Royal police ordinances in early modern Sweden : the emergence of voluntaristic understanding of law / by Toomas Kotkas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kotkas, Toomas, 1970-

Series:

Northern world ; v. 64.

The northern world : North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D, 1569-1462 ; 64

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal justice, Administration of--Sweden--History.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Police--Sweden--History.

Police.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (247 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Brill, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Royal Police Ordinances in Early Modern Sweden offers a comprehensive account of the legal regulation of 16th- and 17th-century Swedish society. In comparison to present-day usage, during the early modern period the term ‘police’ had a broader meaning. It referred to ‘good societal order’ covering a variety of areas of societal life such as public finances, commerce, professions, infrastructure, public health and poor relief, public morality, public security, and so on. Through an analysis of a large body of ordinances Toomas Kotkas claims that in 17th-century Sweden a new, voluntaristic understanding of law emerged. Royal police ordinances were no longer perceived merely as a means of enforcing older medieval law but instead as an instrument of directing society towards aspired-to goals.

Contents:

Political theory and police in early modern Sweden

Royal police ordinances between 1523 and 1611 : enforcement of medieval law

Royal police ordinances between 1612 and 1718 : making of new law

Scientification of police: the end of the broad conception of police

Conclusions.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-25895-7

OCLC:

862370010

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004258952 DOI