from well-travelled – marianne vasara-aaltonen 333 Looking at some of the third class judges, it is clear that they too were at an advantage had they gained the trust of the King or Chancellor.983 One young man in the 1640s even complained that it was impossible to become auskultant without the help of a patron.984 An appointment to a court of appeal was not always a sign of climbing up the ladder, however; sometimes it was also used as a way to remove unwanted men from more prominent positions within the realm. Samuel Åkerhielm (1684 – 1768) was appointed president of the Turku Court of Appeal in 1728 as an attempt to remove him from Stockholm. After his studies in Turku, Uppsala and Oxford and with the help of his two brothers-in-law, Åkerhielm built a successful career in diplomacy, and soon found himself in the inner circle of King Charles XII (r. 1697 –1718). After the King’s death and the rise of his opponents, Åkerhielm was transferred from the Chancery to the Board of War (krigskollegiet). Although gaining King Fredrik I’s trust and being appointed State Secretary (statssekreterare) in 1723, he was still at odds with the Council of the Realm and with Chancery President Arvid Horn (1664 – 1742). In order to get him out of the way, he was finally sent over the Archipelago Sea to the Turku Court of Appeal as president. Despite the reasons for his appointment, he apparently did a good job as president of the court, and also remained active in politics.985 When the Vaasa Court of Appeal was founded in 1776, it too was not the most appealing place to work. It was far away from Stockholm and an appointment to its presidency has even been characterized as expulsion from the royal court. Not surprisingly, the presidents did not stay at the court for many years.986 Hans von Fersen, president in 1734, a former supporter of the so-called Holstein party,987 surprisingly grew close to King Fredrik I (r. 1720 –1751) 983 Hans Dober, for instance; see Petrén, Sture 1964 p. 65. 984 Lappalainen, Mirkka 2005 pp. 164-165. 985 Haggrén, Georg 2001, see http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/kb/artikkeli/2729 (last accessed on 5 July 2014). Another example of appointments being used as ways of removing unwanted men is that of Ernst Johan Creutz; for details, see Lappalainen, Mirkka 2005 pp. 166-172, 184-187. On the political climate of the Age of Liberty, see e.g., Karonen, Petri 2008 pp. 380-404. 986 Blomstedt, Yrjö 1976 pp. 34-35; Vepsä, Iisa 2009 p. 235. 987 The Holstein party came into being after King Charles XII’s death in 1718 and was effective in the 1720s. The party was worried about King Fredrik I’s politics, and its aim was to make the late King Charles XII’s nephew Karl Fredrik of Holstein-Gottorp
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