1558, the burghers and nobility of the Duchy of Estonia (almost all Germans) elected to place themselves under Swedish protection as the Livonian Confederation was falling apart. The nobility and burghers (no-one asked the Estonian population) probably thought Sweden was a better option than Russia or Poland-Lithuania, as Estonia was protestant (as Sweden).

The German burghers and nobility retained their rights and lands, and their parliament (where the Estonian peasants were not represented) continued to make the laws of the Duchy of Estonia.

However, the Swedish state also improved the life of the Estonian peasants - the requirement for official business to be conducted in German was abolished, permission to open Estonian-speaking schools were granted and the University of Tartu opened 1632.

Swedish priests translated the bible to Estonian and conducted a wide campaign to teach the Estonian populace to read (but not write, it was considered separate) dso they could read the bible and Luther's teachings.

Swedish priests and the Univerity of Tartu also wrote down much of the Estonian folklore and pre-christian history (as they could find).

The Swedish state also tried, but failed to push through an end to serfdom in the Estonian parliament. Instead the Swedish-controlled courts ended the landlords' right to extract pusnishment on their serfs and making Estonians and Germans equal in the eye of the law. The one week per year right for the serfs to change landlords were re-instated, forcing landlords to treat their serfs better, or face losing many of them during the right to move week.

Towards the end of the Swedish era in Estonia, the Swedish state seized much of the land owned by the nobility in the reductions, and could thus end serfdom de facto by ending it on state land (making the peasants tenants instead) - the nobility had to follow suit or face losing all of their serfs during the move week.

The previous time during the rule of the Livonian Confederation and the following Russian rule was worse for the Estonian peasants, and at some time during the Russian rule the saying vana hea Rootsi aeg (the goold old Swedish times) arose.

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