The history of the Swedish universities and their roots in various traditions are traced. Attention is directed to the historico-sociological theory concerning the development and transformation of the Swedish universities from a traditional cultural institution to a rational educational institution. Six themes are covered: a general historical treatment of the economic and political structure of society and educational ideologies and reforms; decision-making organization (i.e., the formal machinery of decision-making); the organization of university studies; cognitive content, described in terms of the cognitive typology derived from Habermas; functions of the universities and their relations to the surrounding community; and the cultivation-education dimension, or aspects of rationalization of the educational transformation. In considering the transformation of the universities from the 12th century to the 1870s, three chronological periods are addressed: the medieval universities, the English and German university traditions from 1500 to 1900, and the Swedish universities from 1477 until the 1870s. Each of these sections is considered in relation to the six themes. Among the areas pertaining to the transformation of the universities from the 1870s to the 1970s are the following: the background to the expansion and transformation of the education system; the nature of the decision-making bodies; changes in the system of degrees and in university teaching; and the organizational development of research and research training in relation to degree studies. (SW)