as predecessors of courts of appeal. King Gustav Vasa founded duchies in Sweden proper in the sixteenth century when he granted large areas to his sons as hereditary duchies. At least on paper, the dukes had extensive powers not much short of those of the king. The dukes could decide most things except for questions of peace and war.686 From the letters patent, we know that Duke Johan of Östergötland, for instance, had both spiritual and temporal jurisdiction in his duchy. The Duke had the right to appoint higher (lagman) and lower judges (häradshövding). As for the judicial hierarchy, it was stipulated that lower court decisions were to be appealed at the lawman’s courts. The decisions of the lawman’s court were then appealed at the ducal court, which was usually the last instance. Only cases involving blood punishments or worth at least 4000 marks could be put before the king. The Ordinance of Judicial Procedure of 1614 takes ducal courts for granted, but mentions nothing about their inner structure or working methods. Because of the lack of documentary evidence, little is known about the workings of ducal courts, but there is enough to be able say that they decided cases. The duchies were abolished in 1689, and it is reasonable to suppose that the ducal courts had ceased to function well before that, probably more or less as the royal courts of appeal assumed its business. What the existence of patrimonial courts meant in Sweden is then altogether another matter. The right to collect tax revenue was the most obvious benefit for the lord. In the Swedish system, the fine monies were divided into three lots: one for the victim (or his or her family), one for the judicial community (in charge of the practical arrangements involved in running the court), and one for the crown. Few lords presided over their courts in person.687 A lord was nevertheless entitled to choose his judge independently, whereas in regular courts the appointment came from the king. In practice, law-readers with little or no legal learning were appointed in both kinds of court to preside over the country courts,688 and the same law-readers often sat alternately both in crown courts and patrimonial courts.689 the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 250 686 Carlsson Sten – Rosén, Jerker 1983 pp. 337-338. 687 Swedlund, Robert 1936 p. 197. 688 On the practice in Jakob De la Gardie’s Barony of Kimito, see Gardberg, John 1935 pp. 265–268; also Jokipii Mauno 1960 p. 32. 689 Jokipii Mauno 1960 p. 53.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=