heterritorial heyday of the Kingdom of Sweden – its so-called “era of great power”, – is, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea (i. e. the present day republics of Estonia and Latvia) still visible T in some military fortifications, as well as a few more representative buildings from the era. A more important role, however, is played by its immaterial visibility. There are still tales circulating about of the “golden”, or “old and good”, Swedish times.1 The fact that the period became known by this positive catchphrase in the subsequent centuries reflects the attempts on part of Swedish royalty to abolish or at least curtail the harsh burden of Prussian-style serfdom of the peasants, as well as the power of the Baltic nobility.2 As all Estonians and Latvians were, almost without an exception, serfs (and which they also remained for more than a century under the following Russian imperial rule), it is understandable why the Swedish rulers were perceived as one of the few allies that these people had had throughout their history. In the case of Estonians, there was also one very important institution to be taken into account. The University of Tartu, reestablished as the national university of Estonia with the Estonian teaching language in 1919, traces its history back to the Swedish-foundedAcademia Gustaviana of 1632, which had been established on the initiative of the governorgeneral Johan Skytte and with the approval of King Gustavus Adolphus. The court reform initiated by Skytte two years prior is, however, nowadays only known to professional historians and legal historians. The German historian Ralph Tuchtenhagen has written about the highest instithe swedish court and appeal system • The article is written with support of grants ETF 9209 from Estonian Research Foundation and IUT20-50 from Estonian Research Agency. 1 About these attempts, see also Loit, Aleksander 2002a passim. 2 About the alleviation of the feudal order particularly in the final decades of the Swedish era, together with references to his own earlier and more substantial writings, see Loit, Aleksander 2013 passim. 218 Introduction
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