141 revizion-kollegiia will be dealt with in the next two sections of this chapter. The transformation of the Swedish chamber of accounts {räknekammaren) into a collegially organized civil service organ took place during a period of Swedish history generally characterized by aristocratic reaction. The period in question spans the decades fromGustav II Adolf’s accession to the throne in 1611 until the political revolution of 1680, which is usually referred to as the great resumption of alienated crown estates {reduktionen)^^ The rules of procedure issued to the räknekammaren in 1618 established the collegial principle of decision-making. The governing board of the college was to consist of a treasurer and five councillors, who, “in a collegial manner, are to have inspection and disposition of all the crown’s revenues and rents.” * Decisions by the board required a quorum of three members, and when such decisions were arrived at they were to be written down and signed.^ The activities of the college included the collection of revenues, the disposition of funds, and the auditing of accounts, that is to say, all three of the functions which were later separated from one another and charged to the three mutually independent administrative organs, the kammarkollegium, the statskontoret, and the kammarrevisionen. The rules of procedure {instruktion) of 1618, drafted at the suggestion of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna and the Council of State, contained detailed regulations regarding the tasks and working hours of the college personnel, thus reflecting the council aristocracy’s concern for establishing clear and effective control over the operations of the college. The councillors on the board of the kamjnarkollegium complained about the strict service demands placed on them by the instruktiojj, but their complaints were ignored, and the staff of the räknekammaren was summoned to the court of appeals {Svea hovrätt) to swear their oaths of office in accordance with the formula prescribed by the instruktion}' The consolidation of the collegial fiscal administration was given legal confirmation by the Form of Government of 1634, which clearly defined ^ For the accession charter of 1611, see Carl Arvid Hessler, “Gustaf II Adolfs kungaförsäkran,” Scandia, 5 (1932), 167—204. See also Sven A. Nilsson, “Reaktionen mot systemskiftet 1611. En linje i Gustav II Adolfs politik,” Scandia, 20 (1950), 1—37, which shows that considerable opposition developed within gentry and non-noble circles against the aristocracy’s extension of its power, and that this opposition influenced governmental policy during the reign of Gustav II Adolf, especially through the person of Johan Skytte, one of the councillors of state. '' Instruktioner II, 26. ® Ibid., 28. ^ Nils Edén, Den svenska centralregeringens utveckling till kollegial organisation i början av sjuttonde århundradet {1602—1634) (Uppsala, 1902), 210.
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