This book explores the judicial treatment of suicides in early modern Sweden with a focus on
the criminal investigation and selective treatment of suicides in the lower courts in the
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Riikka Miettinen shows that reactions and attitudes
towards suicides varied considerably despite harsh condemnation by officials. The indictment
investigation and classification of suspected suicides and the mental state of a person
already deceased were challenging and depended on local co-operation and lay testimonies. Not
all suicides were considered alike a widespread view on the heinousness of suicide was not the
same as agreement about specific cases and did not result in uniform handling of them. The
social status and local ties of the deceased influenced the interpretations and responses at
the local lower courts and communities. Esteemed local community members had a better defence
and greater chance to escape the shameful penalties.
