finally A stage of the process after a death sentence generally becoming more usual was the final involvement of the ruler. From 1735 in Denmark, 1746 in Schleswig, and 1778 in Sweden no executions were to happen without the confirmation of the king.944 Thereby there was sufficient time for an request for clemency and, with the ruler already involved, it was a more natural step. This, however, also could cause problems when somebody did want to be executed. In Prussia and in Finland when the ruler resided in St Petersburg this was not a problem – the ruler decided. In England a judgement in 1797 ended the possibility to refuse a reprieve. In Sweden however the situation continued to be complicated. Persons could be executed instead of receiving the mercy offered. Eventually, however, actions generally, even of not as public as the amnesty solving the problem withAnders Lindeberg, were taken. Then the judicial ideas changed and seems to have resulted in the idea that even though the state and the king cannot force somebody to receive mercy, neither the condemned can force state and king to perform an execution.945 Could that not result in condemned sitting imprisoned for a very long time, neither punished nor free? Yes, but similar situations when a presumed guilty were supposed to eventually confess were not uncommon in Sweden up to the 1860’s.946 The question of mercy and the role of kings and queens also concerns the personality of the ruler. Quite frequent in literature are ideas that a certain person rather would be merciful while another rather preferred executions. The earliest crimes mentioned in this study are from the late sixteenth century. In several studies it seems that the crimes were most frequent from seventeenth to early nineteenth century. During roughly the same time, although starting in the late Middle Ages, the cooperation between church and state was increasingly constructed and then step by step demolished, a system where pastoral care and liturgy were near the condemned. This mixed system around the execution was in many shapes strong in several countries. Even the state had a more personal interest 944 Bergman 1996 p 24. 945 Naumann 1880 p 179 sq. 946 See Inger 1976. The last such prisoner was released in 1869, Inger 1976 p 110, 145. 271
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