Swedish Constitution of 1634
The Swedish Constitution of 1634 ( Swedish 1634 års regeringsform ) was a fundamental constitutional document in Sweden from 1634 to 1772 . It was also in force in Finland until 1772 .
history
As early as 1617 a Reichstag order (Riksdagsordningen) had been issued, according to which the four estates met and decided separately from each other. Decisions required the approval of at least three estates. In 1622, new rules for the knight's house were issued, which strengthened the rights of the chamber of nobility. After King Gustav Adolf fell in 1632, his underage daughter Christina came to power under the tutelage of her mother Maria Eleonora. The real power lay with the Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna , who is considered to be the author of the Swedish Constitution of 1634. The document, which came into force on July 29, 1634, is considered by some researchers to be the “first constitutional document of our time”. The constitution of 1634 expanded the older three colleges - court court, chancellery and accounting chamber - to include the war council and the admiralty, which together formed the imperial council . Although later kings rejected the constitution and the Swedish Chamber of Estates fought against individual provisions, the Swedish constitution of 1634 remained a defining legal document for almost a century. On the diets of 1719 and 1720, the estates took advantage of the unclear succession to the throne following the death of Charles XII. in order to enforce a regulation that transferred the sole legislation to the Chamber of the States. The so-called period of freedom (frihetstid) , for which an estate parliamentarism had shaped and brought the nobility extensive privileges, ended with that of King Gustav III. enforced Swedish Constitution of 1772 . With the new, authoritarian constitution, King Gustav III secured himself. himself had a considerably greater influence on the fortunes of his country.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerhard Oestreich: Structural Problems of the Early Modern Age: Selected Articles , 1980, p. 238.
- ^ Marianne Wifstrand Schiebe: Annius von Viterbo and the Swedish Historiography of the 16th and 17th Centuries , Uppsala, 1992.
