the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 38 wager or appeal but rather an extraordinary measure based on the Godgiven royal duty as guarantor of justice for all people. Kingship was elective in Sweden until 1544, when it was made hereditary according to the principle of primogeniture within the House of Vasa. The medieval Council of the Realm (riksråd) consisted of temporal magnates and bishops, but this changed during the Reformation as the Council was laicized and manned by secular magnates and officials alone. After the Reformation, the king also became the supreme judge in all ecclesiastical affairs in addition to the secular ones. If there was a difficult case, he would hear and decide it and thereby lend his royal authority to justice. The ecclesiastical officials could also ask the king for advice and refer difficult or sensitive cases to him.80 The king could also specifically authorize other instances to handle hard cases. The privileges granted to the town of Stockholm are an example of this, probably reflecting the status of the capital as the major commercial port handling international trade and mercantile disputes. In 1436, the Council of the Realm granted Stockholm the right to decide “upon their oaths and according to their best conscience” all cases which were not “written and expressed in the law book.” Such cases decided by the mayor and town councillors were to be “as confirmed and well-founded as in other written law.”81 This privilege was confirmed by King Gustav (I) Vasa (r. 1523 – 1560) in 1529.82 In 1577, King JohnIII (r. 1568 – 1592) reasserted the confirmation of this principle, but with some specifications.When “foreign” (främmende) cases were heard, the panel of judges was to be constituted fifty-fifty of foreigners and Swedes “so that all the matters be more competently negotiated and so that the foreigners should not have cause to complain of any injustice.” Moreover, all cases so decided could always be “appealed” (appellation altidh må ske) to the king and his council in accordance with the law of Sweden.83 80 E.g., Korpiola, Mia 2014. 81 Stockholms stads privilegiebref 1423-1700, eds. Hildebrand and Bratt, Riksrådets privilegiebref, Stockholm 1 May 1436, p. 6: 17. “Item vare thet sva, at nokre rætte fore kome, som eigh finnas bescrifne ok uth trychte i laghbokinne, thöm mugha the rætta uppa thera edh effter thera bætsta samvit, oc skula stadhughe oc faste blifva som annor bescrifven lagh.” 82 Stockholms stads privilegiebref 1423-1700, eds. Hildebrand and Bratt, Gustaf I:s privilegiebref, Stockholm, 30 July 1529, p. 44: “16. Item ther noghot for retta kommer, som icke finnes uttrycht i laghen, ägha thå borgemestere och rådh ther om döma effter theris betsta samvet, och blifve thå then dom så fast som någhen annan.” 83 Stockholms stads privilegiebref 1423-1700, eds. Hildebrand and Bratt, Johan III:s stadgar,
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