Terminology - The Socken

Mantal and Mantal Taxation

Mantal was the standard or rule by which the taxation of farms and other estates in the country was regulated. Bevillning is a historical term for a type of (extra) state tax decided by the Riksdag (National Parliament) for a certain period of time, and in this sense is sometimes also used beviljning. In English “appropriation or grant”. Mantal taxation (mantalsränta), also known as extraordinary taxation, was a collective term for several extra taxes, grants, which during the 17th century were granted by the parliament when necessary, but which were collected and made permanent in 1718 under the name of “Hemmantalsränta” (Homestead taxation). The taxes were paid in proportion to the taxing power measured in mantal. In addition to the mantal taxation, the land registration tax (jordeboksränta), also called the ordinary tax, was also charged. Bevillning or appropriation is an additional tax levied temporarily by the government when regular revenue is insufficient. The word "bevillning" began to be used in the 17th century; Parliament "granted" the temporary taxes. In the early 18th century, the levy became largely permanent and was called a "general appropriation" (”allmän bevillning”). A mantal, or homestead code (hemmanstal), was a taxable unit, a measure of propertied, which formed the basis for taxation in Sweden. The mantal was usually calculated in arable and meadowland and was estimated in barrels (acres) and “kappar” according to how much grain could be grown on the land. Forest groves and plots were excluded. The homestead code (Hemmanstal) was a measure of the fiscal power of the farm and the tax payments (or "rents") that the homestead had to make. Originally, the measurements were 1, ½, or ¼. Homestead splits and write-down of the mantal figures (förmedling) gradually led to shifts in the quotas (to ¾ or ⅛, for example), and after a few generations of inheritances to very unwieldy quotas.

Fyrk

A fyrk was initially a monetary unit used in Sweden in the 15th to 17th centuries. After the monetary unit had been abolished, the word remained in use in the general sense of "small money", "pennies", "an insignificant sum". With the Swedish municipal reforms of 1862, the unit fyrk or fyrktal was the measure used to indicate voting strength in rural municipalities. Voting rights were graded according to income and assets, counted in fyrk and recorded in the fyrktalslängd (roll), the "fyrk counting list" for each municipality. It was in use from 1863-1909. The fyrk quotient was calculated as follows: For the land set in mantal, a whole mantal was equal to one hundred fyrk, regardless of the tax for which the land was assessed. For other taxable items (land not assessed to mantal and other real estate, and other income), the quotient was calculated on the basis of a complicated model, whereby the total levy on such taxable items was divided by the total number of mantal in the municipality. The amount obtained was then rounded up to the nearest whole riksdaler (krona). One hundredth of this sum was in turn equal to one fyrk. The graduated right to vote in municipal elections was gradually curtailed and abolished completely in 1918, but the fyrk was retained until 1937 for calculating road tolls and so on.

Parish Scribe (Sockenskrivare)

The parish scribe (Sockenskrivare) was a paid clerk who worked in the parish, primarily to ensure that the basis for tax collection was available and correct, including receipts for taxes paid, but also assisted the parishioners (sockenmän) in various matters against the authorities. Before 1675, the parish scribe's duties were performed by the parish constable (sockenlänsman). Thereafter, parish scribes were used and remained until the municipal reform of 1862 was fully implemented. The parish scribe was elected at the parish meeting, appointed by the county governor (Landshövding), and paid by the peasants. The parish scribe was often an official of the Crown and was also responsible for keeping the minutes of the parish meeting on its behalf and for the parish treasury.

