the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 272 had to grapple with severe poverty problems.752 As the centre of a Baltic Sea empire, Stockholm also provided ample opportunities for merchants. Sweden was also a copper kingdom, and the mining industry of Central Sweden was a boon to Stockholm, thanks to the short distance and mercantilist policies favouring the capital. The expansion of the mining industry demanded a lot of capital and connections with the credit networks of Western Europe.753 However, Stockholm was still a rather small city in comparison with centres of the world economy. The contrast between imperial ambitions and economic realities was reflected in the management of debtor-creditor relationships. The rapid growth of the capital and deepening international economic ties increased the pressure for legal reforms. The medieval distinction between the town law and land lawwas beginning to blur in some important legal institutions. Cases linked to mining interests often contributed to the remaking of the legal system. In the 1650s and early 1660s, the Svea Court of Appeal had to deal with many complicated cases linked to mining.754 In all likelihood, the foreign entrepreneurs who had migrated to Sweden were ready to use sophisticated European legal doctrine to protect their interests through mortgages and other legal instruments. Many questions concerning the order of mortgages and privileges in insolvency were raised in the 1664 case involving Stockholm councillor Peter Bohm. For adefinite solution, the case was referred to the monarch, and the regency government issued a resolution.755 In this case, it was established that a mortgage of rural land would have similar privilege to what had been traditional in cases governed by town law. Bohm’s estate included shares in factories and mines in the countryside.756 The terminology points to a proceeding triggered by competing claims of creditors (concursus creditorum) asserting their privileges (jus prælationis) in execution.757 Mortgages had to be recorded in the proper forum, meaning in all likelihood the ordinary courts for property disputes (forum 751 Råberg, Marianne 1987 pp. 120-128. 752 See the description of the living conditions of Finnish migrants in Stockholm in Tarkiainen, Kari 1990 pp. 100-106. 753 Müller, Sylvi 1998 pp. 48-53. 754 Benckert, Karl 1920 pp. 71-73. 755 Kongl. May:tz Resolution och Förklaring öfver Rådmannens i StockholmN. N. Creditorers ingifne Supplication, angående den begiärte æqualiteten vid Betalningen och Concursum Cræditorum, 5 Dec. 1664, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, p. 425. 756 Benckert, Karl 1920 pp. 73-78. 757 Cf. Jägerskiöld, Stig 1967b p. 309.
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