Historisk Tidskrift. Utgiven av Svenska historiska föreningen
  Hem Aktuellt Tidigare nummer Bli Medlem Annonsera Om Historisk Tidskrift För skribenter Föreningen In English
 

Historisk tidskrift 123:1 • 2003

Innehåll (Contents) 2003:1

Uppsatser (Articles)

Att välja sin fiende – Allmogens konflikter och allianser i riksdagen 1595–1635

Johan Holm

Fulltext (pdf)

Summary

Choosing one’s Enemy – Peasant Alliances and Conflicts in the Swedish Parliament (1595–1635)

 

Typically, peasants and the ruling class (the nobility and the monarch) are viewed as separate entities with respect to the taxpaying peasants’ influence on early Swedish parliament. Although peasants were represented in parliament, such a perspective concludes that peasants had very little influence in parliament. Peasants’ lobbied for lower taxes and less military conscription; however, peasants could not stop the dramatic increase in taxes and the dramatic increase in their military service from 1611 through 1630. This perspective inevitably concludes that peasants did not influence policy-making.

Another conclusion is possible, however, if we accept that there were actually three main actors – the king, the nobility, and the peasants – each with different agendas. This approach uncovers alliances that arose in parliament. My study indicates that the peasants’ often formed an alliance with the king to lessen the influence of the nobility and to lessen the nobility’s privileges. The peasants’ goal was to fight for equal distribution of taxes and of military conscription. Because the king reduced the aristocracy’s privileges, the peasants supported the king’s desire for higher taxes. Therefore, the peasants may not have viewed the king and his government as their main opponents in parliament. Choosing between fighting for lower taxes or fighting for equal distribution of social burdens, the peasants chose equal distribution of the burdens of taxes and military conscription. They were quite successful in this battle from 1595 through 1635.