DE BYGGANDE KVINNORNA Adelskvinnors roll och inflytande i byggprocesser under 1600- och 1700-talet Linnea Wessberg Uppsats för

Sammanfattning: This thesis is about the use of history and on how female building developers during the early modern period in Sweden are highlighted in the broad historiography. The aim is to examine, from a micro-historical perspective, female building developer’s role and influence in building projects and their involvement in building processes during the 17th and 18th centuries. The microhistorical investigation is based on letters written by the Swedish noblewoman Christina Piper (1673–1752) to her employee, the director at the alum quarry in Andrarum, Ivar Ryting. The letters are examined based on three themes: building materials, her role as building developer, and finances. Christina Piper appears to be highly involved in decisions regarding the selection of employees, how the division of labor would take place and how the workers would be paid. The letters, combined with what has been written about her, paint the picture of Christina Piper as a committed and competent leader, with involvement in all decisions that were made from the start of the construction project to its completion. Based on the investigation of these themes, the essay's conclusion is that Christina Piper's room for action were largely set by her marital status and role in the household rather than by her gender. It was when she became a widow, and thus the head of the household, that she got legal opportunities to act as the leader of building projects.