| dc.description.abstract | During the 17th century, the Danish-Norwegian government underwent criminalization processes that effected its subjects. This dissertation will explore the impact of these processes, as seen on the crime pattern of the inland district of Oppland during the 1600s. The goal is to pinpoint how different crime categories, like violence, sexual offences, and opposition changed, and how these changes correlates to the increasing criminalization of the Norwegian subjects. By doing this, I will show how criminalization also brought with it juridification of groups previously exempted of punishment. Finally, I also hope to uncover some continuities, and show how some parts of the peasant mentality managed to survive these changes. My studies will focus on the finable offences (botamål), and my main source will be the lists of fines (sakfallslistene) as found in the county accounts (lensregnskap). I have divided the 1600s into three periodes: early (1612-26), middle (1651-61), and late (1680-94) 1600s and chosen 7 volumes in each period. 21 volumes in total. The dissertation is built on a quantitative basis, where I have recorded the number of fines in the categories violence, sexual offences, opposition to the regime, thievery and economic crimes. From there, I will compare the developments of the different categories, and show how and why they developed differently.
Oppland’s crime pattern is often thought to be dominated by violence. My studies however, show that violence represented just below 25% of all fined criminal behavior at most. It is also the area that underwent the most successful criminalization. From the 1620-30s, the traditional handling of homicide seems to gradually disappear. Homicide, which in the right circumstances was considered a fineable offence, increasingly became unfineable (ubotamål). Settlements and fines were by the 1660s, substituted with execution and capital penalty. At the same time, nondeadly violence received harsher fines. This meant that the number of fines for violent behavior was reduced drastically throughout the century, and by 1651 violent crimes made up about 14% of all fines. While the Danish-Norwegian government managed to gain control over, and reduce the amount of violence, sexual offences increased drastically. Sexual offences went from 38% of fines in the early stages of the century, to 70% by the late 1600s. This is development is related to 1617, when premarital intercourse received harsher penalties. The 1617 regulation meant that the man was to pay an increased fine of 12 riksdaler, and women were to pay 6. While this represents an attempt to increasingly criminalize premarital intercourse, I argue that the 1617 law somewhat represents a juridification of women. It marks an early example of women being seen as legally responsible of their own actions. I will also argue that sexual offences show a continuity from an old peasant mentality, where marriage was seen as legitimate after the betrothal, not the matrimony. Because of this, the state never managed to gain control over sexual offences the same way it did violent ones. Finally, I also show how opposition against the crown can be seen as a product of the legalism that characterized the Norwegian subjects. Old rights and customs were frequently used to legitimize acts of disobedience. An ideology that’s characteristic of both everyday acts of opposition and organized actions alike. | |
