the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 290 and manufacturing had to be safeguarded by protectionist duties on imports.836 Creditor interests were strictly upheld against noble landowners, small traders and craftsmen. Special privileges for investment in mining, manufacturing and shipping fit in with this picture.837 Nyström’s thesis is probably exaggerated because of the underlying assumption that the reduktion was a Swedish variant of a “bourgeois revolution.” Many of the changes in the bankruptcy system were not as radical or consistent as such a thesis demands. According to Munktell, it cannot be said that legislation concerning the privileges of mining industry investment consistently favoured the creditors. In some cases, the government strengthened the position of the bergsmän peasants instead.838 However, the general point about fundamental change in legislation on debtor-creditor relations from the 1680s onwards seems to be valid. That insolvency was managed in Sweden in a unitary fashion in ordinary courts is a remarkable change. An excursus on comparative legal history shows that the unitary bankruptcy law sets Sweden apart frommost European countries. The fact that the bankruptcy legislation applied in all ordinary courts might not seem very remarkable, but comparison with other countries shows that bankruptcy was often a matter under special jurisdiction. In France, what is today known as bankruptcy law developed as part of commercial law, under the jurisdiction of merchant courts. A distinction was made between the fraudulent banqueroute and unfortunate faillite. In the latter case, limited rehabilitative measures were possible, but full discharge from liability was not available. In non-commercial settings, a version of cessio bonorumwas available, which gave the debtor who surrendered all his goods freedom from imprisonment. However, if the cession was imposed upon creditors, the civic rights of the debtor were restricted. For relief of debts, it was necessary for the debtor to reach a voluntary agreement with the creditors.839 In England, bankruptcy law was restricted to people who could be classified as “traders.” It did not apply to land ownership and the common law.840 From the early eighteenth century onwards, the formerly punitive 836 Nyström, Per 1989 p. 248. 837 Nyström, Per 1983 pp. 147-148. 838 Munktell, Henrik 1934 pp. 54-61. 839 Sgard, Jérôme 2013 pp. 226-227, 234. 840 Jones, W.J. 1979 pp. 57-59.
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