" Only the Husband Can Accuse the Wife of Adultery and She Him ": Prosecuting and Proving Adultery in Medieval Sweden

• Autores: Mia Korpiola
• Localización: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte.: Kanonistische Abteilung, ISSN 0323-4142, Vol. 131, 2014, págs. 223-261
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article investigates jurisdiction over adultery and the prosecution and proof of adultery especially in later-medieval Swedish law and practice. In the countryside, adultery mostly belonged to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and was dealt with by the rural deans, while in towns, adulterers were prosecuted in secular courts, a part of the fine going to the bishop. While canon law considered adultery a public crime that anyone could prosecute, Swedish law rejected such unlimited interference with the rights of private accusers/persons and the stability of the family.

    Swedish medieval laws restricted considerably the right of third persons (both officials and private persons) to accuse a married person of adultery without manifest evidence or prior accusation of tbe spouse. These limitations were also upheld in practice. Thus, in attempting to police adultery, town officials resorted to catching adulterers in the act, which both enabled prosecuting and provided proof at the same time.