justitia et prudentia, kapitel 7 362 his doctoral dissertation, Justitia et Prudentia(named after the courts of appeal in Sweden in the late 17th century. The cases studied illustrate how the increasing demands beingmade on the legal infrastructure of the time had to contend with deficient medieval Swedish legislation. Several new legal institutions appeared during the 17th century, but in the absence of legislation, the courts of appeal found it necessary to resolve the new legal problems that arose through the jurisdiction of the courts themselves. In contrast to the lower courts, the courts of appeal, in general, had greater freedom to refer to and apply a wider variety of sources of law other than statutory law. This study investigates how these matters were dealt with, based on cases of disputed wills proven by the Svea Court of Appeal between 1640 and 1690. The first Royal Court of Appeal in Sweden, the Svea Court of Appeal, was established in Stockholm in 1614 and was initially located in the Royal Castle where the court worked closely with the Crown. Half of the judges appointed to the court were noblemen while the other half were commoners. Almost all of the judges had studied law at university in Sweden or abroad, or, in some cases, both. The Svea Court of Appeal was soon followed by three more courts of appeal: one for Finland located in Turku, one for Livonia and Ingria located in Tartu and one for the southern parts of Sweden located in Jönköping, but the Svea Court of Appeal remained the most prominent of them. Two types of cases could be brought before the courts of appeal: firstly, cases on appeal from the lower courts and secondly, cases in which the appeal court was the first instance. The latter consisted mainly of cases involving members of the nobility. The original intention was for the courts of appeal to be the final instance and effectiJustice and Prudence, two of the four cardinal virtues), investigates how matters relating to the law of wills were dealt with by T 7. Summary Justitia et Prudentia. Law Making through Legal Practice: the Svea Court of Appeal and cases of disputed wills 1640-1690 (Justitia et Prudentia. Rättsbildning genom rättstillämpning – Svea hovrätt och testamentsmålen 1640-1690)
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