annika björklund 1430s only between 7% and 8% of the testaments mention servants. In the 1440s the share temporarily increases to 25%, and varies throughout the following decades, as shown in Figure 4. In the 1510s the share rises considerably, since over 40% of the testaments mention servants. For a brief comparison: In two sets of a hundred testaments from York, England, dated 1400–1450, servants are mentioned in 44% and in 37% of the documents. In a French study from Marseilles of 557 testaments dated to the 13th and14th centuries, only 9% mention servants.28 Inrural southern France, only 5% of male and female testators mention servants.29 In a study of Genoa, Italy, covering the period 1150–1250, male and female testators left bequests to servants in 17% of the testaments.30 Servants are mentioned in almost all Danish canon testaments in the late Middle Ages.31 Thus, previous studies show great variations, although most studies cover only shorter time periods. There are three main categories of testators: women, men, and priests (i.e. ecclesiastical persons). A fourth category consists of shared testaments – shared between spouses and sometimes between siblings. I have separated men from priests, since the comparison between men and women in this way is more meaningful. The vast majority of these men and women belonged to the rural nobility – unspecified whether higher or lower nobility – but also to the burghers. In addition, as will be further discussed below, a small number of testaments were written by female and male servants. To clarify, female testaments in Sweden were issued by the women themselves, not only when they were widows, but also when they were married. No man issued a living woman’s last will, as sometimes wrongly has been assumed; but a number of testaments were issued by men and 337 28 Goldberg 2022, p. 389 note 85; Michaud 2022, pp. 354f. 29 Laumonier 2022, p. 328. 30 Epstein 1984, p. 127. 31 Ingesman 1987, p. 215. The testators
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