summary 279 condemned. Therefore, when motives behind a specific crime are discussed here, it is mostly to indicate the problems in trying to establish the motive of the individual. Here the aim also is to find more general knowledge. The most visible difference between this book and earlier research is that here the ideas and actions around crimes and criminals are in focus instead of the perpetrators or their acts, even though many persons and their actions are mentioned. Problematic compared to other research is however, that this study to a large extent has been reliant on published material concerning the actual crimes. When a defining factor in constructing a crime is the motive for the crime this leads to many problems. Among the factors given here are how motives can be mixed, and how it, especially after legislation specifically focused on these crimes has been enacted, could be advantageous to hide the true motive. Therefore it could happen that those that wanted to be executed were silent about their motive or provided some other, while those that did not want to be executed claimed their wish to die. The result of such laws could thus be lies and frustrated courts. One clear motive or, rather, situation causing motives not often mentioned in research is when crimes are committed by prisoners or soldiers who wanted to escape the horrors of corporal punishment. The special environments in which soldiers, prisoners, and also many women, such as servants, lived are also considered. The military, and in some respects prisoners, could at least legally be seen as living in another world than the general public. The view of the women seems to have changed in the early nineteenth century. They were not expected to be criminals and they should not attend executions. Also discussed are motives in another meaning, more generally present ideas in culture, all widely understood. Emphasised is the central role the question of this kind of motives should occupy when studying these crimes and criminals. Presented are not least conflicting interpretations of the execution and how those condemned were prepared for it. The importance of the preparation is one of several reasons why theology is given more room here than in most studies of the history of crime and
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