<Li> The continuations of the early Germanic thing: <Ul> <Li> The Witenagemot (folkmoot) of Early Medieval England, councils of advisors to the kings of the petty kingdoms and then that of a unified England before the Norman Conquest . </Li> <Li> The Frankish custom of the Märzfeld or Camp of Mars . </Li> <Li> In the Iberian Peninsula, in Portuguese, Leonese, Castillian, Aragonese, Catalan and Valencian customs, cortes were periodically convened to debate the state of the Realms . </Li> <Li> Tynwald, on the Isle of Man, is the oldest continuous parliament in the world, which began in 979, although its roots go further back to the late 9th century . Tynwald was also the first place to offer universal suffrage in 1893 . </Li> <Li> The Althing, the parliament of the Icelandic Commonwealth, founded in 930 . It consisted of the 39, later 55, goðar; each owner of a goðarð; and each hereditary goði kept a tight hold on his membership, which could in principle be lent or sold . Thus, for example, when Burnt Njal's stepson wanted to enter it, Njal had to persuade the Althing to enlarge itself so a seat would become available . But as each independent farmer in the country could choose what goði represented him, the system could be claimed as an early form of democracy . The Alþing has run nearly continuously to the present day . The Althing was preceded by less elaborate "things" (assemblies) all over Northern Europe . </Li> <Li> The Thing of all Swedes, which took place annually at Uppsala at the end of February or in early March . As in Iceland, the lawspeaker presided over the assemblies, but the Swedish king functioned as a judge . A famous incident took place circa 1018, when King Olof Skötkonung wanted to pursue the war against Norway against the will of the people . Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker reminded the king in a long speech that the power resided with the Swedish people and not with the king . When the king heard the din of swords beating the shields in support of Þorgnýr's speech, he gave in . Adam of Bremen wrote that the people used to obey the king only when they thought his suggestions seemed better, although in war his power was absolute . </Li> <Li> The Swiss Landsgemeinde . </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Ul> <Li> The Witenagemot (folkmoot) of Early Medieval England, councils of advisors to the kings of the petty kingdoms and then that of a unified England before the Norman Conquest . </Li> <Li> The Frankish custom of the Märzfeld or Camp of Mars . </Li> <Li> In the Iberian Peninsula, in Portuguese, Leonese, Castillian, Aragonese, Catalan and Valencian customs, cortes were periodically convened to debate the state of the Realms . </Li> <Li> Tynwald, on the Isle of Man, is the oldest continuous parliament in the world, which began in 979, although its roots go further back to the late 9th century . Tynwald was also the first place to offer universal suffrage in 1893 . </Li> <Li> The Althing, the parliament of the Icelandic Commonwealth, founded in 930 . It consisted of the 39, later 55, goðar; each owner of a goðarð; and each hereditary goði kept a tight hold on his membership, which could in principle be lent or sold . Thus, for example, when Burnt Njal's stepson wanted to enter it, Njal had to persuade the Althing to enlarge itself so a seat would become available . But as each independent farmer in the country could choose what goði represented him, the system could be claimed as an early form of democracy . The Alþing has run nearly continuously to the present day . The Althing was preceded by less elaborate "things" (assemblies) all over Northern Europe . </Li> <Li> The Thing of all Swedes, which took place annually at Uppsala at the end of February or in early March . As in Iceland, the lawspeaker presided over the assemblies, but the Swedish king functioned as a judge . A famous incident took place circa 1018, when King Olof Skötkonung wanted to pursue the war against Norway against the will of the people . Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker reminded the king in a long speech that the power resided with the Swedish people and not with the king . When the king heard the din of swords beating the shields in support of Þorgnýr's speech, he gave in . Adam of Bremen wrote that the people used to obey the king only when they thought his suggestions seemed better, although in war his power was absolute . </Li> <Li> The Swiss Landsgemeinde . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The Witenagemot (folkmoot) of Early Medieval England, councils of advisors to the kings of the petty kingdoms and then that of a unified England before the Norman Conquest . </Li> <Li> The Frankish custom of the Märzfeld or Camp of Mars . </Li>

Where was the world's first democracy and was it a true democracy