Tyge Krogh

murdering to die in the eighteenth century

A Lutheran plague

Suicide murders - i.e., killings in order to be executed - were alarmingly frequent in eighteenth-century Lutheran Europe. The book traces the murderers motives – an investigation that leads to the Pietist care for death convicts, into central elements of Lutheran soteriology and to the idea of capital punishment as being divinely ordained. - At dræbe nogen alene for at blive henrettet!. Sådanne mord var alarmerende hyppige i 1700-tallets lutherske Europa. Bogen eftersporer mordernes motiver - en undersøgelse der fører til den pietistiske omsorg for dødsdømte, til centrale dele af den lutherske frelseforståelse og til forestillingen om, at dødsstraffene var direkte beordrede af Gud.

Murdering to Die in the Eighteenth Century

A Lutheran Plague

Louise Nyholm Kallestrup

Claus Bundgård Christensen

Taking the kingdom of Denmark as its frame of reference, this volume presents a range of close analyses that shed light on the construction and deconstruction of crime and criminals, on criminal cultures and on crime control from 1500 to 2000. Historically, there have been major changes in the legal definition of those acts that are legally defined as being criminal offences – and of those that are not. This volume explores the criteria and perceptions underlying definitions of crime in a powerful and absolutist Lutheran state and subsequently in a Denmark characterised by social welfare and sexual liberation. It places special focus on moral issues rooted in considerations of religion and sexuality.

Cultural Histories of Crime in Denmark, 1500 to 2000

The Great Nightmen Conspiracy explores the little-known magico-religious history of eighteenth-century Denmark. Essential tasks carried out by the nightmen, such as dealing with carcasses and assisting with executions, generated contempt from the rest of society but also led to the nightmen becoming deeply feared because of the dark and magical forces associated with their occupation. The discovery of a dead peasant at the edge of the fjord on 4 December 1734 led to the arrest of the nightmen Mikkel and Hans in the nearby market town of Kalundborg in Zealand. In court, their interrogation focused not on the suspected murder but on thefts of livestock, immorality and other provocations committed by these socially ostracised nightmen. The court case became the largest of its time, implicating nightmen across half of Zealand and exposing divisions within society. This book uses a minutely researched set of incidents centring on the Danish "pariah caste" of nightmen to bring to light this unknown magico-religious side of Denmark. Through microhistorical methodology, The Great Nightmen Conspiracy presents a detailed insight into the lives of the nightmen in Kalundborg and the society that constructed their alienation. It is ideal for academics and postgraduate students of microhistory and urban history.

Tyge Krogh

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