insignia of independence – martin sunnqvist 367 There was no right to appeal to the King, but he could grant a remedy if he so wished. Another thing is that a right to appeal (revision) was developed later. The iconography of the seal of the High Council has a form well-known in much later Swedish state heraldry, the three coronets of Sweden combined with a symbol of the relevant area of responsibility. In the 1560s, however, it is difficult to imagine other state authorities with such an emblem. On the other hand, Erik XIVordered the hundreds to have their own seals,1091 which were used by their law courts. These seals had mainly local symbols. It could thus be concluded that the seal of the High Council was supposed to represent a central and important authority but not be so closely associated with the king as to use the royal seal. These characteristics would also befit the Svea Court of Appeal very well. The important similarity between the the seals of the two courts is that they had their own, with symbols of justice. The fact that they did not use a variant of the royal seal indicates that its use was reserved for the King’s personal adjudication. Aconclusion may be that the Svea Court of Appeal could just as well have used the same seal as the High Council.1092 As we have seen, such was not the case. The new seal, and the differences between it and the seal of the High Council, thus require an explanation. The first difference is in the legend changing fromSigillum Supremorum IudicumRegis Sveciæ, the seal of the supreme judges of the king of Sweden, toSigillum Supremi in Regno Sveciæ Iudicii, seal of the supreme court in the Kingdom of Sweden. This indicates that the new court was of a more permanent nature than the High Council; it resided in Stockholm and the judges had permanent positions. A court of law replaced a group of judges. This might also relate to the destiny of the High Council. Since it had rapidly become dependent on ErikXIV, the new reference to the kingdom rather than the king in person makes sense. This could also explain the second difference, the lack of the royal crown in the seal of the Svea Court of Appeal.1093 1091 Lindgren, Uno 1951 p. 31. 1092 Cf. Edling, Nils 1935 p. 351 on the fact that each court had its own seal, whilst judgements before or between them were sealed with the personal seals of the judges. 1093 The lack might seem obvious, but that could be explained by today’s self-evident use of the royal crown above the shields of Swedish courts and state authorities. We could not have known that such a use would have been relevant in 1614 unless we had had the example from the seal of the High Council.
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