The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council ( or : sometimes in ), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates () which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

. The 1634 Instrument of Government, Sweden's first written constitution in the modern sense, stipulated that the King must have a council, but he was free to choose whomever he might find suitable for the job, as long as they were of Swedish birth. At the introduction of absolutism, Charles XI had the equivalent organ named as Royal Council (). In the

Age of Liberty In Swedish history, the Age of Liberty () was a period that saw parliamentary governance, increasing civil rights, and the decline of the Swedish Empire that began with the adoption of the Instrument of Government in 1719 and ended with Gustav ...

, the medieval name was reused. After the bloodless revolution of

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

, the Council was abolished in 1789 by the Union and Security Act. The 1809 Instrument of Government, created a

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

, also known as the

King in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of app ...

() which became the constitutionally mandated cabinet where the King had to make all state decisions in the presence of his cabinet ministers (). Throughout the 19th century and reaching its culmination with the enactment of the

1974 Instrument of Government The Basic Laws of Sweden () are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: the Instrument of Governme ...

, this new Council gradually transformed into an

executive cabinet A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...

of ministers known as

The Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

(), chaired and formed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

who since 1975 is elected by the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

, and which governs the Realm independently of a purely ceremonial monarch.

Middle Ages

During the reign of

Magnus Ladulås Magnus Ladulås (, ) or Magnus Birgersson ( 1240 – 18 December 1290) was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290. He was a son of Birger Jarl, and became a king after a rebellion against his brother Valdemar, King of Sweden ...

between 1275 and 1290 the meetings of the council became a permanent institution having the offices of Steward (), Constable () and Chancellor (). Particularly from the reign of King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

, with his efforts of creating a centralised State, the members of the Council () gradually became more of

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

s and state

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

s rather than the semi-autonomous warlords they once were.

Early modern Sweden

Following the change of policies upon the death of

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

in Battle of Lützen (1632), action at Lützen in 1632, the 1634 Instrument of Government written by Chancellor

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of ...

laid the foundation for the administration of modern Sweden. For instance, the roots of the present-day administrative subdivision into

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

() is a legacy from this time. The Instrument established that the council was to be headed by the five Great Officers of the Realm, each leading a branch of the state administration: *

Lord High Steward The Lord High Steward is the first of the Great Officers of State in England, nominally ranking above the Lord Chancellor. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, and is now an ''ad hoc'' office that is primarily ceremonial and ...

(or Lord High Justiciar) (Swedish: ''riksdrots'') * Lord High Constable (Swedish: ''riksmarsk'') * Lord High Admiral (Swedish: ''riksamiral'') * Lord High Chancellor (Swedish: ''rikskansler'') *

Lord High Treasurer The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord H ...

(Swedish: ''riksskattmästare'') Initially, three of the positions were occupied by the members of the Oxenstierna family, with Axel Oxenstierna's brother Gabriel Oxenstierna as the High Justiciar and his cousin Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna as the High Treasurer. These positions were later abolished under Charles XI.

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 The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

(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

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 Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

, 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 Riksdag of the Estates (; informally ) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King. It was a Diet made up of the Fou ...

) to write a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

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 Freedom of the Press Act (1766) was also passed during this period. This

lasted until the bloodless coup d'état of king

in 1772, which restored royal sovereignty under the guise of the 1634 Instrument of Government. In 1789, by the Union and Security Act (), an amendment charter to the constitution, the exclusive right of the nobility to high offices was abolished and the Estates of the Burghers and the Peasants also received these privileges - a step towards modern democracy. Aristocratic control of state organs ceased, and the Privy Council was abolished, although the councillors retained their titles for life. The council's judicial function devolved on the King's Supreme Court () composed of an equal number of noble and non-noble members. In the 1789 constitutional amendment Gustav III, having desired to abolish the constitutional power of the Council (a pesky limitation to royal rule of the executive branch, in his view), had instead received the right to determine the number of councillors. He decided to have zero of them, instead he created the office of Rikets allmänna ärendens beredning, which was a predecessor to the

Developments in 1809 and beyond

The loss of the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

in 1809 prompted a military coup which removed

Gustav IV Adolf Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 180 ...

, replacing the Gustavian era with a new dynasty and a new constitution restoring initiative to the Estates. On 6 June 1809, a new

was adopted, and while the King still appointed the members of the Council, once again called the

, the legislative powers were once again shared with the

. The new Council had nine members; the leading members being the Minister of State for Justice () and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (). The departmental reform of 1840 created seven ministries headed by a minister, and in 1866 the four Estates were abolished and the new

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

was constituted. In 1917, as the outcome of the 1914 Courtyard Crisis (), the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

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 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 Count Arvid Bernhard Horn af Ekebyholm (6 April 166418 April 1742) was a Swedish general, diplomat and politician, a member of the noble Horn family. He served twice as president of the Privy Council Chancellery of Sweden, privy council chancel ...

(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

(22 April 1720 – 18 December 1738) * Count Gustaf Bonde (18 December 1738 – 16 April 1739; acting) * Count

Carl Gyllenborg Count Carl Gyllenborg (7 March 1679 – 9 December 1746) was a Swedish statesman and author. Biography He was born in Stockholm, the son of Count Jacob Gyllenborg (1648–1701). His father was a Member of Parliament and of the Royal Council, wh ...

(16 April 1739 – 9 December 1746) * Count

Carl Gustaf Tessin Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (5 September 1695 – 7 January 1770) was a Swedish Count and politician and son of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock. He was one of the most brilliant personages of his day, and the mo ...

(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 Count Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna (19 July 1750 – 29 July 1818) is considered one of the foremost Sweden, Swedish poets of the History of Sweden (1772–1809), Gustavian period. A prominent courtier during the reign of King Gustav III of Sweden, ...

(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)

References

{{Constitution of Europe 13th-century establishments in Sweden Political history of Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...