The dominion arose during the Livonian War, when the northern parts of present-day Estonia — Reval (Tallinn) and the counties of Harjumaa, Western Virumaa, Raplamaa and Järvamaa — submitted to the Swedish king in 1561, and Läänemaa in 1581. It is also colloquially known as the "good old Swedish times"[2] (Estonian: vana hea Rootsi aeg) by Estonians, but this expression was not used before the following Russian rule, in the beginning of which the situation of Estonian peasantry declined rapidly; to gain the support of the German Baltic nobility, Russia gave them more power over the peasantry.
Head of Dominion
Governors (1561–1674)
Lars Ivarsson Fleming, Friherre of Nynäs, from Sundholm (2 August 1561 – 27 February 1562)
^Michael Roberts (8 March 1984). The Swedish imperial experience 1560–1718. Cambridge University Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-521-27889-9. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
^Kelertas, Violeta (25 October 2006). Baltic Postcolonialism. Rodopi. ISBN 9789042019591. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2016 – via Google Books.
Sources
Tarkiainen, Kari; Tarkiainen, Ülle (2013). Provinsen bortom havet. Estlands svenska historia 1561–1710 (in Swedish). Atlantis. ISBN 978-91-7353-652-3.