entangled in insolvency – jussi sallila 267 some other calamity before acquiring burgher rights in Gothenburg, the privileges guaranteed a ten-year moratorium as far their old debts to other than Swedish creditors were concerned.725 In the research, it is generally assumed that the exceptional provisions of Gothenburg soon became dead letters. The application of the bankruptcy provisions is reported to have been discontinued in 1642.726 However, similar provisions concerning insolvency were included in the privileges given to the city of Landskrona in 1663.727 In both the Gothenburg and Landskrona privileges, the leniency toward innocent debtors was balanced by severe punishment for all debtors whose bankruptcy was caused by fraud or wastefulness. The punishment would also serve as a warning for others. The assumption on which the provisions were based was that insolvent debtors were wasteful or fraudulent “bankrupts.” On the other hand, it was also common for merchants to be “scorned by fortune” (ludibrio fortunæ). The fact that decisions on compositions could be made without respect to liens and priorities is a rather exceptional way to provide a fresh start for an entrepreneur. The Gothenburg privileges of 1607 and 1621 were the result of negotiations between Dutch merchants and the Swedish crown, in which the Dutch party had the leading role in formulating.728 Montgomery assumed that insolvency provisions were adopted from Amsterdam, but his only reference is to a later source, the 1659 ordinance regulating the Amsterdam insolvency court, Desolate Boedels Kamer.729 However, according to the Desolate Boedels Kamer ordinance, a composition actually required either a three-quarters majority of the creditors representing two-thirds of the total of claims, or a two-thirds majority of the creditors representing three-quarters of the total. In addition, the composition did not infringe upon the rights of secured creditors.730 The terms of the privileges thus appear exthe 1621 privileges, quoted in Olivecrona, S.R.D.K. 1862 pp. 10-11. 725 Article 31 of the 1607 privileges, quoted in Wolff, Emil 1894 p. 87; Article 21 of the 1621 privileges, quoted in Olivecrona, S.R.D.K. 1862 p. 11. 726 Odhner, C.T. 1865 p. 199. 727 Privileges for Landskrona (14 March 1663), articles 33 and 34, Commerce, Politie och Oeconomie, vol. 3, ed. Stiernman, pp. 151-152. 728 Almquist, Helge 1929 pp. 33-60 729 Montgomery, Robert 1874 p. 318; Montgomery, Robert 1869 pp. 58-59; Wolff, Emil 1894 pp. 3-13; Almquist, Helge 1929 pp. 33-34. 730 Instructie ende ordonnantie voor Commissarisen van de desolate boedels 1659, articles VIII and IX.
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