I säng och säte : relationer mellan kvinnor och män i 1600-talets Småland
(1999) In Bibliotheca historica Lundensis 92.- Abstract
- What did people think about the relationship between a man and a woman in Early Modern Sweden? Did they consider love and the parties' free choice to be of any importantance in the making of a marriage? What happened when marriages were falling apart, how common were divorces? I also discuss why sexuality was restricted, and how it affected women and men. What effects did changes in the legislation have? In discussing these questions my theoretical perspective is influenced by New Cultural History. I use material from one cathedral chapter, domkapitel, and some hundred courts, häradsrätter, in southern Sweden during two periods, 1650-1655 and 1692-1694. The ecclesiastical court decided if marriages were valid and in divorce cases, while... (More)
- What did people think about the relationship between a man and a woman in Early Modern Sweden? Did they consider love and the parties' free choice to be of any importantance in the making of a marriage? What happened when marriages were falling apart, how common were divorces? I also discuss why sexuality was restricted, and how it affected women and men. What effects did changes in the legislation have? In discussing these questions my theoretical perspective is influenced by New Cultural History. I use material from one cathedral chapter, domkapitel, and some hundred courts, häradsrätter, in southern Sweden during two periods, 1650-1655 and 1692-1694. The ecclesiastical court decided if marriages were valid and in divorce cases, while the hundred courts decided in cases concerning fornication and adultery. During the seventeenth century it was tried to put an end to the traditional forms of betrothals in which the promises and the sexual intercourse made a marriage without interference from any authority. But it is obvious that both people and authorities thought that these relationships - based on promises and sleeping together - were marriages. The importance of the official announcement of the betrothal were emphasized in the Church Ordinance of 1686. This, and harder demands on evidence, had serious consequences for women because they were no longer able to prove that a man had given a promise to marry them. In this respect the judicial revolution was unfavourable to women. When a man and a woman were to be married everybody thought that it was important that they loved each other. That is not to say that every marriage was based on love or that no other things were important - but love mattered because relations based on love were supposed to lead to harmonious marriages. But every marriage was not harmonious. The law approved divorces in two cases; when a spouse had committed adultery or abandoned the home. The most common reason for a divorce was when the husband had committed adultery. The importance of a loving marriage is also obvious when couples tried, and did manage to get a divorce because they could not live happily together. Divorces were of course not common, but more frequent than earlier studies have suggested and most divorces were initiated by women. In the latter period divorces were not so frequent as they had been earlier in the century. Sexuality was condemned when it threatened the foundation of society - marriage - but otherwise appreciated as a fundamental part of the relationship between a man and a woman. In the 1650s a man who had slept with a woman he did not marry afterwards was fined and she was considered to be guiltless. During the period this was changed so that both the man and the woman were fined. In cases of adultery both the man and the woman were fined - this was gender neutral. As far as law and the judicial system can tell there was no sexual double standard. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Vilka uppfattningar fanns under tidigmodern tid i Sverige om relationen mellan man och kvinna? Ansåg man att kärlek och parternas fria val var viktigt när människor skulle gifta sig? Vad hände då äktenskapen inte fungerade? Förekom skilsmässor? Varför var sexualiteten kontrollerad och hur påverkade det kvinnor och män? Vilken effekt hade förändringar i lagstiftningen i dessa frågor? Källmaterialet kommer från Växjö domkapitel och från några häradsrätter inom stiftet. Undersökningen omfattar åren 1650-1655 och 1692-1694. Domkapitlet avgjorde när äktenskap var giltiga och i skilsmässomål medan häradsrätterna beslöt i ärenden rörande lägersmål och hor. Under 1600-talet försökte man att förhindra de... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Vilka uppfattningar fanns under tidigmodern tid i Sverige om relationen mellan man och kvinna? Ansåg man att kärlek och parternas fria val var viktigt när människor skulle gifta sig? Vad hände då äktenskapen inte fungerade? Förekom skilsmässor? Varför var sexualiteten kontrollerad och hur påverkade det kvinnor och män? Vilken effekt hade förändringar i lagstiftningen i dessa frågor? Källmaterialet kommer från Växjö domkapitel och från några häradsrätter inom stiftet. Undersökningen omfattar åren 1650-1655 och 1692-1694. Domkapitlet avgjorde när äktenskap var giltiga och i skilsmässomål medan häradsrätterna beslöt i ärenden rörande lägersmål och hor. Under 1600-talet försökte man att förhindra de traditionella trolovningarna i vilka löften och samlag utgjorde ett äktenskap - även utan inblandning av några myndigheter. Men det är uppenbart att både "folk" och myndigheter tyckte att dessa relationer var äktenskap. Vikten av den offentligt gjorda trolovningen underströks i 1686 års kyrkolag. Detta och den judiciella revolutionens hårdare krav på bevisning hade allvarliga konsekvenser för kvinnor eftersom de inte längre kunde bevisa att en man hade givit ett löfte om äktenskap. I detta avseende var den judiciella revolutionen ogynnsam för kvinnor. När en kvinna och en man skulle gifta sig med varandra tyckte alla att det var viktigt att det fanns kärlek mellan dem. Därmed inte sagt att alla äktenskap baserades på kärlek eller att inget annat var viktigt men kärlek mellan makarna ansågs skapa harmoniska äktenskap. Vilka möjligheter fanns det att få skilsmässa då äktenskapen