the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 182 in the records of the Svea Court of Appeal in the seventeenth century. Misalliances and marriages without parental consent were forbidden in the 1622 Privileges of the Nobility, and had several legal effects. For example, anoble maiden who married without her parents or guardians consent to the marriage could be disinherited. A nobleman who married a nonnoble woman lost his right to the family’s tax-exempt land, which was transferred to other branches of the noble family. The same applied to children born in a misalliance: they were considered commoners and had no right to inherit the noble family’s estates. Keeping the nobility “pure and immaculate” (Sw. reent och obefläckiat), as the privileges of 1622 stated, was perhaps less important than keeping the tax-exempt land within the noble estate.506 In the seventeenth century, a women’s honour was more closely associated with sexuality than a man’s honour. If a woman lost her honour, she also lost her position in society and her future chances of marriage were in jeopardy. For that reason, it was important to restore a maiden’s honour and reputation. This applied especially to the nobility. In 1670, Erik Fleming (1616 –1679), councillor of the Realm and president of the Swedish Board of Mining (Bergskollegiet), appeared in no less than three trials in the Svea Court of Appeal. Fleming acted as guardian for his late brother’s daughter Ebba Maria (1653 –1678) who, in his mind, had been illegally betrothed to Major Georg Zelow (1638 – 1708). Fleming had not consented to the betrothal, and now Ebba Maria’s and the family’s honour had to be restored. In order to do so, Fleming sued not only Zelow, but also Jöran Gyllenstierna (1632 – 1686), a councillor of the Realm, and Ebba Maria’s mother Ebba Soop at the Court of Appeal. According to Fleming, the two last-mentioned had participated in carrying through the illegal betrothal. The disputes were handled by the Svea Court of Appeal in April 1670, and all three accused were acquitted.507 But the relation between Ebba Maria and the major ended anyway. A year after the trial, Ebba Maria married Lorentz Creutz (1646 – 1698), who also worked at the Swedish Board of Mining, and Erik Fleming let bygones be bygones.508 506 The Privileges of the Nobility of 1622, paragraph 4, printed inKongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman , pp. 217-218, quotation p. 217; Korpiola, Mia 2004 p. 217. 507 Three judgements on 26 April 1670 (RA, SHA, B II a:42). 508 Boëthius, Bertil 1931 p. 103.
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