The French historian Marc Bloch is considered to be one of the masters of medieval history, particularly his creation Feudal Society has been an essential piece of work for everyone who desires a deeper understanding of the general feudal society. Bloch gives his readers a vivid and living picture of a society so far beyond our present that it is sometimes hard to keep in mind that this society is part of our legacy. At the same time Bloch endows his readers with the special historical outlook he and his successors has developed, the history of the mentalities. By reaching further back in time, to the Roman and Germanic cultures and the manorial system, he proves his point that the feudal society was build on the legacy of older structures and institutions. In the coming study I will disentangle the early feudal structure of power as Bloch has described it in his Feudal Society. The essence of this power structure is to find in the very characteristic tie between two men, the vassalage. It is therefore the nature of vassalage, with the heavily armed horseman and the relations between the lord and his vassal, which is going to be of primary importance for my study. In my quest for the vassalage´s spirit, Bloch´s underlying structures mentioned above will play a vital part in the understanding of this power structure that dominated the feudal society. If the reader keep this in mind the study’s name, Feudalism as a Phenomenon – The Peculiar Power in the Early Feudal Society, becomes clear.

This essay examines cases of faux executions administered by the high court of Göta hovrätt in Sweden during the years of 1648-1653. The faux executions are examined as a form of mental torture, utilized to extract confessions from suspected criminals. The essay builds on previous research on subjects of the early modern Swedish justice system, the interaction between the Swedish justice system and its constituents, as well as research on the subject of torture in the context of the Swedish justice system. Furthermore, research on the subject of torture and justice systems in early modern Germany and England are used as points of comparison. The goal is to understand the place of faux executions in both judicial practice and the mental frameworks of early modern Swedes, the condemning as well as the condemned. To achieve this end, the essay employs the theories of history of mentalities as well as ideas from micro history.      The primary material used in this essay are the judgements of the high court of Göta hovrätt, from which all orders of faux executions were issued. Importance is given not only to the sentencing as such, but the meaning loaded into choices of individual words. Additionally, the original sentence from the relevant lower court is consulted when available. The aim is to amass as much text as possible with regards to each individual case in order to acquire as many details as possible about each case.      The essay concludes that the use of faux executions arose as a consequence of the Roman-canon legal theory of proof, as well as the prevalence of ideas about the connection between truthful confessions and pain or death. In addition, the essay concludes that the present mentalities offered a wide range of reactions to the faux executions to those subjected to it. Furthermore, with regards to faux executions used in cases of infanticide, a parallel is found between the lack of condemning evidence and the court's ambiguous use of language with regards to the constructed ideal of "the guilty mother." Also, the essay concludes that faux executions had an ambiguous relationship with the concept of poena extraordinaria present in judicial discourse and practice throughout continental Europe. With regards to conditions in early modern England, it is established that there was no place for the faux execution, as the use of torture in England was not a consequence of the legal theory of proof. Lastly, the essay concludes that while the preconditions for faux executions existed in Germany, a possible reason for it not being used was the decentralized nature of its justice system.

This essay explores the life of Peter Andersson Holmstedt, a farm-labourer from Öland, Sweden, in the early 19th century and why he conclusively chose to end his life. This essay utilises material from archives to fully represent his life as to portray his various choices and deeds, as well as provide an insight into his mentality. In order to realise this, the essay continuously utilises theoretical groundwork such as microhistory, history of mentality, hermeneutics and structure-agent relationships. Through the insight into Holmstedt’s life, there are links to the religious, familial and judicial systems that intertwine and affect his life to a broad extent; thus revealing whether he is autonomous or not; whether he acts out of necessity or by iniquity. This essay portrays the mind of Holmstedt, and of others in similar situations to a certain extent while giving insight into teaching microhistory with source-material from archives. However, and more importantly, this essay highlights the marginalised individual and gives insight into the ordinary, yet cruel life of the working man of the 19th century.

Såväl sociologer som etnologer, antropologer och historiker har sedan tio år pekat på en social förändring i västerlänningars identitet, värderingar och levnadsmönster de senaste decennierna. Det har beskrivits som en ”ekonomisering” av vardagslivet, att vi idag lever i en kultur som präglas av konsumism mer än något annat. Här utförs en intertextuell diskursanalys av innehåll från två av Sveriges största dagstidningar under åren 1972, 1986 och 2006, med syftet att spåra den förändrade mediala framställningen av den ekonomiska verkligheten för läsaren och dennes förhållande och relation gentemot samhället, ekonomin och sig själv som ekonomisk aktör. Med årens gång blir innehållet som handlar om hur individen skall/bör hantera sina pengar allt större, samtidigt som hur en talar om spelvinster och finansiella klipp blir närmast identiska. Det går att utläsa att en förändrad syn på vad rättvisa innebär motiverar en förändrad föreställning av hur relationen mellan individ, stat och samhälle skall se ut.

The main source material in this essay is a diary written by the Swedish nobleman Johan Hand in the year of 1620. Johan Hand had the opportunity to accompany the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus on a secret journey to Germany. The ultimate goal of this journey was the king's proposal to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg and the diary depicts these events. Using the principles of History of mentalities, the purpose of this study is to examine Johan Hand's and the travel companion's world of thought and view of society, their attitude towards the proposal and why the king chose to be anonymous during the trip. The analysis shows that there were probably both political and economic reasons for the king's anonymity. Furthermore, the noble group of travelers showed a strong belief in a society composed of four hierarchically separated estates – the nobility, the burghers, the peasantry and the clergy. They also expressed a typical of the time, noble attitude towards virtue and etiquette. Finally, Johan Hand's and especially the king's emotional expressions surrounding the proposal, show that it was not the emotionless, political affair that it first seemed to be.

