Changing patterns of hierarchy within Swedish stepfamilies in the late 1700s

Abstract

ABSTRACT Like many other West European countries during the early modern period, Swedish society was structured by a variety of hierarchies and, in this context, the principle of filial deference, or the obedience and recognition children – young or adult – were expected to show their parents, was more or less absolute. These ideas of family hierarchy also influenced marriage laws and the formal rules of who was allowed to marry whom. During the 1700s the number of applications to the Swedish Crown seeking permission to marry from couples who were related to each other in some way increased significantly. Often these requests concerned second marriages and possible constructions of stepfamilies. Through analyses of more than 1000 marriage applications to authorities in Sweden from the early 1700s to the early 1900s, this article will show how notions of the power relations within the families changed towards the end of the 1700s, affecting how different forbidden relationships were perceived and assessed by the authorities. Parental respect was challenged and the unconditional respect for the older generation started to diminish. This cultural shift also affected the possible constellations and structures of stepfamilies even though there had been no change of the formal laws.