On the Hunt for Sinners: How Lutherans Tried to Discipline Sexual Life in the Countryside in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries
摘要
This chapter examines the processes and changes in the disciplining of sexual life among the inhabitants of Lutheran villages in northern Poland from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The focus is put on the largest and most influential centre of Lutheranism in Polish territories—Gdańsk and its rural estates. Here, the process of disciplining sexual behaviour developed differently than in other Polish territories and Catholic regions. This was not only due to differences in doctrine and models of piety but also due to the distinct organisation of the Lutheran Church and the local social composition. The chapter investigates both the social norms that shaped everyday life in rural Lutheran settlements and the norms articulated and enforced by secular and ecclesiastical authorities. It also explores how parishioners responded to disciplinary policies. The analysis draws on a broad range of sources, including court records, church books, and legal statutes.