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- Author: Bonnie Clementsson x
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This study brings out the norms and culturally dependent values that formed the
basis of the theoretical regulation and the practical handling of incest cases
in Sweden 1680–1940, situating this development in a wider European context. It
discusses a broad variety of general human subjects that are as important today
as they were hundreds of years ago, such as love, death, family relations,
religion, crimes, and punishments.
By analysing criminal-case material and
applications for dispensation, as well as political and legislative sources, the
incest phenomenon is explored from different perspectives over a long time
period. It turns out that although the incest debate has been dominated by
religious, moral, and later medical beliefs, ideas about love, age, and family
hierarchies often influenced the assessment of individual incest cases. These
unspoken values could be decisive – sometimes life-determining – for the outcome
of various incest cases.
The book will interest scholars from several
different fields of historical research, such as cultural history, the history
of crime and of sexuality, family history, history of kinship, and historical
marriage patterns. The long time period also broadens the number of potential
readers. Since the subject concerns general human issues that are as current
today as they were three centuries ago, the topic will also appeal to a
non-academic audience.
The introduction outlines the aim of the study, the source material is described, and previous research on the subject is presented. The source material consists of judgement-book material on the court-of-appeal and hundred-court levels as well as of marriage applications and political and legislative material. The author also discusses the theory of symbolic interaction, explaining what guided her choices of source materials as well as their limitations. The origins of incest taboos are discussed from the standpoint of scientific research. Furthermore, the complicated subdivisions of the different incest prohibitions are carefully presented with regard to both consanguinity and affinity relationships.
In this chapter the reader learns about the early-modern Swedish judicial system and the ecclesiastical structure. The judicial body, which was fairly uniform, consisted of three secular levels. Each level had its counterpart in the ecclesiastical structure. Readers are also introduced to incest prohibitions in a historical context with a focus on Christian rules and notions. The differences between Catholic and Protestant ideas in respect of incest prohibitions are clarified. The intense debate that was going on between theologians on a European level before, during, and after the Reformation is discussed and the outcome presented. Finally, the position of Johan Stiernhöök, a high-ranking Swedish jurist in the late 1600s, is demonstrated in order to explain the judicial discourse in Sweden at the point in time where the investigation begins.
In this chapter, incest crime cases and marriage applications are analysed separately. Statistics of incest crimes in several different relations are presented and normal punishments –and exceptions from them – are discussed. Practical assessments are compared to the theoretical legislation. Around the turn of the century in 1700, Swedish society was permeated by religious ideas, and the regulatory frameworks were very strict. Still, there was a certain scope for independent interpretation in individual cases, which points to the capacity of an agent to act within the framework of the structure. Crimes of incest that were discovered and applications for dispensation challenged the official legal standards; and in the practical handling of these cases, a pattern of cultural values appears that concerned notions of emotions and passions as well as notions of family hierarchy. The chapter ends with a summary and a comparison to developments in other European countries.
After a short review and update regarding social and judicial changes until the turn of the century in 1800, crime cases and marriage applications are once more analysed separately for the same period. The fact that the number of dispensations was rising dramatically from around the second half of the eighteenth century is discussed in comparison to economic and cultural changes and also placed in a wider European context. The material shows that a significant change in practical assessments of incest cases took place during the last decades of the century, even though the laws remained exactly the same as before. The changes can be related to cultural changes in society regarding religion, passion, family position, and age relations between spouses. The final section of the chapter analyses the political debates that followed, presenting the arguments for and against a liberation of some incest prohibitions.
This chapter is divided into two sections, the first of them dealing with a kind of intermediate period until 1872 and the second dealing with the later period. The first period is described as one that consolidated the seeds of change that were observed around the turn of the century in 1800. Incest was discussed as a moral crime, the number of judgements upheld by higher authorities diminished, and the punishments were often more lenient. After 1872, when several incest prohibitions were abolished, many of the relationships that had been consensual disappeared from the material, and incest came to be seen as a crime of violence. The notions of incestuous relations were also affected by changing attitudes with regard to, for instance, male and female sexuality, positive and negative eugenics, and age. The chapter ends with a comparison to developments in other European countries.
This summary is divided into thematic subsections that define the results of the study. A brief review of the outlines of the study is supplied, as well as an overview of the European context. The long timeline has proved vital to the ability to perceive cultural changes, which are often subtle and slow. It is clear that criminal cases and marriage applications involving incest have been assessed not only according to the official laws but also in accordance with cultural values. The view of incestuous relations at any one time has, for instance, been affected by economic conditions at a structural as well as an individual level. Furthermore, notions regarding marriage, sexuality, love, and passion have influenced the assessments of different cases in various ways. The prevailing view regarding the relevant persons’ respective ages has also been important to assessments of incestuous relationships at different points in time.