The relationship of the crown and the nobility with the peasants in the 17th century Sweden (Finland) is addressed from the perspective of taxation. Around the middle of 17th century most of the land under the authority of the crown had been donated to the nobles, untill King Charles XI began to restitute these tax-payers to the crown in the 1680's. Taxation was based on a kind of social contract, combining the concept of the power state based on the subordination of its subject with the mutual interaction of the latter and those in power. The subjects also had recognized rights in society and they demanded that their superiors abide by the social contract. The peasants neither revolted openly nor did they submit. Instead, their means of securing their interests ranged from loyal allegiance to means of pressure bordering on open resistance. The major disadvantages posed by taxation for them could not, however, be rectified in this manner. The Great Northern War that broke out in 1700 proved to be a burden that was too heavy for Swedish society