RS 26

a safe haven in the shadow of war? – mia korpiola 87 customs officials.235 There were other types of cases related to improving the royal revenue base in 1614 as well. The Court of Appeal adjudicated that the several farms were taxable by the crown for which the noble Johan Bagge, who had held them unlawfully, had to satisfy the crown for their revenues.236 The Treasury sued Lady Anna of Hjuseberga in court for the misappropriation of farms taxable by the crown.237 The noble Jesper Nilsson also was found to be in possession of lands that were taxable by the crown.238 In the summer of 1614, the Court of Appeal observed that the fines had to be levied from pardoned criminals and sent to Stockholm to the royal Treasury (räntekammare).239 During its first session from late May to early July 1614, the tribunal ratified the punishments of 25 criminals who had to pay fines of greatly varying size. The fines confirmed in the first session alone amounted to 1,758 dalers, 100 marks – amounting to 25 dalers – and 290 barrels of grain (at 2 dalers each), worth roughly 580 dalers in 1614. All in all, this amounted to roughly 2363 dalers.240 Even during the second session that year, for which the fine rolls are less unambiguous, more than 1,200 dalers in fines were raised. There were several convictions for homicide, bringing in hundreds of dalers, a hundreddaler fine for breaking the king’s judgement and a 280-daler fine for larceny. Certain fines were obviously arbitrary, such as Petter von Beningen’s astronomical 400-daler amercement in the fine roll. He had been accused of misbehaviour that had incited a revolt in the mining province of Dalarna. For his use of “unusual punishments” (owanlige straff), probably meaning punishments unauthorized by Swedish law, he was condemned to a 300-daler fine by a commission consisting of royal councillors, noblemen, officers, burghers and peasants at the Diet of Örebro on 4 February 1614. He was also accused of having had a smithy (hammarsmedian) constructed to the great detriment of the peasant miners (Bärgzmennerne) of Dalarna and “to little benefit to the king.”241 The aftermath of the revolt in Dalarna 235 RA, SHA, A I a 1:1, fols. 19r-27v, 35r-36v, 47v-52r, 91v-92v, 93r-93v, 93v-97r, 103v-105v; Afzelius, Ivar 1914. 236 RA, SHA, D VIII a:1. 237 RA, SHA, B I a:1, 22 Nov. 1614, fol. 73v. 238 RA, SHA, A I a 1:1, fols. 200r-202r, 205r-205v. 239 RA, SHA, B I a:1, fols. 21v-22r. 240 Lagerqvist’s book Vad kostade det? (Lagerqvist, Lars O. 2011 p. 114) has been used for the value of money and the value of various items of goods. 241 RA, SHA, D VIII a:1; Svenska riksdagsakter, 1. serien, 2:1, ed. Ahnlund, pp. 475-477.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=