RS 12

Onthe Use of Natural Law cratic system, which was considerably enlarged and regulated from about 1620 on. The State Archives {Riksarkivet) was part of the Chancellery and at the side of the State Record-keeper (Riksarkivarien) was a historiographer. In the first instruction to the Chancellery, 1626, the task of historiographer was left to one of the secretaries. However, in the instruction of 1661, the first to be officially approved, it was given to a particular official, thereby following a tradition from the decades before this was officially confirmed.* Taking all this into account, it seems obvious that although this office, as all others, was a royal office, it was not more so than the others. Furthermore, it was a part of the central administration an not of the court. Thus the termState Historiographer is the most suitable. The instruction of 1661 states that the duty of the historiographer is to write about such topics that are chosen by the Chancellor and the Council of the Realm. Furthermore, he must have it censored before printing. The historiographer is granted admission to the archives upon the permission of the Chancellor. But the instruction says nothing about the way in which these topics were to be handled. The earlier instruction of 1626 is more explicit here. It states that nothing that is not true shall be written.^ It is quite evident that the Swedish State Historiographer was supposed to write contemporary or at least modern history. Earlier ages was the domain of the College of Antiquity. During the 17th century such studies flowered in Sweden. Rather extensive writings appeared, but there was also much controversy about the often far-fetched, if for Sweden flattering, theories. One important line of writing studied Swedish law. Its proponents took exception to the grand theories that writers in the antiquarian mould would put forward. The two foremost representatives of this line of writing were the Holstein-born professor of history in Uppsala, and later of Roman law and of ethics and politics, Johannes Loccenius, and the distinguished high official, Johan Stiernhöök, who had studied in Strassburg and had been professor at Uppsala also. 53 Historiography and law studies When a general view is taken of the historiography of the 17th century, it is possible to discern a number of different directions. The religious conflict gave rise to a large number of works. These used previously un- * C. G. Styffe, Samling af instructioner rörande den civila förvaltningen i Sverige och Finland I, Stockholm 1956. p 317 f. * ibid, p 317 f, 362 f.

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