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Chapter 5 Land & Society A. Land Reforms In 1658, Sweden acquired the province of Smaland from Denmark in the peace of Roskilde, which ended a period of war between the countries. In the 16th and especially in the 17th century the land area awarded to the nobility increased enormously and by 1654 (Queen Kristina's abdication) 72% of Swedish land was owned by the nobility. This drastically reduced the state's revenues and through another reduction in 1655 and in the 1680's most of the land given to the nobility was taken or bought back by the state, leaving only the inherited estate with the nobility. Later, during the 18th century the crown sold a considerable portion of its land to freeholders (skattekopen). The intensity of these purchases varied over time, with changes made in legislation regarding the purchases. In 1700, 59% was manorial land (tax-exempt), 27% was crown land, 11% church land, and only 6% belonged to free holders. The first act allowing tenants on crown land to buy their holdings came in 1701 when the crown sold a considerable portion of its land to freeholders (skattekopen). The intensity of these purchases varied over time, with changes made in legislation regarding the purchases. It was rather generous - sometimes the price was less than one year's tax - and gave rise to considerable criticism against it. In 1723 the price increased to a minimum six years of tax. In 1773, the right to buy crown land was abolished. In 1789 it once again became possible to buy crown land, and during the period up to 1815 the number of purchases increased rapidly. As a result, 26% was crown land, 44% manorial land, and 26% belonged to the freeholders. The parish records for the Nykulla-Sodergard farm designate it as "Krono-Skatte", previous crown land that is now owned by freeholders. The Newquist ancestors owned both the land and buildings. Major land and taxation legislation in 1903 eliminated all of these taxation distinctions. B. Farming Practices During the 18th century it was a challenge to take up the new land and convert it to arable land within a village. In order to be able to sub-divide the farm, the new land often had to be cultivated for the new holdings to be viable. Hand in hand with the reclamation of the new land went an increase in the number of crofters, since a crofter's holdings often were established on the new land. One measure of the "size" of the farm was the mantal. This was not a measure of the actual size, but rather a measure of the production potential of the farm. In clerical surveys and farm registers the mantal was written by the name of the farm owner. Numbers less than 1/1, e.g. 1/6, meant one sixth of the total (original) farm. All parts known by the same farm name should sum up to 1/1, but since this measure was used for taxation purposes rather than to describe organization this was not always true. The meaning of the mantal changed over time. Following subdivisions of the farms, increased productivity of the land, land reclamation, etc., a farm with a land holding at the subsistence level now had a smaller mantal. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, a farm with 1/4 mantal was considered the smallest taxable unit possible, and further subdivisions were prohibited. In the late 18th century this limit was lowered to 1/8, and later during the 19th century it was further lowered. From the end of the 17th century, there was a law stating the right to use a farm owned by someone else (cf. land owners). This right (called åborätt) is inherited as other inheritance (goods etc) and has no time limit. This right usually also included the right to buy the farm (skatteköp). The law was revised in 1926 preserving the basic right to use of the land. The word has unfortunately been very widely used to denote any farmer who uses the land where he lives, even when he owns the land. Cautious interpretation is recommended, depending on the source. Åborätt is always the legal term. The transfer of the farm to the next generation was characterized by a system of peasant retirement. They did not normally work up until the time they died, but instead handed over the farm well before. They transferred the farm to the family heir in return for lodging, food, clothing, etc. Usually a retirement contract was written in which the payment to the pensioner was specified. The timing of these transitions was connected not so much with physical weakness as to the age of marriage, since inheriting the farm was the only way for a prospective heir to get married and form an independent household. The age of retirement in Sweden during the 19th century was between 55 and 60 years. This should be compared to the mean age of first marriage of around 25-30 years. This system of retirement was mostly available to freeholders, and tenants on crown land. Tenants on noble land and crofters probably had to live as crofters or lodgers during old age, without the formal security of a written contract. C. Social Structure and Economics The nobles (standspersoner) constituted the upper class in the rural sector. They owned large farms and estates, and often enjoyed tax exemption on their land. The peasant group was divided into three categories: freeholders (skattebönder), tenants on noble land (frälsebönder) and tenants on crown land (kronobönder). In addition, there was a group of peasants that leased their land from freeholders (bondearrendatorer). Together, the nobles and peasants can be considered as landed groups. The freeholders owned their own land and paid taxes to the crown, i.e. the crown in the role of government. The tenants on crown land, worked on the land owned by the crown and paid rents to the crown, i.e. to the crown as landowner. These two groups enjoyed a fairly similar social status. The difference was that the freeholders had the right to stay on the farm indefinitely (as long as they paid taxes) and transfer the farm to the next generation. The tenants on noble land worked land owned by the nobles in return for rent, often labor rent. They were parts of a manorial system, and their situation can be expected to have differed somewhat from the other two groups. For example, they did not have the right to elect representatives to the Diet of the Four Estates. The period of intensified commercialization of agriculture in the early 19th century implied a differentiation of the peasant group. One segment made investments in new production, increased productivity and developed into rather large landowners. Another segment did not invest, and came closer to the landless and semi-landless group. There were different landless or semi-landless groups in the rural sector. The crofters (torpare) were considered semi-landless. They usually had a plot of land to cultivate, but in addition they had to work for a larger landowner, either a noble or freeholder. The cottagers (backstugustittare, husman) belonged to the landless group. They also had a small garden where vegetables were grown, but they had to work for others for their existence. They lived in independent households apart from the household of the master. This distinguished them from servants (tjanstefolk) and lodgers (inhyses). The lodgers belonged to the household in which they were lodged. Normally they did not pay any rent for housing or food, but helped in household production in different ways. In early times, servants were normally unmarried people working for room and board and some small salary. They were often life cycle servants, working before leaving home and marriage. After marriage, they acquired a farm of their own and set up an independent household. Later it became possible for servants to be get married, and this gave rise to a new social group during the 19th century: married servants (statare). There were very specific tenancy contracts for tenants, crofters, and cottagers, They specified the amount of labor to be paid (in days), and how many barrels of grain to pay and so on. In addition, duties were specified regarding spinning of flax, chopping wood, transportation, etc. The length of these tenancy contracts varied from short notice to lifetime, which obviously generated different feelings of loyalty and security. There were some 100, 000 statare, providing for one-half million people by the end of the 19th century. The system often caused social misery and was outlawed in 1945. The form of rent varied between different estates, but often a large share of the rent was labor rent. In 1832, a peasant with 1/16 mantal (not a very large farm) had to work 208 days for the landowner, and in addition provide transportation services. He had to also work his own land. From the late 18th century onward, the landless classes started to increase rapidly, which led to a concern regarding the proletarization of the countryside. The group increased fourfold between 1750 and 1850 to approximately 80% of the population.
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