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In this article Anthony Upton examines the relations between Charles XI of Sweden, who was systematically attempting to extend and justify his absolute powers after 1680, and the Swedish Estates. It is often assumed that in early modern Europe the relations of absolute monarchs with their representative assemblies were antagonistic and constituted a power struggle over the basis of sovereign power in society. The article suggests that the Swedish experience did not conform to this pattern, but that the king had little difficulty in securing the endorsement of his Estates for his claims to authority, apparently without resort to force or intimidation on any significant scale. It then suggests ways in which contemporary mentalities, and the specific situation of Sweden in this period, combined to produce this outcome.
