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The medal is struck over the Diet held between 7 October 1682 and 3 January 1683 when the autocracy of King Karl XI was further extended.

On the obverse (front) we see the portrait of the king. On the reverse is a symbolic representation of the king and the Privy Council. A royal crown is placed above the four estates: the nobility - sword, shield and a laurel branch; the clergy - a Bible and a palm branch; the burghers - a mercury rod; and the peasants - a sheaf of grain and a scythe. The pillars of the kingdom are linked by a rough chain and the Latin text means ‘We are all united by a single bond’. Medal engraver: Anton Meybusch

When Charles XI came of age and was crowned, work resumed on the reduction, which meant that estates and farms that had distributed by the guardians to the nobility were withdrawn to the crown. The 1682 Riksdag extended the reduction by allowing the king to take back everything that had belonged to the crown, regardless of how or when it had been distributed. During Karl XI's reduction, the Crown took back around half of the Swedish nobility's land holdings. This strengthened the power and economy of the Crown.

Image rights: Helena Bonnevier, Ekonomiska museet - Kungliga myntkabinettet/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

Object number: 3102114

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