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Kungl. Maj
This is a study of the letters from His Majesty the King to the county governor of Gotland in 1735. In the Age of Liberty the king had limited power. Royal decisions were made with the Council of the Realm where the King only had the advantage of having two votes and a casting vote. Furthermore, the Council had to act according to the decisions of the Estates of Parliament, if at least three of the four Estates were in agreement. The duties of the county governor were set out in a detailed instruction of which the most recent version was issued in 1734. The county governors also received tasks in laws and royal ordinancesI have examined in full the thirty letters from the King that have been entered in the diary of the county secretariat of Gotland in 1735. My aim has been to examine the nature of the letters, what kind of action that was expected of the county governor and how the letters compared to the County Governor Instruction.Although the letters ostensibly came from the King, there are frequent reminders that the Council of the Realm and the Estates were those who had the real power. Most of the letters were circular letters. Presumably letters with the same contents were sent to all county governors. About a third of the letters had printed enclosures which the county governor was asked to make public. In some cases the Estates had first sent a letter to the King in Council asking them to make a certain decision. Only one of the letters was without doubt sent only the county governor in Gotland and this was also the only letter which had a reply sent back to the King. The county governor was expected to respond to the letters, which he usually did by sending information to one of the civil service departments, by communicating ordinances to the public, or by taking other measures.Two of the letters contained instructions that could be interpreted as additions to the County Governor Instruction. On the whole, the correspondence for the year of 1735 covered all the main parts of the county governor?s responsibilities.