The political culture of Scandinavia in the later middle ages formed a common heritage of Christian limited kingship based on the law. During the century following the Reformnation the ways part. In the Danish-Norwegian union political stability in the wake of a succesful Reformation settlement ushers in a conservative political culture that hampers the development of political philosophy and limits the reception of natural law, with the partial exception of the Sorø Academy in its heyday. Sweden, on the other hand, experiences political instabilty as well as a strong development of political philosophy and a sustained reception of natural law. These difference partly explain why Danish absolutism (introduced 1660) proved so very stable while Swedish absolutism (1680-1719) after a generation led to the reestablishment of (very) limited monarchy, the so called "age of freedom".