With Gods help? A qualitative study of Carolean's perceptions about the Great Northern War and Charles XII The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what perceptions Charles XII’s Caroleans had about him, the Great Northern War and how these perceptions changed during the war. There is also an underlying ambition to show how these perceptions differ. The underlying issues for the thesis are thus: - What perceptions/opinions describes the Caroleans of Charles XII as a person and leader? - What perceptions are described about the war as a whole? - In what way do perceptions concerning loyalty and hopes change during the war?   The theoretical point of departure of the thesis is briefly the fatalistic beliefs and image of the King as the elect of God. A majority of the Swedish army was characterized by this approach and based their experiences and values on it to varying degrees.      The methodology in which the essay's research is based on are threefold and consists of narrative diary analysis, microhistory and mentality history.      The study is based on a source material composed of six diaries from six of Karl XII’s Caroleans with varying positions. Based on analyzes of these diaries, each individual’s experiences and perceptions have been distinguished and reported.      The conclusion of this result is that all of the mentioned Caroleans hulded a great respect for the king and saw him to varying degrees as a role model and the election of God. As the result shows they did not hold him personally responsible for the end of the war, likely due to the fatalistic beliefs that’s already mentioned.      Perceptions of the war in whole occur to some extent but not to the extent expected. From this point of view, the chosen Caroleans were fairly value-free. During the war, one can clearly see that perceptions and hopes changed. This change is strictly linked to the Swedes pros and cons in the war.

The purpose of the study is to understand whether, and if so why, the Swedish medical profession's position on the availability and shortage of doctors during the 1950s and 1960s could be interpreted as an expression of an overall common mentality within the medical profession. The start and end points of the study (1950 and 1970) cover the emergence of the Swedish welfare state. The emergence of the welfare state is the contextual background to this study and how that influenced the medical profession's social status and perception of the future role of their own profession. The source material for the study is mainly from the Swedish medical journal (Svenska Läkartidningen) and meeting minutes from various Swedish medical organisations, primarily the Swedish Medical Association (Sveriges Läkarförbund). Government public inquiries, government bills and the daily press have also been analysed. The analysis is based on three central proposals for action from the government to secure the future supply of doctors and stem the shortage of doctors. The proposals were the transfer of foreign doctors to Sweden, the expansion of education of doctors and the reorganisation of the Swedish health care system. The study shows that the argumentation from the Swedish medical profession against all proposals from the government consisted of several different rhetorical manoeuvres to exercise social closure. Another conclusion is that until the mid-1960s, both the Swedish Association of Young Doctors and the Swedish Medical Association acted mainly as professional associations, rather than as traditional trade unions regarding the expansion of the medical profession. From the mid-1960s, there are tendencies indicating that the association more began to resemble a traditional trade union. However, professional issues such as improvement in the profession, demands for exclusivity, social status and issues of legitimisation appear to have been more important throughout the period than more traditional trade union issues such as pay, employment conditions and the working environment. The professions' opposition to increasing the number of doctors, regardless of the method proposed by the government and responsible authorities, was characterised by a clear guild spirit. The study shows that the medical organisation arguments against the various proposals were driven by union strategies, attitudes, and norms and in some cases ideology. The mentality of medical professional representatives and individual doctors was influenced by the professional status of the medical profession with inherent norms and attitudes based on the doctors' self-perceived expertise and scientifically anchored professional identity. A central conclusion from the study is that the main rhetorical line of the professional representatives was that more doctors were neither desirable nor needed in the medical profession and therefore most of the arguments against an expanded medical profession were based on some form of protectionism. This was justified by the profession by using historical analogies and by conducting their own 'objective and scientific' investigations. A right-wing based criticism of society at the time and a fundamentally conservative view of the economy, the tax system and the expansion of the welfare state also served as rhetorical tools from the medical profession in the debate on the shortage of doctors.

This essay examines the final part of the life of former volunteer foreign legionary Sven Blom, and is part of a project which started in 2017 with my first essay: Red Trousers and Watery Mud. : Sven Blom’s Experience of the First World War: a Case-study, which explores the Swedish volunteer Sven Bloms’ experience of the First World War in the French foreign legion. My second essay: Dear Mr. Blom: Swedish Voices from the Western Front (2019), widens the scope to the other Swedish volunteers which served in the French foreign legion through their letters sent to Sven.In this final essay, I examine Sven Bloms life after the war through the source material in his archive. The overarching question posed to the material is: How does Sven Bloms thoughts, literary texts, letters and life compare and connect with the mentality and discourses present in France and Paris after Sven’s involvement in the First World War? Based on the use of Microhistorical theory, several parts of Sven’s life are examined in order to answer the large question through the small life that was Sven’s: How did he lead his life to his death in 1931, and what part did he play in the social circles which he took part in? How did he remember his fallen comrades and the war which claimed their lives? And how does his own writings, letters and diaries reflect on his view on life, and the war? Through the obituaries of Sven Blom, how is he remembered by his friends? And how does previously unexplored source material about Sven Bloms early life and demobilization help explain his agency?Through Sven Bloms eyes we are given a window into a postwar France and Paris torn by war and filled with a desire for life, having experienced want and death. Sven lived through these “Les années folles”, “the roaring twenties” of French society. Through Sven we are given access to the French process of healing, and through his experiences and thoughts, shared by many, he gives an account of a nation, a city and a people moving forward.