the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 46 involving noblemen, and was institutionalized in the seventeenth century as Rudolf Kjellén has demonstrated.113 Among his efforts to reform the law and judiciary, King Charles IX also made the first attempt to establish a court of appeal (Hoffrettegång) in 1604. The first proposal of the king was commented on by the Council of the Realm as well as the members of the commission drafting the law proposal. One of the points disliked in the comments was the attempt to introduce judicial torture. While it disappeared from the revised version, the political trials of the time may have reduced the willingness of the nobility to accept even reforms of the king’s judicial power.114 It has been suggested that the failed royal proposal for an Ordinance on the Court of Appeal influenced the legal practice all the same.115 Charles IX was certainly not ignorant of the use of law as legitimating political necessities. Once he had become first thede facto and then the de iure ruler, he wanted to justify the political trials of his reign. Nevertheless, they do convey the impression that the government did their best to make them seem fair and impartial. Occasionally, the panel of judges was extremely numerous, like 274 men in 1605.116 Some later political trials and executions have also been recorded in the royal calendar, such as the trials (or executions) of the noblemen Hogenskild Bielke (1538 – 1605), Hans Hansson of Monikkala (ca. 1555 – 1605) and Arvid Eriksson [Stålarm] (1549 – 1620) for treason in 1605.117 The following year, treasonous “papists” faced their trial on 1-9 April 1606.118 The King asked the Estates and Council of the Realm to investigate the matter considering all the evidence and to give a just judgement without any consideration or fear of the King’s person. The King freed the judges from the oath of obedience for the duration of the trial, while the crown prosecutor (Rijckzens Fijskall) acted as accuser. The accused was given the right to recuse such judges he perceived to be partial against him. The whole panel of judges took the judge’s oath, swearing among other things to base their verdict on the law of Sweden and their free conscience according to their best judgement so 113 Kjellén, Rudolf 1895 esp. pp. 14-88. 114 Lagförslag i Carl den Niondes tid, ed. Nordström, pp. 551-568. 115 Setterkrans, Göran 1962 pp. 386-389. 116 Kjellén, Rudolf 1895 pp. 71-73. 117 E.g., Calendaria Caroli IX, ed. Lewenhaupt, p. 133; Anthoni, Eric 1952. 118 Calendaria Caroli IX, ed. Lewenhaupt, p. 141.
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