‘Constitution’ in its present sense belongs to the history of modern law and polity, with the American and French revolutionary constitutions from the end of the eighteenth century as the decisive watersheds. The sedimentation of the new meaning of ‘constitution’ took time. After Russia had gained possession of Finland from Sweden, Alexander I received the estates in Borgå in 1809 and solemnly pledged to preserve the ‘constitution’ of the land. The Russian and Finnish sides could never come to an agreement on what Alexander meant by ‘constitution’.