"Only to the benefit of some private persons": The concept of "private" in records from the Swedish estates assembly, 1521-1731

In this article I explore the different and changing meanings of the concept “privat” in records from the Swedish Riksdag (state assembly) from the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century. I analyze how the concept was used in different contexts, such as questions concerning e.g. private and public religious practices, relations between individuals and communities, and relations between households and the common good. More specifically I analyze the concept of private in relation to and, as was often the case, in opposition to public welfare and the common good; private in relation to secrecy; and, finally, the often ambiguous use of the word “privat” in religious contexts, where it could be used both to describe dangerous and potentially heretic practices, and as something desirable, and even necessary, for a good Christian.