Straffet offentligen ske på hans bild och efterliknelse

Abstract

Execution in effigy. Some remarks about a law proposal in Sweden 1696 In 1665, it was proposed by the Swedish Great Commission that a traitor who had managed to escape would be punished by the loss of honor and wealth, followed by a public execution in effigy. While the proposal never became law, it was unique in Swedish history. At no other time in Sweden has such a proposal been made. At the request of prosecutor 1756 to the Parliament’s special committee, a similar motion was made against traitors – this time based upon the Parliament’s outstanding jurisdiction. This time, as before, the proposal was not approved. Disregarding executions in effigy carried out under Danish law in former Danish territorial lands in southern Sweden, none have occurred in Sweden as far as is known, and the institution has never been part of Swedish law. In Europe, however, there is a long tradition of execution in effigy which has stretched in the present. Typically, a doll is hung or burned as part of a public demonstration in lieu of a topping-out party. Famous examples in Europe include the executions in effigy of Andreas Dudith-Sbardellati in 1568 in Rome under papal authority and of the Count Marquis de Sade and his valet in Aix-en-Provence in 1772 under the authority of a local court. Other sensational events were the executions in effigy of the noblemen Kaj Lykke in 1661 and Corfitz Ulfeldt in 1663 by the Danish king. The researcher Esther Cohen has linked the Medieval French custom of execution in effigy to the use of a royal funeral mask in 15 th century France. That custom, as Wolfgang Brückner has pointed out, came from England in 1422 and was based on old German customs concerning the after life. The common belief enabled a dead man to litigate at court. Despite a strong belief in specters, execution in effigy never took root in Sweden. However, there have been instances when not having a topping-out party has been problematic as well as some instances of other kinds of demonstration effigies.