Summary Ramifications. Studies of land, kinship systems and privileges 1. Introduction The aim of these studies is to investigate certain aspects of the concept of land ownership in Sweden from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century. The ownership of land can be looked at on three levels: 1) the right to the yield from the land 2) the right to use the land free from the involvement of others 3) the right to freely divest oneself of the land In early modern Sweden there existed a great number of restrictions on all these levels. Take as an example the freeholder, who, at the beginning of the 18th century, had the greater part of the surplus from his farm taken as tax by the Crown. He was not allowed to hunt on his land or to fell certain types of trees (level 1). The Crown bailiff could inspect the running of his farmand the village community made the decision as to what he should sow and when he should harvest (level 2). He was not allowed to sell his farmto whomever he wished: in the first instance his relatives had the right to redeem it and in the second instance the Crown (level 3). The following studies all apply to level 3, i.e. the right to buy and sell land. Right up to the end of the 19th centurv Swetfen was a societv where land was the most important means of production, and it is obvit:)US that a study of the forms in which land was held and of the ideas regulating this during various times IS an important contribution to the characteristics and development of Swedish society. A basic consideration in this account is the relationship between the group and the individual thus linking it to a discussion where Alan Macfarlane, among others, has made a very notable contribution (see Macfarlane 1978).
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