Sixman (Sexman)

The six men (sexmän) were originally six in number, hence the name. The number of “sexmän” in the parish later came to depend on its size. At the Uppsala meeting in 1593, demands were made for stricter religious control and moral renewal. This was the starting point for parish law, which developed further in the 17th century, including the introduction of sexmän. In other words, a sexman was a kind of monitor (Ordningsman) for church discipline and order in the parish, including breaches of morality. The sexmän were elected by the parish council and were a position of trust. They were the church's orderlies in the parish and were responsible for ensuring that decisions made by the parish council were carried out. In the beginning, the mission of the sexmän was to ensure that the church tax (tithes) was paid by the peasants. They were also responsible for the maintenance of the church buildings and the parsonages, and for assisting the priests in various matters. The sexmän is also a member of the parish court, as well as a controller of the churchwardens' accounts, and the like. The sexmän were also used by the Crown in the tax assessment of distilleries and the registration for census purposes. In the 18th century, they also became the parish's “morality police” ('gossip watchers'), with duties such as reporting fornication and impious living to the priest. The sexmän was appointed according to the parish's rote division (hence also called a rote master) and received a share in the church books as compensation for his work. The sexmän were normally homesteaders, not landed estate owners. The municipal reform of 1862 abolished the six-man system and transferred most of their duties to the parish police constables (fjärdingsmän). The Swedish word “sex” in this context means “six” in English. It is sexman in singular and sexmän in the plural.

Parish Clerk (Klockare)

A parish clerk or bell ringer (Klockare) was an ecclesiastical office, originally charged with the care of the church and its furnishings and the ringing of the bells. In the 17th century, the parish clerk was also responsible for teaching singing and leading the church singing in the absence of a special cantor. At the same time, the parish clerk (klockaren) was also given the task of teaching young people to read and write. This meant that the job of bell-ringer was often given to a priest. After the Elementary School Charter of 1842, the right to combine the jobs of parish clerk and schoolteacher was granted. Similarly, in churches where an organ was acquired, the parish clerk often became the organist. In addition to the parish clerk’s official residence, the parish clerk's income for a long time included the so-called sacrifice and fees for his services. In 1883 it was decided that the parish clerk should instead enjoy a fixed salary.

Churchwarden (Kyrkvärd)

A churchwarden (kyrkvärd) is a layman appointed to assist in church services. In 1883, by royal decree, all responsibility for the funds of the parish churches was transferred to the church councils. This removed much of the stewardship role of the churchwardens. Only the responsibility for the church inventory now remained among the churchwardens' administrative tasks. However, the churchwardens' responsibilities during the church service remained: reading the texts, participating in intercessions, lighting the candles, making the collection, and assisting in the distribution of Communion. Outside the service, the churchwardens also had the task of helping the priest with the liturgical vestments and taking care of the communion chalices. In some parishes, churchwardens also had duties at baptismal and funeral services. The churchwardens were also usually responsible for the counting of the collected money, as delegated by the parish minister. Only peasants have been possible as churchwardens.

Parish Craftsmen (Sockenhantverkare)

The parish would fulfill several supervisory functions. Thus, the parish craftsmen (sockenhantverkare) had to be approved by the parish council to settle in the parish. The parish tailor was a tailor who worked in the countryside, i.e. outside the town where otherwise craftsmen within the guild worked. The parish tailor was appointed by the parish council and the decision was legally confirmed in the district court of law. The tailor was usually qualified and affiliated to the guild and paid a tax called “gärningsören”. In addition to parish tailor, there were also village tailors, who operated without the requirement of qualification or appointment by the parish council. In a similar way to tailors, the parish council could also appoint parish shoemakers, blacksmiths, bricklayers, and glaziers. The guild system was abolished in 1846 and each parish was then free to decide who and how many parish craftsmen it wanted. With the 1864 Act on the Freedom of Trade, everyone was free to engage in crafts and other trades in the countryside, and the parish's role in these matters ended.

Vagrants (Lösdrivare)

The parish was also obliged to control vagrants (defenseless persons), i.e. persons without statutory annual income. Initially, the supervision of defenseless persons, as well as the possibility of placing them into forced labor, was the responsibility of the County Administrative Board (Länssytrelsen) and the Crown bailiff. However, the 1833 Charter gave the parish council the right to 'acquit' persons who were making an honest living. The 1846 Charter gave the parish both greater responsibility and more control over non-criminal vagrants. Within the parish council, at least two supervisors were to be appointed to oversee vagrants and were also given master rights over them. In 1853, the parish's power was significantly increased by the fact that vagrants could be sentenced to state forced labor if they were deemed lazy or misbehaved, on the proposal of the parish council or the supervisors.

