the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 150 Erik Fleming (d. ca. 1548) and Hebla Sparre (d. ca. 1572): Joakim, Klas and Filippa Fleming. The court case of the year 1620 must first be contextualized with some analysis of what had happened half a century earlier. Of the three Fleming siblings, Joakim Fleming, a reckless soul, died in 1562, leaving a daughter, Anna (b. ca. 1562, d. before 1608). Anna then spent some time with her aunt Filippa, “behaving like a good poor niece is expected to,” until Filippa died in 1578. Klas Fleming (d. 1597), the most famous of the siblings, made a career in the high positions of the realm, was in the favor of several regents, and even gained the title of baron (Sw. friherre). He became known for his loyalty to the King, but also for his shameless pursuit of his own interests. His unscrupulous practices backfired in 1578, when his sister Filippa was preparing to meet her maker. On her deathbed, Filippa made a last will that favored Anna and disinherited Klas. In her will, Filippa appealed to the king to see that her brother Klas, the legal heir of half of her property, would be disinherited. She wanted her niece Anna (d. before 1608), daughter of her deceased brother Joakim, to have her part of the landed property (Anna was entitled to a brother’s share after her father), while the other part would go to the King. The movable goods should be given to the Filippa’s fiancé , Knut Jönsson, who was expected to distribute some of it to the faithful servants. Filippa claimed that Klas had lost his right to inheritance for several reasons. He had usurped her maternal inheritance and all movable goods left by their parents; moreover, Klas also owed her a considerable amount of money. However, Filippa argued that there was a reason that superceded all the others: Klas had totally neglected her during her long illness, violating the duties of a brother. For those reasons, she considered that the brother had forfeited his inheritance rights and thereby rejected any claims that the last will would be against the law. In addition, Filippa appealed to the King as the highest instance,423 hoping that he would reinforce the last will, referring to the contemporary judge’s rules (Sw. domarregler) in which it was stated that what the King justifiably wanted to be done should be 422 RA, SHA, E VI a 2aa, Liber causarum 27. 423 See also Trolle Önnerfors, Elsa 2010 p. 109.
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