481 legal measures should be taken against serious crimes of violence and it was usually not difficult to find witnesses willing to testify against thieves. Justice was not conceived as purely negative, nor, for that matter, as completely positive. It was an instrument which cc)uld be re-structured over and over again to suit different purposes. International literature often portrays “theJudicial Revolution” as a process where the central government with hook, and more often by crook, replaced the old feudal courts with modern instruments to fulfil the aims of the government. In Sweden it was more a question of gradual infiltration on the part of the Church and State, sometimes with and sometimes without the approval of the farmers and merchants. The term“revolution” is misleading, but to substitute it with “evolution” could bring to mind an altogether too conflictless development. The courts had the hard task of acting both for State and Church as well as for the common people. It is this difficult role which makes the study of their records so fruitful, if one wishes to increase one’s knowledge of older society. Why did people submit to the centralization of justice without more open protests? Was it because the State and Church, together with the professional officers of the legal system, were so strong that all opposition was fruitless? When the interests of the State were sufficiently threatened then it seemed that it was capable of forcing its aims through, at least without open revolt. Another important factor must, however, be mentioned, namely the growth of the marginal, poor and geographically mobile population. This was not particularly evident in Sweden during the 17th century, as the country suffered from lack of population rather than from overpopulation. However, already before the middle of that century, it can be seen how, in the district of Gullberg, people complained of and tried to regulate the settling of paupers on parish commons. Without support from the central government it was difficult for the local community to handle a geographically mobile population, which was less sensitive to established concepts of “honour” and to informal social control. In the southern part of the country, above all, this problemgrew during the latter part of the 18th century and culminated during the 19th century. In towns it was especially evident, which left traces in the register of fines over drunkenness, street fighting and thefts. The number of raggamuffins and vagrants grew and the question of poor welfare and vagranev became burning issues in every parish and town. These questions could not be solved by local administration alone. In comparison with England this development took the same direction but the chronological order of events took place later in Sweden. 31
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