Rural police Organization

The police in rural areas were organized differently than in cities. In each county, the rural police system has, since the 1600s, been upheld by a Crown Bailiff titled Kronofogde. Each county was subdivided into several police districts and each rural police district was headed by a Länsman. The Länsman had one or several Fjärdingsman at his disposal. The Länsman was a trained police officer while the Fjärdingsman was a position of trust appointed locally for a period of three years at a time. A Fjärdingsman wasn’t allowed to interact as an independent police officer, only on the order of the Länsman. A Fjärdingsman usually had no police training. It was the Länsman who was in charge of the police work within his district. The “fjärdingsman” was an unpaid helper and monitor in the parish, subordinate to the crown bailiff (kronofogde) and the “länsman”. The “fjärdingsman” was appointed among the “tax peasants” (freeholders) and the “crown peasants” (tenant farmers on crown land) and was thus subordinate to the crown bailiff's office. In 1830, it was established that the duty of serving as a fjärdingsman was a service that all farmers in the parish, including the tenant farmers on noble land, had to participate in. The “fjärdingsman”, i.e. the local police constable, thus became a municipal affair, although the “fjärdingsman” continued to be the extended arm of the state administration. At least from 1830 onwards, the parish council should have appointed local police constables (fjärdingsmän), although this was not regulated until the statute on district constables was adopted in 1850. The “fjärdingsman” wore no uniform, merely a peaked police cap. I guess this is like the Sheriff Departments in the USA? A “länsman” would then be similar to a US sheriff and a “fjärdingsman” a deputy sheriff. In the UK a “fjärdingsman” would correspond to a parish constable and the “länsman” to a chief constable. A “kronofogde” would be the same as a County Police Commissioner in the UK.

Nämndeman (Lay Judges)

The jury system is still commonly used in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries whose legal systems are descended from England's legal traditions. Sweden has no tradition of using juries in most types of criminal or civil trials. For cases in the first and second-tier courts lay judges called “nämndemän” sit alongside professional judges. Lay judges participate in deciding both the facts of the case and sentencing. The legal assessors of the “häradsrätt”, the district court in the countryside, were the “nämndemän” (lay judges) (the twelve men, “tolvmännen”), previously appointed by the district courts themselves. However, from 1823 the “nämndemän” was appointed by the parish council (sockenstämman). From that year onwards, the parish council was to elect the lay judges/lay assessors among the peasants of the parish. Each parish often had a fixed number of posts on its lot. From 1863 they were elected by the municipal assembly (kommunalstämman). The most senior of the twelve men, who had been in office the longest, was known as the "eldest" or “häradsdomare”. It is “nämndeman” in singular and “nämndemän” in the plural.

Sockenmagasin (Parish Warehouse)

A parish warehouse was a storage building intended for storing grain. Farmers in the parish could store grain here and also borrow it in years of famine. This meant that prices would vary less from year to year. The first parish warehouses were built in the early 18th century. Until 1759, the number increased rapidly, but in that year a regulation was issued allowing compulsory affiliation, which halted the construction of new warehouses. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it took off again. During the 19th century, the function of the parish warehouses changed somewhat. In 1813 it became possible to use the parish warehouses to finance poor relief and the like. In 1817 the parish council gained influence over the warehouses and from 1843 full control. In 1863 it was permitted to convert the grain funds into money funds.

