the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 50 Once established, the nascent courts of appeal – in themselves successors of existing or planned courts of the earlier stages of the legal revolution – became important tools for furthering and accelerating it. As such, they became first and foremost means of strengthening the centralizing trends of Swedish justice and the judicial powers of the kings. Writing in1914in honour of the third centenary of the Court of Appeal, Ivar Afzelius described its establishment “as a major procedural reform, bigger than anything that has been instituted thereafter.”124 Two decades later, K. G. Westman attributed the establishment of the Court even more importance. He stated with conviction in 1934 that “[the] advent of the court of appeal in 1614 forms without any doubt one of the most important events in the history of Swedish law”.125 Even more cautious researchers would certainly not hesitate to admit that the adaptability and multifacetedness of the courts of appeal made the institution into a useful and enduring feature of Swedish (and Finnish) legal history that is now celebrating its fourth centennial. 124 Afzelius, Ivar 1914 p. 171. 125 Westman, Karl Gustaf 1934 p. 47: “Likväl utgör hovrättens tillkomst år 1614 utan minsta tvivel en av de viktigaste händelserna i den svenska rättens historia.”
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