inte fungerade? Lagen tillät skilsmässa i två fall: när maken/makan hade begått hor eller då han eller hon övergivit hemmet. Den vanligaste skilsmässoorsaken var att mannen hade begått hor, hustrun fick då i princip alltid skilsmässa. Det var heller inte ovanligt att en man sökte skilsmässa p g a att kvinnan övergett eller horat. Människor sökte också skilsmässa av andra skäl än de av lagen godkända. Kärlekens betydelse som en viktig ingrediens i äktenskapet framkommer indirekt i de mål där män och kvinnor önskar skilsmässa för att de inte kan leva lyckliga tillsammans - och ibland godkändes också deras ansökningar. Skilsmässor var naturligtvis inte vanliga men mer frekventa än vad forskningen tidigare förmodat och de flesta skilsmässor initierades av kvinnor. Värt att notera är att skilsmässotalet var lägre under den senare undersökningsperioden. Sexualiteten var kontrollerad men fördömdes endast då den hotade samhällets grundval - äktenskapet. Annars uppskattades sexualiteten som en fundamental del i relationen mellan man och kvinna. Under 1650-talet blev den man som legat med en kvinna utan att sedan gifta sig med henne bötfälld medan hon ansågs som oskyldig. Under perioden ändrades detta så att både män och kvinnor bötfälldes. I horsmålen fick den gifte parten betala dubbelt så höga böter som den ogifte, oberoende av kön. Straffet för hor var alltså könsneutralt. Så långt som lagen och det juridiska systemet kan berätta fanns det ingen sexuell dubbelmoral. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/19122
- author
- Lennartsson, Malin LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Malmstedt, Göran, Göteborg
- organization
- alternative title
- Bed and Board : Relations between women and men in Småland during the seventeenth century
- publishing date
- 1999
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Church Ordinance., hundred courts, cathedral chapter, judicial revolution, men, women, sexuality, divorce, marriage, love, Early Modern Sweden, New Cultural History, Modern history (up to circa 1800), Tidig modern historia (till ca. 1800)
- in
- Bibliotheca historica Lundensis
- volume
- 92
- pages
- 381 pages
- publisher
- Lund University Press
- defense location
- Lund
- defense date
- 1999-05-21 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUHFDA/HFHI-1990/1090-SE+381
- ISSN
- 0519-9700
- ISBN
- 91-7966-567-5
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0a8d7d82-734d-4a43-a208-0da21a68e034 (old id 19122)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:25:51
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 10:13:57
@phdthesis{0a8d7d82-734d-4a43-a208-0da21a68e034,
abstract = {{What did people think about the relationship between a man and a woman in Early Modern Sweden? Did they consider love and the parties' free choice to be of any importantance in the making of a marriage? What happened when marriages were falling apart, how common were divorces? I also discuss why sexuality was restricted, and how it affected women and men. What effects did changes in the legislation have? In discussing these questions my theoretical perspective is influenced by New Cultural History. I use material from one cathedral chapter, domkapitel, and some hundred courts, häradsrätter, in southern Sweden during two periods, 1650-1655 and 1692-1694. The ecclesiastical court decided if marriages were valid and in divorce cases, while the hundred courts decided in cases concerning fornication and adultery. During the seventeenth century it was tried to put an end to the traditional forms of betrothals in which the promises and the sexual intercourse made a marriage without interference from any authority. But it is obvious that both people and authorities thought that these relationships - based on promises and sleeping together - were marriages. The importance of the official announcement of the betrothal were emphasized in the Church Ordinance of 1686. This, and harder demands on evidence, had serious consequences for women because they were no longer able to prove that a man had given a promise to marry them. In this respect the judicial revolution was unfavourable to women. When a man and a woman were to be married everybody thought that it was important that they loved each other. That is not to say that every marriage was based on love or that no other things were important - but love mattered because relations based on love were supposed to lead to harmonious marriages. But every marriage was not harmonious. The law approved divorces in two cases; when a spouse had committed adultery or abandoned the home. The most common reason for a divorce was when the husband had committed adultery. The importance of a loving marriage is also obvious when couples tried, and did manage to get a divorce because they could not live happily together. Divorces were of course not common, but more frequent than earlier studies have suggested and most divorces were initiated by women. In the latter period divorces were not so frequent as they had been earlier in the century. Sexuality was condemned when it threatened the foundation of society - marriage - but otherwise appreciated as a fundamental part of the relationship between a man and a woman. In the 1650s a man who had slept with a woman he did not marry afterwards was fined and she was considered to be guiltless. During the period this was changed so that both the man and the woman were fined. In cases of adultery both the man and the woman were fined - this was gender neutral. As far as law and the judicial system can tell there was no sexual double standard.}},
author = {{Lennartsson, Malin}},
isbn = {{91-7966-567-5}},
issn = {{0519-9700}},
keywords = {{Church Ordinance.; hundred courts; cathedral chapter; judicial revolution; men; women; sexuality; divorce; marriage; love; Early Modern Sweden; New Cultural History; Modern history (up to circa 1800); Tidig modern historia (till ca. 1800)}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund University Press}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Bibliotheca historica Lundensis}},
title = {{I säng och säte : relationer mellan kvinnor och män i 1600-talets Småland}},
volume = {{92}},
year = {{1999}},
}