FEUDING AND PEACEMAKING AMONG PEASANTS IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DENMARK

This article discusses instances of feud-like behaviour, enmities and peacemaking among peasants in seventeenth-century Denmark. It provides examples of early modern peasants declaring enmities, exacting vengeance, committing various forms of feud-related violence and making private peace settlements, and discusses whether such practices may be seen in continuation of late medieval peasant feuds. It is concluded that while such behaviours and mentalities were indeed rooted in earlier conflict resolution paradigms, they need to be interpreted in the context of social change, not least state-making, pacification and criminalisation, in order to estimate their significance and avoid selective use of evidence.