p a r t 1 i i , c h a p t e r 3 62 the collective agreements of the early 20th century, especially within the agrarian sector.112 Claes Peterson has analysed how the modern “personal theory” (Sw. personteorin), which was elaborated by Friedrich Carl von Savigny (1779-1861) to replace the “status theory”, was implemented in the Swedish private law doctrine of the 19th century. Peterson has also pointed out that Swedish political and legal discussions around 1900 about the modern contract of employment were strongly influenced by the current German debate and by the ideas that developed in Das Verein für Sozialpolitik.113 The history of Nordic legal science 1815-1870 is the connecting thought in Lars Björne’s “Brytningstiden” (1998). His conclusions concerning the Swedish jurists’ relationship to the German “historical school” and its standard-bearer Savigny are of special interest. He indicates that the established picture of a movement towards greater professionalism and scientific rationality during the period in question might need to be modified. Although jurists stopped explicitly referring to natural law, they may all the same have maintained a natural law foundation, though hidden behind the alleged scientific and politically neutral legal positivism.114 Simultaneously, Nordic scholars tended to take a more positive approach to custom as a legal source than their predecessors. In part I we pointed out that many of them, however, indicated an ambivalent attitude regarding under what conditions custom could be treated as a source for finding the law.Was it a legal source only if it had been approved by legislation? Did established customs themselves constitute the legal foundation, or was it rather the underlying general opinion of law that the customs reflected? Could reliable men articulate with legally binding force that general opinion even it had not been expressed in concrete acts? These issues had a connection with the issue about natural law. 112 Adlercreutz,T1971. 113 Peterson, C1982; Peterson, C1984; Peterson C2003. 114 Björne 1998, p. 233.
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