the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 68 Two days later, the Court also wrote to Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, making their precarious situation more explicit. There has been no statute about the salary or upkeep of the staff while serving the Court of Appeal and residing at the Castle of Stockholm. Thus, the assessors and staff were ignorant of what they were entitled to. Compensation for travel expenses was also unclear. Moreover, the judges argued that it would be a great burden for those living in the provinces to travel at their own personal cost to and from Stockholm for the court sessions.164 In addition, although the Court of Appeal did not refer to this in their appeals to the king and chancellor, some of the assessors had been sent to the provinces between the law terms to participate in some lagman surveys in land disputes of noblemen. Others were also sent on a commission to hear and examine a particular court case outside the capital.165 Oxenstierna was asked to provide the judges with particular royal passports for official journeys, specifying how many horses and servants they were allowed to travel with, each according to their status (huar efter sitt stånd), and to be provisioned free of charge en route. Finally, the chancellor was asked to provide even the court’s notaries, scribes and their staff with sufficient upkeep and salary (tilbörligit oppehelle och wiss Löhn).166 A month later, Gustav II Adolf sent his answer to the court from the border town of Narva (in present-day Estonia), which served as his headquarters during his aggressive campaign against Russia in Ingria. In the letter, the King said that he had written to the Councillors of the Treasury (Wåre CammarRådh) to provide the judges, secretary and notaries with appropriate upkeep. In addition, he granted them the requested royal passports so that royal local officials would provide them with beer, food and fodder (öhl, maat och frij fordenskap) when they travelled to and from Stockholm for the law terms. The King hoped that they would not have to burden him further with their petitions (På det J icke måge hafwa eder där öfwer wijdere beswära).167 In the King’s letter to the Treasury of the same day, he 164 Memorandum [Memorial] to Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, 30 June 1614, RA, SHA, B I a:1, fols. 17v-18v. 165 E.g., RA, SHA, B I a:1, 5 July 1614, fols. 21r-21v; 10 July 1614, ibid., fols. 24v-25r. 166 Memorandum to Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, 30 June 1614, RA, SHA, B I a:1, fols. 17v-18v. 167 Letter from Gustav II Adolf to the Court of Appeal, 25 July 1614, RA, SHA, E I:1a 1b, fol. 69v; 25 July 1614, Free passport from Gustav II Adolf to the judges of the Court of Appeal (domhafwande), RA, SHA, E I:1a 1b, fol. 71r-71v. As a consequence of the com-
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