| dc.description.abstract | The system of administration of the villages of Ostrobothnia by village elders was based on a directive concerning village administration issued by the government in 1742. In Northern Ostrobothnia, village administration was implemented only to a limited extent. The eighteenth century may be considered the initial phase of the system of administration by elders, for it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that the system became established in Southern and Central Ostrobothnia. Then written ordinances were drawn up for most villages. They provided for an elder to govern the village, and he, together with two assistants appointed to help him, constituted the village judiciary. Supreme jurisdiction lay with the village meeting. The competence of the elder and his assistants covered the use of the village's common tilled land, fencing, ditches, roads, fire protection, and law and order. The system was initiated by the authorities and the parish convention. The disciplinary ordinances became extremely severe in most of Southern Ostrobothnia. For instance, there was a nightly curfew in many villages. On occasion assize courts dealt very severely with those who broke the peace. It is noticeable that after the tightening-up of discipline capital offences increased and they were highest in those areas where discipline was strictest. An exceptionally intolerant disciplinary system was probably one factor which contributed to the high rate of violence. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the system of village administration by elders gradually lost its original significance. | en |
