Among all the invasions and foreign governments, the time when Estonia was part of Sweden is the only one which is seen positively today, as a period when - in spite of the 30 Years' War - education and the arts were cultivated and developed.

Johan Skytte was governor general of Livonia under Gustavus Adolphus, having previously been the King's tutor: and in that capacity he was also the founder and first rector of Academia Gustaviana, the embryo Tartu University, and later he was rector of the 'mother' academy in Uppsala.