the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 64 of the common people (Almoge) of Sweden proper during his absence. The King was worried about the “great errors and disorder” (stoor feel och oording) in the practice causing the turning away of people in dire need who were left “without consolation” (tröstlöös), while helping others who needed no relief. The problem was that people took their cases to the royal court directly without the necessary evidence. Even here, an instance order remedying the matter and resembling that of the judiciary was described. A previous investigation and testimonials (bewijs) at the local level of the circumstances was first required: inquiry at the local court, or in a case of urgency a parish meeting with the vicar and parishioners. Then the petitioner was to visit the governor (Ståthållare, or in his absence, the royal bailiff [Fougdte]) before taking the documentation to the Treasury. The authorization was justified by the necessity of the King travelling to Finland on the most urgent matters of state (Rijksens höghnödige wärff och ärender skuld), especially relating to relations with Russia.151 Gustav II Adolf ’s absence in 1614 was only one of the first of his long stays abroad for the sake of war during his reign. Some of the instructions the king issued to the Council of the Realm for his absence abroad in the 1620s betray the greatest anxieties and fears of the regime. The greatest imaginable recurrent menace was the enemy within. The Council of the Realm was to oversee the people of Sweden, and to ensure that the country remained calm, loyal and obedient to King and country so that there was no unrest or revolt. This fear was repeated systematically in the Council’s instructions year after year.152 Exterior enemies formed another major threat: Denmark, Russia, and especially Poland, harbouring Swedish opposition political exiles inDanzig. “Secret machinations” (hemlige practiker) of spies, orchestrated by Polish puppet masters, were constantly dreaded, as were overt military campaigns.153 151 Act of Authorization from Gustav II Adolf to the Councillors of the Treasury on the absence of the King, 8 Feb. 1614, Svenska riksdagsakter, 1. serien, vol. 2:1, ed. Ahnlund, pp. 486-487. 152 E.g., Instructions for the Council of the Realm during the king’s absence abroad (1621, 1625, 1626, 1627), Svenska riksrådets protokoll I, 1621–1629, ed. Kullberg, pp. iv, x-xi, xiiixiv, xvii-xviii, xx-xxi. 153 E.g., Instructions for the Council of the Realm during the king’s absence abroad (1621, 1622, 1625, 1626, 1627), Svenska riksrådets protokoll I, 1621–1629, ed. Kullberg, pp. iv, viiviii, xi, xiv, xxi.
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