the explanations of the acts ments to a significant extent is wrong. Preparation of the condemned leading and aiming to seeking the mercy and forgiveness of God, and thus salvation, was by no mean an exclusively Lutheran idea. The executions in eighteenth–century Denmark, and other Lutheran countries, according to Krogh, were mostly constructed by authorities of secular and not theological type, even though the church would help to fill it with pastoral care, biblical lessons, songs, prayers, and speeches.882 That the execution ceremonies in Denmark and other countries of the same confession were so specifically Lutheran or Pietistic, that they differed substantially from those in countries where other confessions dominated is a suggestion not easy to accept, although more comparative studies of execution rituals in different countries is probably needed to clearly know the differences. However, as there were Anglican executions with the priest apparently as the central functionary and Catholic executions with huge processions and the condemned and the crowd singing hymns together, one can wonder if Lutheran executions really were so much more tempting individuals to join the scene in the role of the executed? An important point to discuss Krogh, however, has given in the statement that these kinds of crimes were a ”significant criminal problem only in Lutheran countries and cities.” Despite this the crimes occurred, probably at times in significant numbers, in areas where other confessions dominated. Though most areas where they were dealt with by legislation could be identified as Lutheran, even then there were exceptions. Some of the probably most significant legislations that has been mentioned here was given in aPrussia with its broad tolerance and important groups of Lutherans, Reformed and, Catholics. There is, however, also the early Austrian legislation on sacrilege, given in a primarily Catholic country.883 Finally, when is a criminal problem significant? Is it when, as in Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia, laws are debated, drafted, and overturned, or is it in France where psychiatrists spent much work on these criminals and their trials? 882 See for example Krogh 2012 p 172 sqq, Krogh 2020 p 232. 883 Weber 1937 p 168, 172. 247
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