<p>The thesis studies the county governors of northern Sweden during the period 1634–1769, altogether 41 men, and their part in the ongoing state formation process during the early modern period. The office of county governor was established in the constitution of 1634 and played an integral part in the modernisation of the local and regional administration of the Swedish realm. The governors’ primary tasks were to monitor the bailiffs and other civil servants and to protect the interests of the Crown. Another task was to maintain the communication between the King and the subjects. The Crown wished to increase its control over the political, economic, ideological and military spheres of society, in the pursuit of greater revenues and more conscripts to army, among other things. Special interest is paid to four different aspects of the governors and their work.</p><p>A study of the governors’ conception of their position and duties of the office shows that their valuation of the office varied with the individual office-holder’s personal status and situation. Many governors uttered sentiments reminiscent of a patrimonial administration, although the system de jure showed many bureaucratic characteristics.</p><p>At the county council, a former arena of regional self-government, the governors met and interacted with the subjects and announced decrees from the Crown. The county council was an important forum for regional administration and interaction, although it was not sanctioned in law, and therefore held at an ad hoc basis.</p><p>The daily work of the governors varied with the changing times and conditions of the region and the realm as a whole. In times of war, military matters were predominant in the governor’s correspondence with the King. But the daily administrative work on the regional and local level was never dominated by military issues. All different aspects of society had to be kept in working order, whether the realm was at war or not. The supplications that were sent from the subjects to the governor also always had a good chance of being granted. This was an important tool for legitimating the prevailing social order. The rulers of the realm thereby presented themselves as benign and ready to attend to the subjects’ needs.</p><p>A few governors of northern Sweden were subjected to the investigations of royal commissions, but none of the them were deposed by such commissions. The investigations were caused by complaints from other civil servants, military officers and also from the populace. The accusations pertained to abuse and neglect of office and violations of the rights of specific groups.</p>

The thesis studies the county governors of northern Sweden during the period 1634–1769, altogether 41 men, and their part in the ongoing state formation process during the early modern period. The office of county governor was established in the constitution of 1634 and played an integral part in the modernisation of the local and regional administration of the Swedish realm. The governors’ primary tasks were to monitor the bailiffs and other civil servants and to protect the interests of the Crown. Another task was to maintain the communication between the King and the subjects. The Crown wished to increase its control over the political, economic, ideological and military spheres of society, in the pursuit of greater revenues and more conscripts to army, among other things. Special interest is paid to four different aspects of the governors and their work. A study of the governors’ conception of their position and duties of the office shows that their valuation of the office varied with the individual office-holder’s personal status and situation. Many governors uttered sentiments reminiscent of a patrimonial administration, although the system de jure showed many bureaucratic characteristics. At the county council, a former arena of regional self-government, the governors met and interacted with the subjects and announced decrees from the Crown. The county council was an important forum for regional administration and interaction, although it was not sanctioned in law, and therefore held at an ad hoc basis. The daily work of the governors varied with the changing times and conditions of the region and the realm as a whole. In times of war, military matters were predominant in the governor’s correspondence with the King. But the daily administrative work on the regional and local level was never dominated by military issues. All different aspects of society had to be kept in working order, whether the realm was at war or not. The supplications that were sent from the subjects to the governor also always had a good chance of being granted. This was an important tool for legitimating the prevailing social order. The rulers of the realm thereby presented themselves as benign and ready to attend to the subjects’ needs. A few governors of northern Sweden were subjected to the investigations of royal commissions, but none of the them were deposed by such commissions. The investigations were caused by complaints from other civil servants, military officers and also from the populace. The accusations pertained to abuse and neglect of office and violations of the rights of specific groups.

Dissertation abstract This dissertation deals with the lowest segment of administration in Bohemia - regional offices - with respect to their personnel staffing in 1537-1848. The chronological limits of the work were determined by surviving archival sources of the central institutions and printed calenders and "schematizations" which enabled, with exceptions of a part of problematic years of the Thirty Years'War, to compile the line of the regional governors in this period. The first two chapters briefly discuss the development of the regions and regional governors'duties, and in this way delimit the frames of their activities in the society. The next two chapters form the basis of the study. They are focused on the participation of nobility in the administration of the regions in chronological order. Firstly, the share of the high nobility and particulary aristocracy within in holding the office is observed, dividing the period into three parts, first the period before the White Mountain Bettle, the second within the years 1631-1713 and last is limited by the years of the regions'reforms in 1714 and 1751. The reason for adopting the chronological division was the used method which enabled to specify the biggest land possesors in the regions after the White Mountain period and to clarify the involment of...