Privy Council of Sweden
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The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council (
The
The
Middle Ages
During the reign of Magnus III between 1275 and 1290 the meetings of the council became a permanent institution having the offices of Steward (Swedish: Riksdrots), Constable (Swedish: Riksmarsk) and Chancellor (Swedish: Rikskansler). Particularly from the reign of King Gustav Vasa, with his efforts of creating a centralised State, the members of the Council (Swedish: Riksråd) gradually became more of courtiers and state officials rather than the semi-autonomous warlords they once were.
Early modern Sweden
Following the change of policies upon the death of
From 1634, the council was headed by the five Great Officers of the Realm, each leading a branch of the state administration:
- Lord High Justiciar) (Swedish: Riksdrots)
- Lord High Constable (Swedish: Riksmarsk)
- Lord High Admiral (Swedish: Riksamiral)
- Lord High Chancellor (Swedish: Rikskansler)
- Lord High Treasurer (Swedish: Riksskattmästare)
Parliamentarism vs. absolute monarchy
The councillors had the highest position in the kingdom after the royal family and were styled "the King's cousins". From around 1672, the year of the coming of age of Charles XI, the council was assembled less and less frequently and eventually the king ruled autocratically, using an ad hoc group of trusted relations and advisors to discuss a particular matter or group of matters. The Scanian War (1674–1679) gave the king the opportunity to establish – with the approval of the Estates – an absolute Monarchy along the lines of Renaissance Absolutism. Council, Parliament, local government, legal system, Church of Sweden, all were brought within the power of the King and his secretaries.
This was the culmination of a long power-struggle between the kings and the aristocracy. The first of the Riksdag Acts ratifying the change of system was a declaration that the king was not bound by the 1634 constitution, which no king or queen had ever consented to freely. The councillors were now titles Royal Councillors, being appointed and dismissed at the king's pleasure.
In 1713, the son and successor of Charles XI, Charles XII, issued a new working order for the Chancellery to enable him to conduct government from the battle-field, but his sudden death at the siege of Fredricshald in Norway in 1718 provided the opportunity for the parliament (Riksdag of the Estates) to write a new constitution in 1719 and 1721, that gave Sweden half a century of first renewed conciliatory, and then parliamentary government.
The first Estate, the nobility, dominated both the parliament and the council. The council now had 16 members and was chaired by the King. Each councillor had one vote, while the king, as chairman, had two. The council was the government of the country, but also the supreme judicial authority.
From 1738 the Estates could remove councillors to create a majority corresponding to that of the Estates, the Estates also appointing the President of the Chancellery (the prime minister), along party lines. The
This
In 1789, by the
The loss of the
Developments in 1809 and beyond
On 6 June 1809, a new constitution was adopted, and while the King still appointed the members of the Council, once again called the Council of State, the legislative powers were once again shared with the Riksdag of the Estates.
The new Council had nine members; the leading members being the Minister of State for Justice (
In 1917, as the outcome of the 1914 Courtyard Crisis (Swedish: Borggårdskrisen), the parliamentary system was firmly established in Sweden, and the King could no longer independently appoint cabinet members without taking the will of the Riksdag into account.
List of Lords High Chancellor and Presidents of the Chancellery from the advent of Absolutism in 1680 to 1809
- Count Bengt Oxenstierna (June 1680 – 1685; acting) (1685 – 12 July 1702)
- Count Nils Gyldenstolpe (12 July 1702 – December 1705; acting) (December 1705 – 4 May 1709)
- Count Arvid Horn (21 March 1710 – 10 April 1719)
- Count Gustaf Cronhielm (15 May 1719 – 12 December 1719)
- Count Johan August Meijerfeldt(12 December 1719 – 22 April 1720; acting)
- Count Arvid Horn (22 April 1720 – 18 December 1738)
- Count Gustaf Bonde (18 December 1738 – 16 April 1739; acting)
- Count Carl Gyllenborg (16 April 1739 – 9 December 1746)
- Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (9 December 1746 – 5 December 1747; acting) (5 December 1747 – March 1752)
- Count Andreas Johan von Höpken (17 March 1752 – 5 February 1761)
- Count Claes Ekeblad (10 April 1761 – 12 August 1765)
- Count Carl Gustaf Löwenhielm (9 September 1765 – 7 March 1768)
- Baron Fredrik von Friesendorff (7 March 1768 – 30 May 1769; acting)
- Count Claes Ekeblad (30 May 1769 – 9 October 1771)
- Count Ulrik Scheffer (9 October 1771 – 22 April 1772; acting)
- Count Joachim von Düben(22 April 1772 – 22 August 1772)
- Count Ulrik Scheffer (23 August 1772 – 5 June 1783)
- Count Gustaf Philip Creutz (5 June 1783 – 30 October 1785)
- Baron Malte Ramel (30 October 1785 – May 1786)
- Baron Emanuel de Geer (May 1786 – 13 June 1787)
- Count Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna (May 1786 – 14 November 1789)
- Count Karl Wilhelm von Düben (1788 – 8 November 1790)
- Baron Evert Wilhelm Taube (29 March 1792 – 1792)
- Baron Fredrik Wilhelm von Ehrenheim (28 May 1801 – 28 March 1809)
- Count Lars von Engeström (May 1809 – June 1809)