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Erik Oxenstierna

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Erik Oxenstierna
Oxenstierna (circa 1650)
Lord High Chancellor of Sweden
In office
1654–1656
Preceded byAxel Oxenstierna
Succeeded byMagnus Gabriel De la Gardie
MonarchCharles X Gustav
Governor-General of Swedish Estonia
In office
1646–1653
Personal details
Born(1624-02-13)13 February 1624
Fiholm Castle, Södermanland County, Sweden
Died23 October 1656(1656-10-23) (aged 32)
SpouseElsa Elisabeth Brahe (m. 1648)
Children6
OccupationStatesman

Erik Axelsson Oxenstierna (13 February 1624 – 23 October 1656) was a Swedish statesman. A member of the Oxenstierna family, he was the son of Axel Oxenstierna and served as the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1654 until his death in 1656.

Early life and education

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Erik Axelsson Oxenstierna was born on 13 February 1624 at Fiholm Castle[1] as the third son of Axel Oxenstierna.[2] In March 1633,[3] he attended Uppsala University,[4] which was considered unusually young for the time.[5]

In 1643, as part of his preparation for public service, Oxenstierna travelled to the Dutch Republic. He studied Dutch language, politics, history, literature, and commerce in Amsterdam[6] before continuing to Leiden University,[7] where he focused on law and political theory. At Leiden, he attended lectures by jurist Arnold Vinnius and the historian Marcus Zuerius Boxhorn.[8] He also maintained contacts with key noble families, including the House of Orange and the House of Wittelsbach.[9] His education prepared him as a future statesman with an understanding of European governance.[10]

Political career

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Erik Oxenstierna's political career formally began in 1646, when he was appointed Governor-General of Swedish Estonia, headquartered in Reval, with guidance from his father.[11] As governor, Oxenstierna faced entrenched local resistance to centralisation. Estonia, like Livonia, remained legally and socially fragmented.[12] The province operated under multiple legal codes, the nobility controlled most of the land. The rural populations defended their historic privileges,[13] which caused church and educational reform to stall. Oxenstierna's governorship ended in 1653[14] and revealed the complexities of governing the empire's eastern territories and stressed the limits of centralised Swedish control in the Baltic.

In 1654, following the death of his father, the abdication of Queen Christina and the accession of King Charles X Gustav, Oxenstierna was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, succeeding his father in the kingdom's highest civil office.[15] In this role, he shared the management of state affairs, including supervision of the Chamber of Accounts, likely in connection with investigations involving Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie.[16]

Oxenstierna also inherited his father's political philosophies of moderation and responsible noble governance, a doctrine Axel Oxenstierna had promoted since 1632. After the death of King Gustavus Adolphus, Axel had worked to maintain balance between monarchy and nobility, warning the latter against defending indefensible political positions and abusing privileges.[17] Erik embraced these ideals, applying them in practice during the partial reduktion (reduction) of 1655,[18] a policy aimed at reclaiming lands and revenues from the nobility for the Crown. He effectively advocated for the king's cause before the council and nobility, managing to avoid conflict despite the issue's sensitivity.[19]

Personal life

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Erik Oxenstierna married Elsa Elisabeth Brahe in 1648[20] and had six children:

  • Anna Margareta (1650-1672), married Clas Åkesson Tott the Younger (1630-1674),
  • Christina (1651-1711), married Gabriel Turesson Oxenstierna
  • Axel (1652-1676),
  • Lisbeta (born 1653),
  • Elisabet (1654-1721), married Gustaf Adolf De la Gardie (1647-1695)
  • Carl Gustaf (1655-1686), married Ebba Hedwig De la Gardie (1659-1700).[21]

