Centre for Privacy Studies

It was not until the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645 that Jämtland officially became part of the Swedish realm. One of the first letters that the Swedish queen Kristina sent out after the treaty was signed was directed at Johan Berndes, the governor of the county of Kopparberg.

S c a n d i a 7 5 : 1 62 F r å n ä r a t i l l s k u l d S c a n d i a 7 7 : 1 Från ära till skuld Bönder och överhet i edgärden 1 S a r i N a u m a n Den 30 oktober 1626 kom Sven i Älekulla inför häradsrätten i Mark och anklagade Olof i Deragården för stöld. Svens yxa saknades, och han menade att Olof hade tagit den. Några bevis hade han dock inte, varför Olof tillsammans med elva andra "ärlige, beskedelige, ovälde dannemän" gick tolvmannaed på att han var oskyldig. Eden hade utfästs av honom tidigare, står det i protokollet, och förmodligen hade det som brukligt var skett vid något av de närmast föregående tingen. Efter fullbordad ed blev Olof frikänd, med den brasklappen att utfallet kunde ändras ifall bättre bevis inkom. Rätten valde dessutom att sakfälla Sven för att han inte hade kunnat bevisa sin beskyllning. 2 Edgärdsprocessen kunde användas på de svenska tingen i mål där det saknades tillräckliga bevis för att svaranden skulle kunna fällas eller frias för det brott han eller hon anklagades för. Svaranden kunde då antingen självmant eller på rättens uppmaning utfästa en ed, vilket innebar att svaranden lovade att vid nästa ting svära på att han eller hon var oskyldig samt att ha med sig, vanligen, tolv män respektive kvinnor som svor ed på att det som svaranden sade var sant. Lyckades eden blev den anklagade frikänd för brottet, misslyckades den blev han eller hon däremot dömd. 3 Fallet ovan kan användas som typexempel på hur edgärden kunde gå till, och är ur det perspektivet inte ägnat att väcka uppmärksamhet. Men en detalj sticker i ögonen: Hur kommer det sig att Olof trots avsaknaden av bevis utfäster edgärd? Varför blev han inte frikänd direkt?

From a distance, the many wars that took place during the early modern period were
fought by kings and armies, conquering territories and losing them, signing peace treaties
and breaking them. Wars fought with armies were, however, costly and, if possible, the
rulers did what they could to avoid them while still trying to acquire and protect
territories. One strategy employed was to persuade the people of a disputed territory to
surrender to the conquering state by swearing an oath of allegiance to its king. Seen in this
perspective, territories could be acquired and lost by using the oaths as means in military
conflict. The following article discusses the role of oaths in keeping and conquering
territories in the early modern Scandinavian countries, with a special focus on Sweden and
to some degree Sweden’s constant enemy during this period, Denmark-Norway. It also
studies the same oaths from the people’s point of view, and what happened after an oath
was sworn and the war ended. By taking examples from areas under dispute, the article
investigates how oaths could be used by both authorities and subjects in warfare and after
in the early modern context.

Political oaths were widespread in medieval times, but all over Europe their use dwindled in the early modern period, resulting in the institution being dismantled in many states. In previous research, this decay has been explained by pointing to the emergence of the state in this period, through processes such as bureaucratization, nationalization, and confessionalization, and, later, secularization. However, as some oaths are still in use in modern state systems, the swearing of them seems to be compatible with modern – bureaucratized, nationalized, and secularized – states. If nothing else, this indicates that the standard model for explaining changes in European oath-taking must be questioned.
The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyse why political oaths were used in Sweden in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as to explain why the usages changed. It is argued that oaths were performative means of instilling trust in a political relationship. Trust was accomplished by an oral utterance, during which the swearer claimed the position of a trustworthy subject. The study encompasses not only how the force of oaths was created, but also how uncertainty regarding the subject’s trustworthiness was handled, by examining its usage in coronations, rebellions, wars and political meetings.
The dissertation has four conclusions. First, not only the use of oaths but also the oath event itself underwent changes during the period studied, leading to changes in its performative force. Second, the shaping of the oath event depended on the degree of uncertainty in the specific political relationship. Third, while in the sixteenth century oaths were used to establish trust in political relationships, in the seventeenth century they were re-directed to establish control. Fourth, the shift from trust to control reflected the rise of a written political culture. When political relationships shifted from being characterized by presence and personal contact, to being characterized by distance and impersonal delegation, written oaths were better suited to the situation. Ultimately, the written form transformed the action, for the ability of a political oath to instil trust was linked to its orality. What a written oath could do, though, was help establish control.

Den 25 januari 1744 lämnade Annika Åqvist sin välbeställda rusthållargård i Roslagen för att ta sig till Hamburg och förena sig med sin make Olof. 1 Ett drygt halvår tidigare hade Olof hastigt tvingats lämna landet misstänkt för att ha uppmanat sina sockenmän att ansluta sig till dalupproret. Hans flykt misstänkliggjorde även Annika och hon utgav sig därför under sin resa för att vara änka och försökte hålla sitt mål hemligt. I Helsingborg blev dock myndigheterna misstänksamma, och Annika arresterades. Under den följande rättegången skärskådade rådhusrätten Annikas inblandning i hennes makes förehavanden, men inte nog med det: rättsprotokollen visar hur magistraten i Helsingborg granskade Annikas resande i stort, och de ansträngde sig för att utreda Annikas samtliga kontakter och handlingar. 2 I föreliggande artikel analyserar jag den tidigmoderna svenska statens misstänkliggörande av Annikas resande och rörlighet. Utifrån en enskild fallstudie undersöker jag hur lokala överheter formulerade migranten som ett säkerhetsproblem, och diskuterar vilket hot Annika utgjorde mot magistraten och 1. Artikeln ingår i projektet "Baltic Hospitality" finansierat av Östersjöstiftelsen, vid Södertörns högskola.

In this chapter, I investigate the control practices of the Swedish state, as they were actualized in the specific case of the migrant Annika Åhqvist in Helsingborg 1744, as well as the efforts of the migrant to escape control. Passports were supposed to be necessary for all travel, but by presenting herself as a respectable widow, Annika managed to travel all through mainland Sweden. It was not until she reached the port city that migration controls were enacted. Lack of proper papers, suspicious behavior, and rumors led to Annika being arrested and questioned, effectively hindering her from passing.
However, the case study also demonstrates the shortcomings of the port city’s control network. Had Annika timed her journey better and been better informed on the politics of the city, she might have managed to slip through. As shown in the study, the city inhabitants were generally willing to help the passing stranger, especially if they could expect compensation, even if this meant breaking the law. As such, the investigation demonstrates the conditions as well as social costs of fleeting hospitality and civil inattention.