summary. the open window with her property. In Stockholm, a married couple must agree each time the husband was dealing with the couple’s immovable property, one of the founding principles of marital economy, as was inferred in Dübeck’s discussion of community property within marriage. What was thus specific for Stockholm was that the spouses held part ownership in each other’s inherited property during their marriage. To clarify this point, in a commonplace situation where the woman brought a house into the marriage’s joint property, it became her husband’s home and workplace; and if the husband brought capital to a value corresponding to her house, the husband acquired half ownership of the property the woman brought to the marriage. Likewise, the wife acquired half ownership of the capital the man brought to the marriage. In total, the spouses owned half of all household assets. In many other cities in Northern Europe, inheritance property was still kept separate in marriage. In such cities, the spouses equally divided the property acquired during the marriage, but not the inherited property. On the other hand, this did not mean that a woman owning property could also dispose of it during her marriage. According to the concept of community property (felagstanke), the husband represented the household. This meant that he represented the household in the public sphere, especially when it came to the immovable property of the household. It was normally the husband who bought immovable property or sold parts of the household’s immovable property but with the wife’s explicit permission. According to Swedish town law, the wife had the right to manage the household’s total property during her husband’s absence. This could also include paying taxes. Evidence that the wife in practice represented the household and paid taxes can be found in Stockholm’s town council minutes and city tax rolls. For such a right to come into effect, according to Swedish town law, the husband would inform the mayor and city council of his planned absence. If he did that, the wife’s right became public law. If the husband 289 The wife’s right to dispose of real property
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