Voices of the People

This research infrastructure project will develop a pioneering digital platform for systematic digitalization of the Danish collection of petitions from the long 18th-century. Petitions are letters of appeal from subjects to the king, expressing the perspectives of the subjects – the voices of the people. Under absolutism in Denmark (1660-1848), the institution of petitioning was formalized, and it was a legal right for subjects to hand in petitions to the king. This has resulted in a unique collection of petitions, covering all aspects of society with a variety of topics including marriage, the household, religion, justice, legislation, and business. This collection of petitions will be searchable and available for digital analysis in the open-source digital platform.