Scandinavia in the Early Modern Era: From Peasant Revolts and Witch Hunts to Constitution Drafting Yeomen
by Atle HesmyrPublish: May 29, 2017History Book Overview
Scandinavia in the Early Modern Era deals with the consolidation of the Scandinavian states in the Early Modern Era, with a view to popular resistance against the ruling elites' economic privileges, centralization of power and increasing oppression throughout the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century. The many peasant revolts of the era are given due consideration, along with the witch hunt mania which is contended to have been a crucial factor in the very state consolidation process itself. The socio-economic basis is discussed in relation to the main ideological aspects of Early Modern Scandinavian society, in which the tension between state centralization and the confederal principle played an important role. Moreover, the unique constitutional drafts penned by the Norwegian farmers during the spring of 1814 are discussed in the light of the farmers prominent economic position at the time, despite their huge challenges in the form of kingly sanctioned privileges for the burghers. All in all, the story told is more dramatic than any fiction thriller...