Urban administration and the ”body corporate” in late medieval Stockholm
The result of this project will be a book on the “body politic” of Stockholm in the late Middle Ages. The study applies a holistic approach to the urban administration, studying all levels of power, from the king to the most common butcher in Stockholm. While most functions were connected to the town council, the burgher’s involvement in the administration and their relationship with the council is also analysed.
Many studies have examined the councils in various medieval cities from a power perspective. They have often been categorized as oligarchies, rule by a few men with capital. At the same time, studies show that cities continued through the Middle Ages to be characterized by corporatist ideals. The burghers were perceived by others and by themselves as a group with special privileges and obligations as a group. This study nuances the picture for Stockholm and highlights the council's conditional power as well as the high level of activity of the burgher community in the town administration. I argue that Stockholm consistently operated on the corporatist principle, where the burghers saw themselves as responsible and involved in the town’s governance. The governance in Stockholm should not be defined as for example oligarchy or timocracy but be understood as a "body corporate".
Stockholm is consistently compared to other towns and cities throughout the book, showing the many general similarities as well as highlighting some defining features of Stockholm.
Many studies have examined the councils in various medieval cities from a power perspective. They have often been categorized as oligarchies, rule by a few men with capital. At the same time, studies show that cities continued through the Middle Ages to be characterized by corporatist ideals. The burghers were perceived by others and by themselves as a group with special privileges and obligations as a group. This study nuances the picture for Stockholm and highlights the council's conditional power as well as the high level of activity of the burgher community in the town administration. I argue that Stockholm consistently operated on the corporatist principle, where the burghers saw themselves as responsible and involved in the town’s governance. The governance in Stockholm should not be defined as for example oligarchy or timocracy but be understood as a "body corporate".
Stockholm is consistently compared to other towns and cities throughout the book, showing the many general similarities as well as highlighting some defining features of Stockholm.
Final report
This RJ-sabbatical has given me the opportunity to work om a monograph about the “body politic” of Stockholm in the late Middle Ages. The study applies a holistic approach to the urban administration, studying all levels of power, from the king to the most common butcher in Stockholm. While most functions were connected to the town council, the burgher’s involvement in the administration and their relationship with the council is also analysed. The study depicts, for the first time, the body politic of Stockholm in all of its parts. This holistic analysis is of great value to further research, understanding each part in relation to the whole body.
The work has become more extensive than anticipated, as during the project period I have restructured the book manuscript in order to better highlight the key results and conclusions. The study starts by delineating the contours of the body politic, by discussing the extent of town autonomy and the relationship to the town overlord. The next chapter depicts the body, by accounting for the administrative structure of Stockholm. The following chapters discusses the interactions within the body thematically, concerning for example politics, economy and law and justice.
Many studies have examined the councils in various medieval cities from a power perspective. They have often been categorized as oligarchies, rule by a few men with capital. At the same time, studies show that cities continued through the Middle Ages to be characterized by corporatist ideals. The burghers were perceived by others and by themselves as a group with special privileges and obligations as a group. This study nuances the picture for Stockholm and highlights the council's conditional power as well as the high level of activity of the burgher community in the town administration. I argue in the book that Stockholm consistently operated on the corporatist principle, where the burghers saw themselves as responsible and involved in the town’s governance. The governance in Stockholm should not be defined as for example oligarchy or timocracy but be understood as a "body corporate". Every burgher was responsible for the wellbeing of the town, including taking active part in the town administration. Burgher participation was high in every aspect of the administration. The town books of Stockholm repeatedly give evidence to a collaboration in town administration between the council and the town community as two separate entities. This division is central to the understanding of the administrative system, and further empirical analyses have been made of burgher representation during the sabbatical.
The book discusses the discrepancy between Stockholm and the description of diminishing influence of the burgher community in towns of the European Late Middle Ages. Central theoretical concepts in the study are body politic, body corporate, personal collective, community, and political legitimacy. Contact has been made with an English publisher, but a contract has not yet been signed.
During the six-month period of the project, I spent a month in the United Kingdom, as a visiting researcher at the University of York and as a participant in the Leeds International Medieval Congress. The stay was highly rewarding in several respects. For example, at York University I participated in the symposium ”Multilingual Lives: Histories of Translation and Language Encounter”, on the 26 June. The most valuable aspect of my stay in York was the long conversations with scholars working on research questions similar to my own, primarily the urban historian Eliza Hartrich. By comparing notes on different details of the medieval town administration across different geographical areas, my results have been nuanced and, regarding some themes, new perspectives have been added.
