the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 170 the nobility in Sweden consisting of both “introduced” and “unintroduced” nobility, where the latter had not been formally introduced. However, introduction was not necessary for being considered noble as such, although only the introduced families were the ones who had a legally privileged position. The unintroduced nobility mainly consisted of families who lived in Sweden or in the Swedish provinces, but had been ennobled in a foreign country.459 The seventeenth century was period during which the Swedish nobility reached its zenith. There was massive state-building and societal change, both in Sweden and in Europe. In this process, the nobility gained even more power, both politically and economically. This development coincided with a period during which the number of noble families increased radically, especially during the reigns of Queen Christina (r. 1632 –1654), in the 1640s and 1650s and of Charles XI (r. 1660 – 1697) in the 1680s and 1690s. At this time, the number of aristocrats was not sufficient to satisfy the rapidly growing need for skilled men in the administration and the military. The problem was solved by increasing the pace of ennoblement of qualified commoners within the civil administration and the military services to meet the demands from the Crown.460 But the wholesale ennoblement also led to a division of this Estate into two parts: the higher nobility and the lesser nobility. The higher nobility was a small but wealthy titled group which possessed most of the land in the realm and held the highest positions. The higher nobility worked closely with the Crown within the Council of the Realm and had great political influence. The male members of the higher nobility often served as officers with the armed forces in continental Europe, which offered the opportunity to bring war booty back to Sweden. Many of them also received fiefs and land grants from the Crown and became immensely wealthy. About half of all the grants during the seventeenth century were given to members of the higher nobility who were Councillors of the Realm. The other half of the grants was given mainly to high-ranked civil servants and military officers.461 The lesser nobility, the lion’s share of the Estate, often lived under significantly more modest economic circumstances and only possessed smaller plots of land, if any at all. By 1650, 459 von Konow, Jan 2005 p. 100. 460 Eriksson, Bo 2011 p. 14; von Konow, Jan 2005, pp. 97, 112, 134 and 296. 461 Upton, Anthony F. 1995 p. 20.
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