Chapter 2 “Unlawful Contracts and Foreign Subtlety” (In)Tolerance towards External Legal Customs and Traditions in Late Medieval and Early Modern Stockholm, c. 1475–1635
In: The Development of Commercial Law in Sweden and Finland (Early Modern Period–Nineteenth Century)Search for other papers by Marko Lamberg in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This chapter analyses how and to what extent the local justice system tolerated non-Swedish legal practices in Stockholm during c. 1475–1635. Stockholm was the biggest town in the Kingdom of Sweden and likewise the most important economic centre of the realm. Naturally, it was also a scene for continuous encounters between people and ideas from several different regions and countries. Because the Germans played an important role in Sweden’s international commerce, the chapter focuses on the position in the urban community as well as attitudes towards them and the cultural influenced they brought along. Occasionally, differences in individual cultural backgrounds caused tensions and led even to conflicts as newcomers or visitors from abroad did not either know the local rules or did not care about them. The local courts were in general highly intolerant towards any diverging legal ideas which they labelled as foreign or un-Swedish which was synonymous with illegal. However, there were also several occasions when the Town Court of Stockholm accepted the judicial decisions made by its counterparts abroad or even referred disputes and other cases to foreign courts to be solved. Thus, amidst apparent xenophobic and proto-nationalistic ideas, we can discern flexibility and even respect towards sentences and verdicts issued by foreign courts.