Authorities who care: The Lutheran Doctrine of the Three Estates in Danish Legal Development from the Reformation to Absolutism

TY - JOUR

T1 - Authorities who care

T2 - The Lutheran Doctrine of the Three Estates in Danish Legal Development from the Reformation to Absolutism

AU - Koefoed, Nina Javette

PY - 2019/8/8

Y1 - 2019/8/8

N2 - This article argues that Luther’s doctrine of the three estates gradually came to structure Danish legislation following the Reformation and through this the way in which society and social order were imagined. An essential element of the doctrine of the three estates was its understanding of authority, drawing on Luther’s explanation of the fourth commandment as consisting of mutual obligations. Parallel with the integration of the three estates doctrine as structuring legislation, it was integrated in childhood teaching and taught ordinary people through the Catechism and the Table of Duties. A connected development was a shift in focus from the sixth to the fourth commandment as the basis for protecting marriage and the household through legislation. This change, the article argues, reflected the same understanding of authority and its obligation as the doctrine of the three estates.

AB - This article argues that Luther’s doctrine of the three estates gradually came to structure Danish legislation following the Reformation and through this the way in which society and social order were imagined. An essential element of the doctrine of the three estates was its understanding of authority, drawing on Luther’s explanation of the fourth commandment as consisting of mutual obligations. Parallel with the integration of the three estates doctrine as structuring legislation, it was integrated in childhood teaching and taught ordinary people through the Catechism and the Table of Duties. A connected development was a shift in focus from the sixth to the fourth commandment as the basis for protecting marriage and the household through legislation. This change, the article argues, reflected the same understanding of authority and its obligation as the doctrine of the three estates.

KW - Danish Code

KW - Lutheranism

KW - absolutism

KW - authority

KW - the Ten Commandments

KW - the doctrine of the three estates

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059734143&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/03468755.2018.1562965

DO - 10.1080/03468755.2018.1562965

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0346-8755

VL - 44

SP - 430

EP - 453

JO - Scandinavian Journal of History

JF - Scandinavian Journal of History

IS - 4

ER -