During the early modern period, oak timber was one of the most critical resources needed for large scale maritime operations, and consequently became protected by heavy legislation, reserved for state matters, thus clashing with the interests of the peasantry. This essay seeks to study the oak tree as a means of conflict between peasantry and state during 1796-1819 with Ramdala parish, Blekinge county, Sweden as primary study object, and Östra District Courts sentences in cases concerning oak. The result shows a significant decline in usable oak timber for the navy between 1796-1819, and that several of the existing oak trees were damaged due to human impact. The results supports that the core of the conflict was due to that the oaks to an overwhelming extent grew in the farmers’ fields and therefore competed with the crops, lowering the return. It also shows that the law didn’t distinguish between the oaks’ age or quality when stipulating penalties for illegal damaging and felling, neither took into consideration the extent of the crime when imposing penalties for not being able to pay the fines. There is also evidence supporting that this system to some extent was exploited by the peasantry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-81614 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Holmesson, Samuel |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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