Editing Haakon IV (section)

===Cultural influence and legal reforms===
[[File:Haakonshallen Bergen Norway 2009 1.JPG|thumb|left|[[Haakon's Hall]] in Bergen, constructed in the mid-13th century.]]
After consolidating his position in 1240, Haakon focused on displaying the supremacy of the kingship, influenced by the increasingly closer contact with European culture. He built several monumental royal buildings, primarily in the [[Bergenhus Fortress|royal estate in Bergen]], where he built a European-style stone palace. He used a grand fleet with stately royal ships when meeting with other Scandinavian rulers, and actively sent letters and gifts to other European rulers; his most far-reaching contact was achieved when he sent [[gyrfalcon]]s with an embassy to the sultan of [[Tunis]].<ref name="NBL"/>

The royal court in Bergen also started importing and translating the first true European literature that became available to a wider Norwegian audience. The literature which was popular then was heroic-romantic literature derived from the French and, in turn, English courts, notably ''[[chansons de geste]]'' around [[Charlemagne]] (the [[Matter of France]]) and tales of [[King Arthur]] (the [[Matter of Britain]]). The first work that was translated into [[Old Norse]] was reportedly the Arthurian romantic story ''[[Tristan and Iseult]]'', which was finished in 1226 after orders from the young and newly-wed Haakon. Haakon's programme seems to have been the spark for the emergence of a new Norse genre of [[chivalric sagas]].<ref name="Helle, 1995, pp. 171–172">Helle, 1995, pp. 171–172.</ref>

Haakon also had the popular religious text ''[[Visio Tnugdali]]'' translated into Old Norse as ''Duggals leiðsla''. The literature also appealed to women, and both Haakon's wife Margrete and his daughter Kristina owned richly illustrated [[psalter]]s.<ref name="Helle, 1995, pp. 171–172"/>

Haakon also initiated legal reforms which were crucial for the development of justice in Norway. Haakon's "New Law", written around 1260, was a breakthrough for both the idea and practice of public justice, as opposed to the traditional Norwegian customs of feuds and revenge. The influence of the reforms is also apparent in Haakon's ''[[Konungs skuggsjá]]'' ("King's Mirror"), an educational text intended for his son Magnus, which was probably written in cooperation with the royal court in the mid-1250s.<ref>Bagge, 1996, pp. 149–150.</ref>