from well-travelled – marianne vasara-aaltonen 329 The need for educated lawyers first arose in the sixteenth century, when King Gustav Vasa (r. 1521 –1560) saw the need to build the administration and use legal experts in establishing the new dynasty which, during the next century, led Sweden on the path towards becoming a great power in Europe. This could not have happened without establishing diplomatic relationships with neighbouring countries, a task which required legal expertise.963 The great administrative and judicial renewals of the early seventeenth century brought about a new need for trained lawyers and civil servants. Not only did Swedish diplomacy require them, the new courts of appeal and agencies of the central administration now required them as well. At the time the Svea Court of Appeal was founded, only one Swedish university was in operation: the University of Uppsala, which had been founded in 1477 and re-opened in 1593 after decades of stagnation. While the first chair in law was established in 1609 and the faculty of law with two professors, one for Swedish and one for Roman law, in the 1620s, it was still felt that the university could not yet provide enough trained, and practically-minded men for civil service. The educational reforms did not have an effect immediately. Moreover, the level of teaching in Uppsala was not on a par with the best academies of Europe. Those who had high ambitions often chose to study abroad.964 As there was a long tradition of study abroad it was apparent that they continued under these circumstances.965 The aristocracy was seen as having an “innate knowledge of the law” stemming from the tradition and practice of previous generations.966 This was not enough, however, and young noblemen went on their peregrinations in large numbers in the early seventeenth century. In part, this had to do with the ideal of a well-educated nobleman and in part with the need to keep up with the new rising lower nobility.967 Questions of educa963 Korpiola, Mia 2012 pp. 103-112. 964 Björne, Lars 1995 pp. 15-16; Lindroth, Sten 1975, pp. 58, 372; Gaunt, David 1975 pp. 31-39; Niléhn, Lars 1983b p. 112. 965 See Niléhn, Lars 1983a; Nuorteva, Jussi 1997 and specifically concerning law studies Korpiola, Mia 2009; Korpiola, Mia 2012. 966 Petrén, Sture 1964 p. 55. 967 See, e.g., Giese, Simone 2009; Englund, Peter 2002. A New Demand for Educated Officials
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