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

Bibliographic Data

ID7095352
AuthorsNina Javette Koefoed (0000-0002-2252-648X, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume44
Issue4
Pages430-453
Publication date2019-01-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueScandinavian Journal of History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0346-8755 • E-ISSN: 1502-7716
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03468755.2018.1562965
OpenAlexW2909423780
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited17

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. Another parallel 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

Political science · Historical Legal Studies and Society · History · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Religious Freedom and Discrimination

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