The switch from Latin to the vernacular in charters occurred later in Denmark than in the other Nordic countries. Whereas the use of Norwegian in charters was already common in the thirteenth century and Swedish by the middle of the fourteenth, it is not until the final quarter of the fourteenth century we find charters issued in Danish.
Previous discussions of the switch from Latin to Danish have tended to overlook Low German, the language in which a large portion of the corpus is written, especially in the fourteenth century, when Sweden began using the vernacular. Yet the question arises: was Low German used as a vernacular in Danish charters, or as a lingua franca? That is, does it hold the same status as Latin, or as Danish?

Charters, being highly formulaic, end with a final protocol (eschatocol) including a sealing clause (corroboratio) and dating clause. In vernacular charters, these final protocol may be in Latin, in the vernacular, or in a mixture, with the corroboratio in the vernacular and the dating clause in Latin.

This paper examines the choice of language in the final protocol of vernacular Danish and Low German charters from Denmark. It is argued that the relatively low use of Latin in Low German charters indicates the language held a higher status than Danish and explains the late shift to the vernacular in Danish charters.