The Act
The Act of Union of Security gave the king the sole power to declare war and make peace instead of sharing this power with the estates and the Privy Council. The estates would lose the ability to initiate legislation, however they would keep the ability to vote on new taxes.
Another provision was that the King was enabled to determine the number of Privy Councillors and this also enabled him to abolish the Council altogether as he determined the number of them to zero. The judicial branch of the Privy Council (in Swedish: Justitierevisionen) was then transferred to a newly established Supreme Court.
Most noble privileges were abolished with the Act, with most offices now available to all regardless of rank. It also made noble lands purchasable by anyone instead of just by nobles.
Read more about this topic: Union And Security Act
Famous quotes containing the word act:
“... whatever men do or know or experience can make sense only to the extent that it can be spoken about. There may be truths beyond speech, and they may be of great relevance to man in the singular, that is, to man in so far as he is not a political being, whatever else he may be. Men in the plural, that is, men in so far as they live and move and act in this world, can experience meaningfulness only because they can talk with and make sense to each other and to themselves.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell-and great was its fall!”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 7:26-27.
Jesus.