1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910424944203321

Autore

Clementsson Bonnie <1969->

Titolo

Incest in Sweden, 1680–1940 : a history of forbidden relations / / Bonnie Clementsson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lund, : Lund University Press, 2020

Lund, Sweden : , : Lund University Press, , 2020

Manchester, UK : , : Manchester University Press, , [2020]

©2020

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 332 pages) : illustrations (black and white); digital file(s)

Disciplina

364.1536

Soggetti

Incest - Sweden - History

Incest - Law and legislation - Sweden - History

Incest - Religious aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Translated from the Swedish.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- 1. Background and context -- 2. Incest: a religious crime, 1680–1750 -- 3. Incest: a moral crime, 1750–1840 -- 4. Incest: a crime of violence, 1840–1940 --The phenomenon of incest in Sweden over 250 years: a summary discussion -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

"Three hundred years ago in Sweden, if a man and his late wife’s sister had sex they ran the risk of being executed. The relationship was defined as an incestuous one, and reprieves were rare. Today, Swedish legislation is among the most liberal in the world. How can such a radical change be accounted for? The earliest prohibitions against incest came from the Bible, which is why biological kinship and kinship based on marriage were held to be equivalent. Consequently, incest prohibitions around 1700 covered many more relationship categories than exist today. Right up to the late nineteenth century, most incest crimes corresponded to voluntary unions between two adults who were not related by blood. Analysing both incest crimes and applications for dispensation to marry from 1680 to 1940, this book reveals the norms underpinning Swedish society’s shifting attitudes to incestuous



relations, while considering developments in relation to other European countries.  Making a remarkable contribution to social and legal history, 'Incest in Sweden' reveals that, while the debate on incest has historically been dominated by religious, moral and – in due course – medical notions, the values that actually determined the outcome of incest cases were frequently of a quite different character." -- Publisher..