Mapping the Household State: Treatment of Disobedient Children in Early Modern Denmark and Sweden

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.