Editing Vang, Innlandet (section)

== History ==
[[File:Vangsteinen.JPG|thumb|left|170px|[[Vang stone|Vangssteinen]] ]]
Vang, like the rest of [[Valdres]], was originally populated by migrants from [[Western Norway|Vestlandet]]. In 1153, recognizing this, [[Pope Adrian IV|Cardinal Breakspear]] included these valleys in the [[Ancient Diocese of Stavanger|Diocese of Stavanger]].<ref name="Stagg">{{Cite book |last=Stagg |first=Frank Noel |url=https://archive.org/details/eastnorwayitsfro00stag |title=East Norway and its Frontier |publisher=George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. |year=1956}}</ref>

The ancient [[Vang Church (Vang)|Vang Church]] was the site of a legal court ''([[Thing (assembly)|thing]])'' held by King [[Haakon VI of Norway|Haakon VI]] in 1368. Here, he settled a boundary dispute. The boundary stone which resulted stands to this day.<ref name="Stagg" />

High up the slopes of [[Filefjell]] is the site of [[Nystuen]], where travellers found refuge as they passed across the divide into Vestlandet. On the other side of the pass, Maristua was erected at the direction of [[Margaret I of Denmark|Queen Margaret]] {{circa|1390}}. Although Nystuen is first mentioned in 1627, it is undoubtedly older. These refuges were maintained by the state until 1830.<ref name="Stagg" />
{| style="float:right;" class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Vang by country of origin in 2017<ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population |url=https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702101705/https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |archive-date=2 July 2015 |access-date=2015-06-29 |publisher=ssb.no}}</ref>
|-
!Ancestry!!Number
|-
| {{flag|Poland}} || 55
|-
| {{flag|Lithuania}} || 44
|-
| {{flag|Syria}} || 25
|}

''Smeddalen'' (Smith's Valley) immediately to the west of Nystuen, was for centuries the site of the church of [[St. Thomas Church, Filefjell|''St. Thomas på Filefjell'']]. The earliest reference to it is in 1615, but it was apparently a [[stave church]], so would have been much older. According to F.N. Stagg "It was reconditioned (c. 1615)… the priest at Vang preached there once a year–on July 2nd… many sought cures for their ailments in the miraculous powers possessed by splinters from its timbers…"<ref name="Stagg" /> A [[market (place)|market]] grew up near the church as a result of the 2 July service. "Horses were traded, races run, heavy drinking indulged in and many a fight ensued."<ref name="Stagg" /> Markets continued to be held near the church until the 19th century, but as a result of fighting and general unrest in connection with the market days the church was torn down in 1808. A new church was built on the site in 1971.<ref name="Stagg" />