Under 2023 uppmärksammar Sveriges Riksdag 500 år av riksdagshistoria, samt att det är 40 år sedan riksdagen flyttade tillbaka till husen på Helgeandsholmen efter tolv år i Kulturhuset vid Sergels Torg.  Därför släpper riksdagen nu boken Riksdagen i tid och rum – historien, husen och arbetsplatsen. I denna rikt illustrerade volym görs spännande nedslag i riksdagens historia. Människorna, husen – och den samtida politiken skildras på ett lättillgängligt sätt.  Läsaren tas med till olika nutida riksdagsmiljöer och får inblick i det maskineri som får dagens riksdag att fungera. Dessutom skildras riksdagsjournalisternas vardag och beslutet om att bygga om husen på Helgeandsholmen – trots att ett förslag om nybygge segrade i en arkitekttävling 1970. Därtill presenteras rika smakprov på den varierade konst som ryms såväl inne i riksdagens hus som på dess väggar.

In this chapter I account for the evolution of the Swedish political system during the early modern period up to the early 1720s, with special attention to the period 1650--1723. The period was characterized by a strong growth in state power, facilitated, I argue, by the rulers’ ability to play out Commoners and Nobility against each other. But the political revolution in the years 1718-1723 meant that royal absolutism was replaced with a constitutionalist system in which the Swedish Diet, the Riksdag, ruled supreme. I claim that the reason for this change was the fact that two of the Commoner estates, the Clergy and the Burghers defected to the constitutionalist position of the Nobility. Due to their ability to ally both with the Nobility on the one hand, and the Peasantry on the other, I will refer to them collectively as ‘the middle estates’. The third commoner estate, the Peasantry, remained largely royalist, and thus kept what I will here call the populist option open to the monarchs. The rulers of Sweden could thus choose between relying on support from commoners and lesser nobles on the one hand (the populist option), and on the aristocracy through opting for constitutionalist power-sharing on the other. The emergence of constitutionalism and greater political strength in the Commoner estates during this period is illustrated by cases from the entire period.

In this chapter I describe the evolution of the peasant estate of the Swedish Diet, the Riksdag, during the early modern era. First, the question of why a peasant estate arised in the Riksdag, when it is absent in virtually all other representative assemblies in premodern times. In doing so I compare Sweden with the neighbouring and culturally similar kingdom of Denmark, which briefly had peasant representation but then abolished it. In Sweden, but not in Denmark, a substantial portion of the peasantry, up to half of it, was independent of any feudal lord and dominated local politics in large parts of Sweden. There were also contingent reasons for the difference between the Scandinavian kingdoms. The contentious politics of the 1400’s and the 1500’s caused political actors to seek support from the peasants, during the former century as soldiers and during the latter as political supporters in the Riksdag. Above all, the kings sought support from the peasants against overmighty nobles. These developments had no parallel in Denmark.

Second, the development of the peasant estate during the period 1617-1718 is described. During this period Sweden emerged as a great power in Northern Europe. The estate of peasants was disadvantaged by its low status, the lack of organization and its representatives’ inexperience and lack of education. Nevertheless, it was instrumental in curbing the meteoric rise of noble power during this era. And the peasant representation was highly valued by the peasants because of the possibility of presenting grievances to the king.

Third, the continued evolution of the estate during the parliamentary rule of the period 1719-1772 is described. During this period, the Riksdag ruled supreme, and the political skills of the peasant representatives grew immensely. And the general peace and low taxes of the era contributed to the emergence of a rich, confident upper crust of peasant-farmers. However, they were still excluded from the most important political arena, the Secret Committee, which contributed to the widespread resentment of this system among the peasantry.

At last, I discuss the legacy of the peasant estate and its importance for the political culture of modern Sweden

In this chapter I analyze the process during which the Swedish early modern state abolished the feudal privileges of the Ängsö estate, situated in central Sweden. The privileges of the lords of Ängsö were very extensive by Swedish standards, and included judicial, clerical and fiscal advantages enjoyed by few, if any, other Swedish aristocrats. When these privileges were challenged by the Crown during the era of Caroline absolutism in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s the power relations changed dramatically on the estate. Even though the king’s officials were vested with great authority, they often needed help from subjects of Ängsö in order to claim the Crown’s rights. In some cases the confrontations were quite violent, as when the lord Sparre tried to evict the parson from the parish church of Ängsö. Nevertheless, his subjects supported their parson. The benefits for the subjects of the “conquest” seem to have been mixed, and many aspects of life on the estate stayed more or less the same.