I also spent two weeks in Greifswald in Germany. The most valuable aspect of the stay was my visits to the Greifswald City Archives, where I gained access to the town’s unpublished medieval town books. In addition to making comparisons with the Stockholm town books, which is important for my book, I also outlined a possible future editorial project. At the Greifswald City Archives I also discovered interesting sources on the Bridgettine cult in Greifswald, which have not been noted in previous research and which may form the basis of a future article.
I greatly benefited from full access to the university libraries in both York and Greifswald, which offered resources different from those available at my regular workplace. A relatively substantial part of the project period was devoted to surveying the international state of research for the book.
My research results were presented at two major conferences during the half-year. In Leeds International Medieval Congress, 07 - 10 July 2025, I presented the paper “The Body Corporate of Medieval Stockholm: Town Rule and Administration as a Communal Responsibility” in the session “Exercising Power in Government: Administrating the Regional and Local”. In the 31st Congress of Nordic Historians, in Reykjavík, Iceland 13-15 August 2025, I presented a paper with the title “Corporatist rule of medieval Stockholm” in the session “Politics, Work and Culture in the Medieval Nordic Region and Beyond”. Both conferences provided me with new contacts and fruitful scholarly discussions. My research networks have also benefited my doctoral students, through conference participation and, for one of them, active involvement in a larger international network based in Germany.
The work has become more extensive than anticipated, as during the project period I have restructured the book manuscript in order to better highlight the key results and conclusions. The study starts by delineating the contours of the body politic, by discussing the extent of town autonomy and the relationship to the town overlord. The next chapter depicts the body, by accounting for the administrative structure of Stockholm. The following chapters discusses the interactions within the body thematically, concerning for example politics, economy and law and justice.
Many studies have examined the councils in various medieval cities from a power perspective. They have often been categorized as oligarchies, rule by a few men with capital. At the same time, studies show that cities continued through the Middle Ages to be characterized by corporatist ideals. The burghers were perceived by others and by themselves as a group with special privileges and obligations as a group. This study nuances the picture for Stockholm and highlights the council's conditional power as well as the high level of activity of the burgher community in the town administration. I argue in the book that Stockholm consistently operated on the corporatist principle, where the burghers saw themselves as responsible and involved in the town’s governance. The governance in Stockholm should not be defined as for example oligarchy or timocracy but be understood as a "body corporate". Every burgher was responsible for the wellbeing of the town, including taking active part in the town administration. Burgher participation was high in every aspect of the administration. The town books of Stockholm repeatedly give evidence to a collaboration in town administration between the council and the town community as two separate entities. This division is central to the understanding of the administrative system, and further empirical analyses have been made of burgher representation during the sabbatical.
The book discusses the discrepancy between Stockholm and the description of diminishing influence of the burgher community in towns of the European Late Middle Ages. Central theoretical concepts in the study are body politic, body corporate, personal collective, community, and political legitimacy. Contact has been made with an English publisher, but a contract has not yet been signed.
During the six-month period of the project, I spent a month in the United Kingdom, as a visiting researcher at the University of York and as a participant in the Leeds International Medieval Congress. The stay was highly rewarding in several respects. For example, at York University I participated in the symposium ”Multilingual Lives: Histories of Translation and Language Encounter”, on the 26 June. The most valuable aspect of my stay in York was the long conversations with scholars working on research questions similar to my own, primarily the urban historian Eliza Hartrich. By comparing notes on different details of the medieval town administration across different geographical areas, my results have been nuanced and, regarding some themes, new perspectives have been added.
I also spent two weeks in Greifswald in Germany. The most valuable aspect of the stay was my visits to the Greifswald City Archives, where I gained access to the town’s unpublished medieval town books. In addition to making comparisons with the Stockholm town books, which is important for my book, I also outlined a possible future editorial project. At the Greifswald City Archives I also discovered interesting sources on the Bridgettine cult in Greifswald, which have not been noted in previous research and which may form the basis of a future article.
I greatly benefited from full access to the university libraries in both York and Greifswald, which offered resources different from those available at my regular workplace. A relatively substantial part of the project period was devoted to surveying the international state of research for the book.
My research results were presented at two major conferences during the half-year. In Leeds International Medieval Congress, 07 - 10 July 2025, I presented the paper “The Body Corporate of Medieval Stockholm: Town Rule and Administration as a Communal Responsibility” in the session “Exercising Power in Government: Administrating the Regional and Local”. In the 31st Congress of Nordic Historians, in Reykjavík, Iceland 13-15 August 2025, I presented a paper with the title “Corporatist rule of medieval Stockholm” in the session “Politics, Work and Culture in the Medieval Nordic Region and Beyond”. Both conferences provided me with new contacts and fruitful scholarly discussions. My research networks have also benefited my doctoral students, through conference participation and, for one of them, active involvement in a larger international network based in Germany.