491 less significant, but that even there it was handled mainly by instances at the parish and village level. Serious violence was very rare all the time and none of our investigated areas seems to have been a place where anyone need fear for life or limb on account of physical violence, not even when the figures were higher at the beginning of the 17th century. Yet it cfid happen that people were involved in smaller fights. In the towns, even the number of prosecuted thefts was larger than in the rural areas, in relation to the size of the population, but nowhere were the figures excessive. In one year and per 1,000 inhabitants on average there were approximately twc:) convictions m Härnösand during the greater part of the period, with a slight increase at the beginning of the 19th century. These figures can be compared with those in Säbrå, where to begin with they were circa 0.5 and at the end of the period 0.25. Linkdping’s figure was approximately 2 before the middle of the 18th century and increased to circa 5 after 1770, while in Gullberg the figures fluctuated at around 0.5 per year and 1,000 inhabitants. The dark figures are impossible to estimate, but it is probable that the large supply of goods which were attractive to thieves caused more thefts and pilfering to take place in the towns than in the rural areas. The increase in Linköping at the end of the period can also be seen in connection with the migration to towns and the increase in the number of propertyless. A criminal class did not exist, but a small group of relapsed criminals can, at this time, be traced in the court st^urces. During the 18th century violations of laws governing sexual acts became more frequent in the towns than in the rural areas, as a result caf the increasing number of illegitimate children born in towns. To begin with this fact left tangible traces in the lists of fines but in time, first men and later women were punished less and less. This process was initiated in the towns so that the courts in rural districts had a larger share in relation to the total number of crimes. This trend was enforced by other types of crime, above all crimes of order and dispute, seldom having any measures taken against them in rural areas. The traces of laws governing sexual acts mthe source material and the large number of illegitimate children reveal that the towns were on the road to becoming less hard-controlled areas in some aspects, while in other aspects great efforts were exerted towards upholding law and order. The town culture became, compared to the 17th century, more heterogeneous both socially and culturally and the court records bear witness to this. The informal control worked less well and in return the formal control was intensified in certain respects, while the battle was lost regarding other aspects of morality. The State’s increased use of the local courts for control purposes was first noticable in the towns. The Swedish historians, Eva Österberg and Dag Lindström have, regarding the 16th century, already traced this trend. There are also a number of court cases in the records from Linkdping’s municipal court
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