ABSTRACT

This article analyses how written culture influenced the relationship between kings and subjects during the seventeenth century by examining the use of political oaths. The use of political oaths dwindled in Europe at this time and researchers have placed the polemic scholarly debate on oaths in England at the centre of change. This article challenges this singular narrative by focusing on the peripheral state of Sweden and shows how underlying societal changes contributed to undermine oath-swearing. It argues that the performative nature of oaths was decisive in their usage. Oaths were aimed at guaranteeing coherence between actions and statements. The speech act’s objective was to establish trust between king and subjects. As such, oaths were adapted to an oral culture characterised by presence and spoken promises. During the seventeenth century, the emerging literate culture promoted written statements that enabled control that became diametrically opposed to such trust. Consequently, oaths lost their performative force to instill trust.

摘要

本文通过考察政治誓言的使用，分析了书面文化如何影响 17 世纪国王与臣民之间的关系。此时，欧洲对政治誓言的使用减少了，研究人员将英格兰关于誓言的辩论性学术辩论置于变革的中心。本文通过关注瑞典的边缘国家来挑战这种单一的叙述，并展示潜在的社会变化如何导致破坏宣誓。它认为，誓言的表演性质对其使用起决定性作用。誓言旨在保证行动和声明之间的连贯性。言论法的目的是建立君臣之间的信任。因此，誓言适应了以存在和口头承诺为特征的口头文化。在十七世纪，新兴的识字文化促进了书面声明，从而实现了与这种信任截然相反的控制。因此，誓言失去了灌输信任的执行力。