The Parish Clerk Election in Mynämäki in 1769 as an Expression of Peasants’ Attitudes Towards Elementary Instruction

Authors

• Lauri Viinikkala Turun yliopisto

Abstract

My article deals with peasants’ attitudes towards elementary instruction in the second half of the 18th century. It included the basic knowledge about Christianity and the ability to read. I study the case of the election of a parish clerk in Mynämäki in 1769 microhistorically and seek for clues to what the peasants and other groups in the church parish thought about the elementary instruction of children, which was one of the responsibilities of the parish clerk. I show that the taught skills were valued by all groups. On the other hand, the peasants preferred other ways of teaching than the parish clerk school, while the gentry, and possibly also the landless, considered it as the best method of elementary instruction. Reasons for the peasants’ opposition were complex and included fear for costs unnecessary for the group and possibly the aim to gain social control over the landless by restricting their ability to read.