Care of the Poor

The care of the poor was a concern of the parish for a long time. The parish was given the right to levy "municipal tax" with the 1811 decree and keeping of the poor. New Poor Laws came in the 19th century; 1847, 1853 and 1871. The 1847 Act stipulated that the Parish Committee (Sockennämnd), established in 1843, would be vouch for the care of the poor in the parish. After the Reformation in the 16th century, the state was formally responsible for the care of the poor. In practice, however, the parishes were still responsible for the poor. The traditional rural poor relief was based on “rotegång” which literally means “walk the parish districts”. Those of the destitute paupers who could not be placed in a poor house were referred to the rotegång. The Homesteads in rural parish were traditionally divided into districts called rote. A village rote consisted usually of six homesteads. Each rote was responsible for one pauper and the paupers were shifted between the homesteads according to a schedule: the pauper stayed in each homestead for one week at the time. They were expected to contribute with what they could in exchange for food, care and housing. According to the Poor Law of 1642, each parish had to set up a poorhouse. This requirement was reiterated in the 1686 Church Act, but it was not until the 18th century that poorhouses began to be established to some extent. In 1734, the Poor Law of 1642 became mandatory with the introduction of poorhouses. Despite this, poorhouses were not introduced everywhere, and even where they existed, “rotegång” and lodging with private individuals for a fee, often in the form of poorhouse auctions, played a greater role. The oldest poorhouses, also known as parish house, were located next to the church so that parishioners could bring gifts (alms) to the poor while visiting the church. The 1847 Poor Law Ordinance established the organization of the poor service. According to this, there was to be a poor-law board in each parish.

Rural Public Health Care

Public health care in rural areas, if there was such a thing back then, was managed locally in the parishes. In 1828, it was decreed that the parish church council would supervise the health services in the parish, including vaccinations and midwifery. During the cholera epidemic of 1831, it was decreed that a Public Health Committee (Hälsovårdsnämnd) should be established in each parish; the members were to be elected by the parish council, but the County Governor (Landshövding) was to appoint its chairman. These first municipal health committees did not even survive the cholera epidemic. In the Regulation on the Inhibition of Plagues of 1857, it was the parish committee (sockennämnden) that became responsible for health care, a responsibility that was taken over by the municipal committee (kommunalnämnden) in 1874. The rural midwife was appointed by the parish committee. Since the 18th century, their status was regulated by the Royal Midwifery Regulations. Midwives had to have an examination from an educational institution in Stockholm and be employed by a parish to practice their profession. According to the regulations of 1840, anyone applying for a free place at a midwifery school had to have a certificate from the parish that had undertaken to employ her by a resolution of the parish council. The regulations of 1856, which remained in force until the end of the century, stipulated that it was the task of the parish committee to propose to the parish council the conditions for the acceptance of a midwife.

Gällstämma (Pastorate Meetings)

Before 1862, the gällstämma was called a parish council, which was common to all the parishes belonging to the same pastorate (gäll). It was held at the mother church and dealt with matters affecting the whole pastorate. It was also called pastorate council (pastoratstämma).

Related Links

• The Socken, page 1 • Poor Relief in the past • History of the Swedish School System • Apprentices, Journeymen, Master Craftsmen - Swedish Craft Guilds • History of the Swedish Police • The History and Organization of Church of Sweden • Landownership - Farmers & Crofters • The Old Agricultural Society and its People • The subdivisions of Sweden into Lands, Provinces and Counties • The History of the Swedish Riksdag

Source References

• Sockenstugans politiska kultur. Lokal självstyrelse på 1800-talets landsbygd. Harald Gustafsson, Stadshistoriska Institutet, Studier i stads- och kommunalhistoria 6, 1989 • Herraväldet i helgedomen: Uppsala domkyrkas förvaltning cirka 1530–1860, Upplandsmuseets skriftserie Nr 5, Örjan Simonson/Upplandsmuseet, 2008 • Kommunernas historia (sockenstämman) Nordisk familjebok / 1800-talsutgåvan. 8. Kaffrer - Kristdala / 1115-1118 • Kommunernas historia (sid 672-676) i Nordisk familjebok (andra upplagan, 1911) • Sockenkyrkorna - Kulturarv och bebyggelsehistoria, Markus Dahlberg & Kristina Franzén, Riksantikvarieämbetet 2008 • Sockenbildningen i Sverige, doktorsavhandling, Stefan Brink 1990 • Wikipedia Top of Page