Replacing a Father: civilian aspects of the Swedish military, 1600–1800

Abstract

Early modern society was characterized by severe conflicts, but not all were caused by antagonistic relations between military (combatants) and civilian (noncombatants) persons. The civil–military relations were blurred. The separation and differentiation of civil and military functions in society was a process that occurred mainly in the 19th century. This process coincided with a conceptual change of the nature of gender: ‘civil’ became feminine and ‘military’ became masculine. Civil–military relations in early modern societies have recently been the focus of novel and productive research, and this article falls into that category. How civilian aspects of society were subordinated to military demands while still being a part of the military is examined in this article from a different angle; namely, to what extent the military was in charge of civilian aspects within its own organization. This is discussed from a gender perspective and scrutinized through the role of children in a series of issues connected with the creation of boundaries between civilian and military spheres in society. To put it simply, what did children do within the Swedish military in the 17th and 18th centuries? And who were the children? The answers are based on data from garrisons and the Swedish Ship’s Boys’ Corps, together with data from previous research on military history in Scandinavia. The article is part of a project that aims to make visible the role of children in the military prior to the era of child soldiers.

Keywords:

• civil
• military
• gender
• children
• boys

Notes

1 Thanks to the two anonymous reviewers, whose comments were very useful.

2 Howard, Invention of Peace.

3 Forssberg, Att hålla folket på gott humör.

4 Several projects on this theme were established around 1970. See an overview in Sjöberg, ‘Inledning’, 5–7.

5 Ibid.

6 Svenska Akademiens ordbok.

7 Charters, Rosenhaft, and Smith, ‘Introduction’, 11.

8 Wilson, Europe’s Tragedy, 832.

9 Wilson, “‘Total War”’, 32.

10 Citino, ‘Military Histories’.

11 Langer, Hortus bellicus, 97.

12 Parker, Military Revolution, 157.

13 Van Creveld, Supplying War, 6.

14 A brief survey in Sjöberg, ‘Stormaktstidens krig’, 207–9.

15 See, for instance, Goldstein, War and Gender.

16 Hacker, ‘Women and Military Institutions’.

17 Lynn, Women, Armies, and Warfare; and McCormack, ‘Militia in Georgian Satirical Prints’. On the historiography of the concept Military Revolution, see Black, Beyond the Military Revolution.

18 Sjöberg, Kvinnor i fält, 57–62.

19 Sjöberg, ‘Household and Homosociality’.

20 Lipman-Blumen, ‘Toward a Homosocial Theory’, 16.

21 See, for example, Tallberg, ‘Bonds of Burden and Bliss’.

22 Hacker, ‘From Military Revolution’.

23 Sjöberg, Kvinnor i fält, 145–7.

24 Data on the Ship’s Boys’ Corps is built on Sjöberg, ‘Hur pojkar’. For an exhaustive study on the British counterpart, see Pietsch, Real Jim Hawkins.

25 Sjöberg, ‘Hur pojkar’.

26 The Swedish National Archives (RA). Militaria M 1376.

27 Müllern, ‘Koloniförband’.

28 Ibid., 95–100.

29 Ibid., 99.

30 Norrie, ‘Militære børneskoler’, 35, 47.

31 Fagerlund, ‘Soldatsönerna’, 59, 71.

32 1645: ‘Rulla Opå Scholebarn wedh Nötheborg som hafwa sitt uppehelle af Cronones Profwiant’, 1678: ‘Rulla uppå knechtesöner’.

33 Müllern, ‘Koloniförband’, 100.

34 ‘och vilka ifrån 10 till femton år kommen är, då att ställas under regementena och få sina läningar’; ‘och kaptenerna vara skyldiga att hava akt och åhåga om barnen som själva soldaterna’. Quoted from Müllern, ‘Koloniförband’, 144, who reproduces the completed decree.

35 Müllern, ‘Koloniförband’, 144.

36 The Swedish Military Archives, (Krigsarkivet, KrA). Rolls 1675. Sweden, Finland Infantry, etc. Part 2.

37 Sjöberg, ‘Hur det civila’.

38 Müllern, ‘Koloniförband’, 125. ‘Wie nun ein Soldat der sein Eijdt, sein Weib undt Kindt, sein Hauswohnung undt Gardten verbunden und treu sein wirdt, dass er auch lieber sterbe alss sich dem Feind ergeben’.

39 RA. Livonica. Warfare II. ‘Efterskriven sjuklig och gamla korpral är till kronans tjänst alldeles oduglig befunnen, därför uppå Hans Kungl: Maj:ts nådiga behag och vidare ratification frih:r Generalguvernören efterlåtit om året fyra tunnor spannmål till uppehälle att utgivas av proviant Niels Svänson gamle korpral – 1’.

40 Burschel, Söldner im Nordwestdeutschland.

41 Nilsson, ‘Hemlandet och de stora krigen’.

42 Lindegren, ‘Men, Money and Means’.

43 Lindegren, ‘Stormaktsväldets baksida’.

44 Huhtamies, Knektar och bönder.

45 Ibid., 83.

46 Ibid., 15.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Ariès, Centuries of Childhood; and Hedenborg, Gåtfulla folket, 4–14, gives an overview of the debate. For another contribution to the debate, see Hanawalt, Growing up.

50 Wirilander, Officerskåren i Finland, 120, 146–7.

51 Asker, Officerarna, 110.

52 Anrep, Svenska adelns Ättar-taflor; RA. M 1840, Lists of Merits in the Navy (Flottans meritförteckningar).

53 Tiburtiuz, Historia, 62, 134.

54 Wernstedt, Svea Livgardes historia. Wernstedt states that data on age are missing for previous years.

55 Kuvaja, Försörjningen av en ockupationsarmé.

56 Sjöberg, ’Hur pojkar’.

57 Esseman, ‘Landkadetakademiet’, 12, 25, 38, appendix 2.

58 On early schools for children within the military, see Borgstrøm, ‘Lidt om børn og militær’, 19. On schooling and child support, see Lind, ‘Hær og uddannelse’, 20.

59 Petersen, Geworbne Krigskarle, 76–8.

60 Borgstrom, ‘Lidt om børn og militær’, 74.

61 Östlund, ‘Swedes in Barbary Captivity’.

62 Lewis, Race and Slavery.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Sjöberg

Maria Sjöberg is a professor of history at the Department for Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg. She has written several articles on gender and the military in early modern Sweden. Her latest books are Kvinnor i fält 1550–1850 (Women in Campaigns 1550–1850, Hedemora/Möklinta: Gidlunds 2008); Kritiska tankar om historia (Critical Thoughts on History, Lund: Studentlitteratur 2012).