The Supreme Privy Council preferred the childless and widowed Duchess of Courland. They hoped that she would feel indebted to the nobles and remain a figurehead at best, and malleable at worst. To make sure of that, the Council convinced Anna to sign a declaration of "Conditions" to her accession, modeled after a Swedish precedent, which stated that Anna was to govern according to their counsel and was not permitted to declare war, call for peace, impose new taxes or spend the revenue of the state without their consent. She could not punish nobility without trial, could not make grants of estates or villages, could not appoint high officials, and could not promote anyone, whether foreign or Russian, to court offices without the consent of the council.