Oxenstierna died unexpectedly on 23 October 1656 at the age of 32.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Historisk tidskrift (in Swedish). Svenska historiska föreningen. 1890. p. 2. [Erik Oxenstierna föddes den 13 febr. 1624 på Fiholm i Södermanland] "Erik Oxenstierna was born on 13 Feb. 1624 at Fiholm in Södermanland."
  2. ^ "Erik Oxenstierna : biografisk studie". Internet Archive. 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-06-05. [Den tredje sonen, Erik] "the third son, Erik."
  3. ^ "Erik Oxenstierna : biografisk studie". Internet Archive. 1889. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-06-05. [inskrefs han i mars 1633] "he enrolled in March 1633."
  4. ^ Historisk tidskrift (in Swedish). Svenska historiska föreningen. 1890. p. 2. [1633 skickades Erik O. till Upsala, där han vistades i tio år] "in 1633 Erik O. was sent to Uppsala, where he stayed for ten years."
  5. ^ "Erik Oxenstierna : biografisk studie". Internet Archive. 1889. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-06-05. [hvilket äfven enligt sextonhundratalets bruk, kan anses ovanligt tidigt] "even according to the customs of the seventeenth century, can be considered unusually early."
  6. ^ Meyjes, G. H. M. Posthumus, ed. (1975). Leiden University in the seventeenth century: An exchange of learning. European History and Culture - Book Archive pre-2000. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 348. ISBN 978-90-04-61914-2. Erik Oxenstierna (1624-1654) spent a few months in Amsterdam in 1643, studying the language, government, history, literature and commerce of the Netherlands.
  7. ^ Meyjes, G. H. M. Posthumus, ed. (1975). Leiden University in the seventeenth century: An exchange of learning. European History and Culture - Book Archive pre-2000. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 348. ISBN 978-90-04-61914-2. After Christmas 1643 he moved to Leiden, intending to read law
  8. ^ Meyjes, G. H. M. Posthumus, ed. (1975). Leiden University in the seventeenth century: An exchange of learning. European History and Culture - Book Archive pre-2000. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 348. ISBN 978-90-04-61914-2. attended daily classes in the Corpus Juris of Arnold Vinnius, and also the lectures of Boxhornius.
  9. ^ Meyjes, G. H. M. Posthumus, ed. (1975). Leiden University in the seventeenth century: An exchange of learning. European History and Culture - Book Archive pre-2000. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 348. ISBN 978-90-04-61914-2. he kept up close contacts with the Stadholder Frederik Henry, John Casimir and their families.
  10. ^ Meyjes, G. H. M. Posthumus, ed. (1975). Leiden University in the seventeenth century: An exchange of learning. European History and Culture - Book Archive pre-2000. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 348. ISBN 978-90-04-61914-2. this period of study in Holland must have been of great benefit to the future Chancellor of Sweden.
  11. ^ Roberts, Michael (1992). The Swedish imperial experience: 1560 - 1718. The Wiles lectures (Repr ed.). Cambridge: Univ. Pr. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-521-27889-8. Erik Oxenstierna was sent to Reval as Governor-General in 1646
  12. ^ Roberts, Michael (1992). The Swedish imperial experience: 1560 - 1718. The Wiles lectures (Repr ed.). Cambridge: Univ. Pr. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-521-27889-8. uniformity made little progress in Livonia, and in Estonia came to a dead stop:
  13. ^ Kotilaine (2005). Russia's Foreign Trade and Economic Expansion in the Seventeenth Century: Windows on the World. The Northern World. Leiden Boston: BRILL. p. 157. ISBN 978-90-04-13896-4. Oxenstierna's liberalism continued to be threatened by protectionist impulses,
  14. ^ Historisk tidskrift (in Swedish). Svenska historiska föreningen. 1890. p. 52. [Erik Oxenstierna såsom Estlands guvernör 1646-1653] "Erik Oxenstierna as Governor of Estonia 1646-1653"
  15. ^ Roberts, Michael (1991). From Oxenstierna to Charles XII: four studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-521-52861-0. In the Council debates of December 1654 Erik Oxenstierna (now Chancellor, in succession to his father)
  16. ^ Fryxell, Anders (1850). Berättelser ur svenska historien ... (in Swedish). L.J. Hjerta. p. 14. [som han under sista månaderna haft sig anförtrodd uppsigt öfver räknekammaren; detta kanske i sammanhang med gref Magnii irakade onåd.] "he had been entrusted with the supervision of the Chamber of Accounts; this perhaps in connection with Count Magnii's disgrace."
  17. ^ Aston, Trevor (2013). Crisis in Europe 1560 - 1660 (Routledge Revivals). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-136-50523-2.
  18. ^ Aston, Trevor (2013). Crisis in Europe 1560 - 1660 (Routledge Revivals). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-136-50523-2. Erik Oxenstierna inherited this policy from his father, and made it the basis of the partial reduktion of 1655
  19. ^ Starbaeck, Carl Georg (1876). Berzättelser ur Swenska historien (in Swedish). Föreningens Boktr. p. 416. [ förmåga att både inom rådet och adeln föra konungens talan, utan att framkalla en brytning, som i ett så ömtåligt ämne war rätt swår att undwika] "he demonstrated his ability to represent the king's cause both within the council and the nobility, without provoking a conflict, which in such a delicate subject was quite difficult to avoid"
  20. ^ Starbaeck, Carl Georg (1876). Berzättelser ur Swenska historien (in Swedish). Föreningens Boktr. p. 53. [Elsa Elisabeth Brahe, enka efter rikskanslern Erik Oxenstierna] "Elsa Elisabeth Brahe, widow of Chancellor Erik Oxenstierna"
  21. ^ Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor 5 Lind af Hageby-von Porten. 1930. p. 608.
  22. ^ Luh, Jürgen (2020). Der Grosse Kurfürst: sein Leben neu betrachtet (1. Auflage ed.). München: Siedler. ISBN 978-3-641-21231-5. [wenn der schwedische Reichskanzler nicht am 23. Oktober 1656 neuen Stils überraschend verstorben wäre.] "if the Swedish Chancellor had not died unexpectedly on October 23, 1656."
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