Urban administration and the ”body corporate” in late medieval Stockholm

The result of this project will be a book on the “body politic” of Stockholm in the late Middle Ages. The study applies a holistic approach to the urban administration, studying all levels of power, from the king to the most common butcher in Stockholm. While most functions were connected to the town council, the burgher’s involvement in the administration and their relationship with the council is also analysed.

Many studies have examined the councils in various medieval cities from a power perspective. They have often been categorized as oligarchies, rule by a few men with capital. At the same time, studies show that cities continued through the Middle Ages to be characterized by corporatist ideals.

The burghers were perceived by others and by themselves as a group with special privileges and obligations as a group. This study nuances the picture for Stockholm and highlights the council's conditional power as well as the high level of activity of the burgher community in the town administration. I argue that Stockholm consistently operated on the corporatist principle, where the burghers saw themselves as responsible and involved in the town’s governance.

The governance in Stockholm should not be defined as for example oligarchy or timocracy but be understood as a "body corporate".

Stockholm is consistently compared to other towns and cities throughout the book, showing the many general similarities as well as highlighting some defining features of Stockholm.