”Gudsfruktan, dygd och ära och ett anständigt lefverne och upförande” – adlig ideologi i svenska fideikommissbrev 1686 –1810

• “Virtue, honour and fear of God” SUMMARY The establishment of fideicommiss (entail, fee tail) was only allowed in Sweden between 1686 and 1810 and during this period approximately 300 fideicommiss were established. Inspired by European legislation, it was primarily a noble phenomenon. The motive was to prevent the property from being split up. A fideicommiss was established through a deed, a performative will which, by designating a certain property as a fideicommiss, exempted the property from the usual rules of inheritance. A central part of the deed was the order of succession, i.e. how the property was to be inherited in future generations. But many deeds contain much more, for example the founder could set a number of conditions for the successor. In this paper the focus is on the conditions and the ideology the deeds express. The result shows an interesting conflict between a meritocratic and an aristocratic ideology. The founders were often successful businessmen, as fideicommiss could only be established on purchased land. But founders were obviously worried that the successors would not be as capable. Thus, the conditions had an aristocratic character, where the most common was that the successor had to marry noble.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Historia (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

entail

fideicomissum

ideology

nobility

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)