494 been paid much attention in this study. It is, however, clear that among the number of women who were sentenced and burned at the stake there were those who had challenged male hegemony by acting in a manner which was contrary to the traditional view of their roles. Witch trials and the control of extra-marital relations contributed to defining the limits of the female role. That the total number of women with convictions was greater in Linköping than in Gullberg, at the beginning of the 17th century, was above all a product of the fact that the different categories of crime had different divisions in towns than in rural areas. There still seemed to be no decisive difference between town and country concerning the role of w'omen, except for cases of pure theft where more women were accused in towns. The latter result has also been found to be true of England at the same period of time. In the 18th century a clear difference had arisen even regarding the total number of crimes, m so far as the percentage for women was greater in Linköping and Härnösand than in Gullberg and Säbrå. This was partially because the number of illegitimate births grew more rapidly in the towns, but even other categories of crimes were involved. It was especially apparent concerning crimes against propertv, where women now were approximately equally represented in towns, but in rural areas only constituted a fifth of all those fined. Both the increased number of cases concerned wdth fornication, as the increased number of women accused of pilfering can be said to be connected partly with the fact that womens’ legal responsibility had increased, and partly because there was a steadily increasing number of unmarried women who had come from rural areas to work as housemaids. Research in England has brought attention to the insecure situation of this group. In countries which were industrialized relatively early, there arose a new group of working women who were sensitive to changes in trade cycles. In Sweden at this time it was more important that those moving to towns had left the social control and safety net of their native district behind them. The temptations for a young maid in a middle class household could be far too strong to resist. One can assume that in a patriarchal society thieving by servants was often regulated without the intervention of the courts, but when patriarchy began to disintegrate, as a result of migration and proletarianization, then it is plausible to assume that the masters and mistresses more often turned to the formal mstrument of control. The punishment for theft within a household had been made more severe during the 18th century, a sure sign of this trend. The women’s percentage of the total number of those sentenced to fines did decrease in towns at the end of the 18th century. This was above all because fewer were convicted of fornication, even while the lawwas still formally being enforced. If we return to the crimes against property then it can be ascertained that the lessening ratio of women involved, in towns, is due to there being an increasing number of male criminals. In Linköping, for example, thefts by
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