DISSERTATION / DOCTORAL THESIS Titel der Dissertation /Title of the Doctoral Thesis A Matter of Life and Death: Suicide in Early Modern Austria and Sweden (ca. 1650–1750) verfasst von / submitted by Mag. Mag. Evelyne Luef angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) Wien, 2016 / Vienna 2016 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 092 312 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt / Geschichte field of study as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: ao. Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Andrea Griesebner Content List of plates, figures, and tables ................................................................................................ 6 Preface ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... 11 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 13 Studying suicide from a historical perspective ....................................................................... 13 Aims and objectives ................................................................................................................... 19 Theoretical concepts and methodological approaches ......................................................... 22 Study areas and timeframe ........................................................................................................ 29 Structure of the study ................................................................................................................ 32 2. Legal parameters and fundamentals ..................................................................... 33 The legislation on suicide in early modern Austria and Sweden ......................................... 33 The secular legislation on suicide in early modern Austria .................................................. 35 Suicide legislation in the sixteenth century ....................................................................... 35 Suicide legislation in the seventeenth century .................................................................. 38 Suicide legislation in the eighteenth century and until its decriminalization ................ 41 The secular legislation on suicide in early modern Sweden ................................................. 43 Suicide legislation in Kristofers landslag ........................................................................... 44 Suicide legislation in the Law of 1734 and until its decriminalization .......................... 47 Synopsis.................................................................................................................................. 49 Between “self -murder” and voluntary death: some reflections on t erminology and definition .............................................................................................................................. 53 Considerations regarding the sources and the procedure following a suicide in early modern Austria and Sweden ........................................................................................... 63 Suicide in Swedish sources .................................................................................................. 64 Suicide before the häradsrätt and its documentation in the dombok: one among many…. th e case of Pär Eriksson (1686) ..................................................... 65 The Svea hovrätt and the sentence letters to the county governors ............................. 71 Materials from the justitierevision ...................................................................................... 73 Suicide in sources from Austria above and below the river Enns................................. 75 One among many… the c ase of Stephan Pühringer (1686)........................................... 79 Synopsis.................................................................................................................................. 86 3 3. About practicalities… Material aspects of suicide: body and e conomy ............... 88 The suicide corpse ..................................................................................................................... 88 Accident or self-inflicted death: a matter of interpretation ............................................ 89 The corpse: evidence, disgraceful object and obstacle in daily life ............................... 94 Finding the body ............................................................................................................. 95 The touching of the body .............................................................................................. 99 Awaiting the verdict ...................................................................................................... 107 Storing the body ............................................................................................................ 111 Punishing the body ............................................................................................................. 114 The expelled body .............................................................................................................. 122 Synopsis................................................................................................................................ 126 Economic aspects .................................................................................................................... 128 Confiscation ........................................................................................................................ 128 The procedural costs and other expenses ....................................................................... 140 Miscellaneous economic aspects: loss of income and the power of money .............. 145 What money can or cannot b uy… Two examples from Austria above the river Enns ........................................................ 151 4. …and the great b eyond: religion, soul and the prospect of salvation ................ 156 “Thou shalt not kill”: self -killing in the context of Catholicism and Lutheranism ........ 156 The religious grounds for the stigmatization and criminalization of suicide ............. 158 The confessional age and its consequences for the stance on suicide ........................ 162 The adaption of Lutheranism in Sweden ........................................................................ 164 The (re)organization of the Swedish church .................................................................. 166 The new belief calls for new regulations ......................................................................... 167 The Swedish church ordinance of 1571..................................................................... 167 The church law of 1686 ................................................................................................ 172 Piety and devotion to the Catholic Church in the Austrian archduchies ................... 175 On the soul and the prospects of salvation ......................................................................... 179 Priest s and pastors as ‘experts on the spiritual welfare’ ................................................ 180 Assessments regarding the prospects of salvation ......................................................... 183 The intermediate state: purgatory ..................................................................................... 190 Diabolic temptations and supernatural adversaries ....................................................... 198 5. Suicide attempts and attempts at suicide prevention ......................................... 206 Suicide attempts in legislation and practice .......................................................................... 206 The legal framework for suicide attempts and its implementation in early modern Sweden .................................................................................................................. 206 The legal framework for suicide attempt and its implementation in early modern Austria ................................................................................................................... 210 4 Synopsis................................................................................................................................ 214 Fighting demons, spirits and evil thoughts: attempts at suicide prevention and care ... 216 Spiritual afflictions and suicidal tendencies .................................................................... 217 Explaining the inexplicable: representations of mental afflictions and suicidal tendencies in the sources ................................................................................................... 220 Remedial measures ............................................................................................................. 221 Seeking the advice of the cleric ................................................................................... 222 Strengthening o ne’s personal belief ............................................................................ 226 Confession, absolution and holy communion .......................................................... 231