The Social Life of the Early Modern Protestant Clergy by Jacqueline Eales Beverly Tjerngren

Author:Jacqueline Eales, Beverly Tjerngren [Jacqueline Eales, Beverly Tjerngren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Scandinavia, British
ISBN: 9781786837165
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Published: 2021-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

A page in the account book of Gustaf Berg.

(Photo: Benny Jacobsson)

Gustaf Berg and His Account Book

Gustaf Berg was not the only Swedish pastor who kept a record of his private transactions. 150 years earlier, between 1623 and 1636, a rector in a Scanian parish noted his private dealings in a volume that otherwise was used for the church accounts. Hanssen used these accounts, which include more than 1600 entries, to map the economic network of the rector and to explore the characteristics of his economic dealings. He found, for example, that two-thirds of the transactions did not involve any money and that credit – both as explicit loans and as delayed payments – was crucial.35

Private accounts of this sort are rare, but do exist. An exceptional case, in Sweden at least, is the archive left by three generations of rectors who lived and served in different parishes on the isle of Gotland.36 Gustaf Berg belonged to the second generation. He was born the son of a rector in 1727. When his older stepbrother was appointed rector in the neighbouring parish of Dalhem in 1753, Berg followed him there to serve as his assistant. A few years later Berg was appointed chaplain in Dalhem. In 1771, at the age of forty-four, he was promoted to rector in the parish of Martebo. Berg stayed and served in Martebo until his death in 1798.37

Berg died a relatively wealthy man.38 The sheer number of objects listed in his probate inventory makes this evident. Among his possession were, for examples, fifty-two silver spoons in addition to twenty-two other silver objects, three mirrors, eleven pairs of linen curtains, twelve horses, eight oxen and eighteen cows.39 There were twelve beds in the rectory, which were probably needed as the size of the household size oscillated between twelve and sixteen people.40 Apart from the glebe, he and his wife owned a freehold farm.41

Berg started on his account book in 1768 and kept it for thirty years until his death. The first entry on the first page reads:

1768 Jan 9. Johan Sysne received ¾ barrel of pure barley at 4 daler 16 öre. So now he owes me 24 öre. Vid. [see] 1767 Jan 14 & Sept 4. Vid. August 31.42

The entry immediately shows a number of things. First, it was the continuation of an older account book as it referred to notations from the previous year. Second, the transaction with Johan Sysne, a peasant who lived twenty-five kilometres from Dalhem, was part of a long-term credit relationship. Third, even if everything was given a monetary value, it was not necessarily – in fact, it seldom was – ready cash that changed hands.43 When the debt was cleared in August, Berg received fish from Johan Sysne.44

Based on Berg’s entries, the following sections examine the character of his connections. After a general overview of the network, pointing to three different kinds of economic relationships, I look more deeply into the nature of the credit relations and discuss their impact on the relationship between pastor and parishioners.

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