the Borgarting, Eidsivating, and Frostating, were joined into a single jurisdiction during the late 13th century, when King Magnus the Lawmender had the existing body of law put into writing.