The chapter presents new findings concerning the execution of burghers in the Stockholm Bloodbath. It argues that only men with assigned administrative responsibilities in Stockholm were executed. Half of the men were members of the town council and half were part of the general burgher community. In addition, there were often two men in the same office, for example as supervisors of one of the religious caring establishments in Stockholm, in which case only one was executed. This principle of selecting victims based on officeholding leads to the conclusion that personal relationships, ethnicity, or political allegiance had little to no relevance in the selection of burgers to be executed, which contradicts the depiction of the event in previous scholarship. The executions pose an empirical example of a collective punishment of a town by choosing a representative group of men held responisble for the government and administration of the town.  

The chapter presents new findings concerning the execution of burghers in the Stockholm Bloodbath. It argues that only men with assigned adm inistrative responsibilities in Stockholm were executed. Half of the m en were members of the town council and half represented the general b urgher community. In addition, there were often two men in the same of fice, for example as supervisors of one of the religious caring establ ishments in Stockholm, in which case only one was executed. This princ iple of selecting victims based on officeholding leads to the conclusi on that personal relationships, ethnicity, or political allegiance had little to no relevance in the selection of burghers to be executed, w hich contradicts the depiction of the event in previous scholarship. T he executions pose an empirical example of a collective punishment of a town by choosing a representative group of men held responsible for the government and administration of the town.

The article presents a study on the local ordinances of Stockholm, called bursprak,preserved from the second half of the fifteenth century. In this article, the contentsof the Stockholm ordinances have been categorised into regulations on the code ofconduct, town security, vagrant people, prostitutes and visitors from other towns, sani-tation and animal husbandry, fire protection, taxation, and regulations on trade andcrafts. The ordinances have been analysed as a part of the legal landscape of Stock-holm. Particularly, their relationship with the general Swedish Town Law demonstratesthat the ordinances functioned as supplementary regulations. The local ordinances inStockholm were read to the public twice a year, and their contents varied a bit betweensummer and winter. The town ordinances were subject to continuous revisions by thetown council, possibly in collaboration with a body of community representatives.A comparison has been made between the local ordinances of Stockholm and thosefrom fifteenth-century Riga, Wismar, Leba and Lübeck, which facilitated a discussionof similarities, differences and the dissemination of legal provisions across the Balticregion.

Reformationen var tidens stora religiösa förändring i Norden. Men övergången från en katolsk till en evengelisk-luthers kyrka väcker protester och osäkerhet både bland folket och överheten. Kan tecken i skyn ses som Guds vägledning i skiftet mellan den gamla och den nya ordningen.

The article analyses the legal position of foreign visitors in late medieval Stockholm through the prism of the concept of legal certainty, which requires public, explicit and clear regulations, an institutionalized jurisdiction and equal, just and impartial judgments in court. The article concludes that the authorities in Stockholm strove to create legal certainty for foreign guests and that the regulated relationship between local hosts and visiting guests both provided a control mechanism for the authorities and security for the guests.

Kometer, norrsken, jordbävningar, drakar, missbildningar och andra märkligheter ofta uppfattades de som så kallade järtecken som varslade om kommande olyckor.

I sin 400 sidor långa bok från 1500-talets andra hälft beskriver kyrkoherden Joen Petri Klint i ord och bild dessa bisarra tecken, deras uppkomst och betydelser. Han försöker finna sambandet mellan dem och efterföljande händelser såsom Johan III:s död och slaget vid Stångebro. Intresset för järtecken delade Klint med sin omvärld, inte minst med det lutherska prästerskapet i Europa. Naturfenomen betraktades av de flesta som en reaktion från Gud på människornas synder i värsta fall ett tecken på den annalkande apokalypsen.

I Järtecken analyserar historikern Sofia Gustafsson Klints tidigare förbisedda järteckenbok i ljuset av tidens lutherska föreställningsvärld. Varför skrev Klint boken och hur typiska var berättelserna i boken för sin tid?