No abstract

Based on the verb-oriented method and a unique collection of observations from court records, this article shows that both men and women did almost all categories of work in early modern Sweden. On the level of concrete tasks, however, there was both difference and similarity between the genders. Marital status exerted a strong influence on women's sustenance activities, creating a clear distinction between unmarried and ever-married women. These patterns were probably the effect of a labour legislation that forced young people without independent means to offer their bodies and time to masters and mistresses.

No abstract

This article offers a comparative analysis of the early modern Danish and Swedish Household state in relation to the treatment of “disobedient” children. It uses law codes and court records to explore the dynamic relationship between the household and state, arguing that contrasting patterns are apparent despite the common features of absolutism, agrarian, and mono-confessional Lutheranism. In Denmark, the state often responded to such cases by arrogating the power of the household and removing children from their care. In Sweden, the state upheld and sought to educate the household and relied upon parents to carry out appropriate chastisements of its junior members.