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The early modern consul was an important economic and diplomatic institution. By the end of the eighteenth century, the number of consuls had increased drastically. However, previous research has failed to appreciate how bilateral relations between states could have a significant impact on how one state’s consular service expanded. Appointments could get rejected or take a long time to secure, not least because the sender state wanted to avoid provoking tensions with the receiving state. In this article, the author explores these themes through the appointment of Swedish consuls in Spain in the eighteenth century. The article shows that the Spanish reticence to accept Swedish appointments had a severe effect on the Swedish consular service in Spain in terms of the speed and scope of its expansion. The Swedish diplomatic corps played a key role in trying to sway the Spanish authorities, and when that failed they circumvented the Spanish state’s rejections of consular appointments by authorizing agents. These agents must also be treated as part of the expansion of the early modern consular service. Their existence begs the question of what a consul really was and if we have underestimated the number of consuls in the eighteenth century.

he article examines the relationship between state policy and commercial initiatives within the institutions of the ancien régime, namely consuls. By exploring the case of the Swedish consulate in Naples in the mid eighteenth century, it addresses the role of private actors in the establishment of consulates, the Swedish authorities’ problems controlling the consular network from a distance, not least because of the specificity of the local operational contexts. The article challenges the standard interpretation of the Swedish consular service being subject to an effective government-led policy of controlling and promoting the expansion of the Swedish merchant marine in the Mediterranean. Further, it suggests considering consuls as ancien régime entrepreneurs of a particular type, who used their political resources to achieve both economic and symbolic outcomes, by ­taking a pragmatic, micro-­analytical approach to the relationship between institutions and the economy.

This article is about the creation of a Swedish network of consuls in Galicia during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Contrary to previous findings that show consuls with weak positions vis-à-vis the host authorities or the merchant community could do little to aid merchants and ships, the paper demonstrates that consuls could provide economic functions despite having no jurisdiction or official recognition from the receiving state. In contrast to those who view self-interest as something that hindered consuls from executing economic functions, the paper demonstrates a synergy between self-interest and public goods. The paper also shows a growth in Swedish trade with Galicia, but it is unclear if the network members facilitated this development. Lastly, the article argues that the creation of the Swedish consular service, contrary to previous research, cannot be seen as driven by the Swedish central authorities with a mercantilistic agenda in mind. Instead, the process was rather dynamic and involved various actors and agendas.

Interregional and global economic connections continued to grow in the eighteenth century, but we know less about consuls’ impact on commodity chains that were stretched thin across large distances. Using a microhistorical approach, we look at the activities of a Swedish consul in Cadiz, Hans Jacob Gahn, who supplied large amounts of copper sheets to the Spanish navy. It was Gahn’s position as an official representative, not merely his networks in Spain and Sweden, that was crucial for winning and executing the contract: his consular post enabled him to leverage his social, political, and financial capital to drastically alter trade flows for the years he held the contract. As contractors, consuls had a significant economic function for both their sending and receiving states.

The aim of this text is to problematize the role of the Riksdag in Swedish political history, circa 1600–1900, and its contribution to modern phenomena such as democracy and universal suffrage. First, the Riksdag representatives on several occasions strengthened the monarchy at the expense of the Riksdag and exchanged long-term institutional influence for gains regarding particular issues. At other times, they were noticeably passive and unable to restrain the monarchy. The Riksdag’s merits as a bastion for popular representation are questionable, and one might argue that between 1611 and 1809, the Riksdag was in a weak position vis-à-vis the king for 94 years (i.e., for almost half this period). However, this changed between 1809 and 1866, despite several similarities in the political framework, as well as political conditions for another shift to a strong monarchy and a weak or disbanded Riksdag. The last period of the old order of the four estates is thus key if we want to understand why the Riksdag finally achieved a strong position among other Swedish political arenas. This issue not only concerns historians, but also people interested in how and why representative assemblies become equally or more legitimate than authoritarian alternatives. As we live in a period in which democratic institutions and values are being questioned, it is important that we understand how they came to beembraced in the first place

Syftet med denna text är att problematisera riksdagens roll i svensk politisk historia, ca 1600–1900, och dess bidrag till utvecklingen mot demokrati och allmän rösträtt. För det första stärkte riksdagsrepresentanterna monarkin på riksdagens bekostnad vid flera tillfällen och bytte långsiktigt institutionellt inflytande mot vinster i enskilda sakfrågor. Vid andra tillfällen var de märkbart passiva och oförmögna att förhindra monarkin. Riksdagen utgjorde en tveksam och svag bastion för folkrepresentation och man kan hävda att riksdagen mellan 1611 och 1809 hade en svag ställning gentemot kungen i 94 år, nästan hälften av perioden. Detta förändrades dock mellan 1809 och 1866, trots att det fanns flera likheter i det politiska ramverket, samt politiska förutsättningar för ytterligare ett skifte till en stark monarki och en svag eller upplöst riksdag. Ståndsriksdagens sista 50 år utgör således en nyckelperiod om vi vill förstå varför riksdagen slutligen intog en stark ställning i den svenska politiska kulturen. Denna fråga berör inte bara historiker, utan också människor som är intresserade av hur och varför representativa församlingar blir lika eller mer legitima än auktoritära alternativ. Eftersom vi lever i en period där demokratiska institutioner och värderingar ifrågasätts är det viktigt att förstå hur de kom att omfamnas i första hand.