The Swedish statesman Count Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (1583-1654) was a major architect of his country's brief rise to greatness among the powers of 17th-century Europe.

Axel Oxenstierna was born at Uppsala on June 16, 1583. His was among the most influential families of the Swedish nobility. His social background, as well as a quick intelligence honed by education in German universities, enabled Oxenstierna to enter top government circles at an early age. He received his first appointment in 1605; by the decade's end he was the leader of the nobility in the Royal Council.

As in other states of eastern and central Europe, the relative weakness of the local bourgeoisie had enhanced the standing of the Swedish nobility. This enabled the aristocracy to wrest concessions from the monarchy, the better to be able to exploit the peasantry. Nevertheless, a dispute within the reigning Vasa dynasty during the 1590s had split the nobility along religious lines, thus shifting the balance of forces back in the King's favor.

King Sigismund Vasa (III), a Catholic who had also been elected King of Poland, tried to bring Lutheran Sweden back into the Roman fold. The result was a coup (1598) which put his uncle into power as Charles IX and led to a purge of the aristocratic minority loyal to Sigismund. Such a purge could only strengthen the incoming King. However, Charles IX and led to contend with Sweden's relatively weak power position with respect to other Baltic states, especially Denmark. Too weak to challenge Denmark's hold over the Baltic Sound (and thus over revenues from the wealthy Baltic commerce), he attacked Muscovy. He was in Moscow in 1610 and was planning to add the Czar's domains to his own, when death cut short further expansion.

His youthful heir, Gustavus Adolphus (Gustavus II), now had to face the power of a reunited nobility under Oxenstierna's leadership. A first round of concessions was granted in the charter of 1611; in 1612 Oxenstierna was made the King's chancellor, and a noble monopoly of higher state offices was secured by the formal coronation oath of 1617. Yet, for all this, Sweden did not suffer the fate of Poland and other countries where the nobility ran unchecked. The chancellor and the king found it more convenient to collaborate than quarrel. The pressure to bolster Sweden's security by territorial expansion and to augment its wealth by exploiting its mineral resources and metallurgical industries (chiefly gun manufactures) made for sufficient cooperation among the country's leaders to thrust Sweden dramatically on the stage of European Great Power politics.

At home, succeeding years brought administrative measures similar to those applied by centralizing monarchies to the West. Central and local government, the Estates (Riksdag), and the judiciary were all affected. Oxenstierna played a key role in all decisions taken. Particularly significant was his reorganization of the nobility itself. By the Riddarhusordning of 1626 it was restructured according to criteria for membership in one of three newly formed aristocratic subclasses.

When Gustavus came to power, Sweden was at war with Denmark. Oxenstierna was instructed to conclude the 1613 Peace of Knäred with that country. This removed the Danish threat and gave some concessions to Sweden with respect to Baltic commerce. Gustavus now resumed the Swedish march to the east. By the time Oxenstierna negotiated the Treaty of Altmark with Poland (1629), his country was in effective command of eastern Baltic commerce. The impetus provided by this aggressive policy, coupled with the outbreak of the Thirty Years War in 1618, sufficed to draw Sweden into the broader conflict in Germany. Oxenstierna now added the duties of war leader to those of administrator and diplomat. In 1630, with financial support from Russia, France, and the Dutch, Gustavus marched into Germany; in 1631 he called Oxenstierna to his side; and when the King was slain at the battle of Lützen (November 1632), his chancellor assumed control of the Swedish war effort.

By that date, Sweden had become the strongest power inside Germany. After Gustavus's death, however, Sweden's position began to slip. Oxenstierna's armies were badly defeated at Nördlingen (1634), and his German allies made their separate Peace of Prague with the emperor in 1635. But the war went on, with France playing a role on the "Protestant" (anti-Hapsburg) side equal to Sweden's. Denmark took Austria's side in 1643 but was handily defeated by the Swedes. In the same year (1645) in which the two countries signed the Treaty of Brömsebro, Swedish armies marched all the way to Vienna. Oxenstierna now retired from the war with profit and honor. After 1648, strengthened by acquisitions from Denmark and the German princes, Sweden emerged as the greatest Baltic power.

Gustavus was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Christina, and Oxenstierna remained the dominant figure in the regime throughout her reign. He died in Stockholm on Aug. 28, 1654.

Further Reading

The leading English-language expert on the period of Oxenstierna and Gustavus Adolphus is Michael Roberts; see his Gustavus Adolphus: A History of Sweden 1611-1632 (2 vols., 1953-1958). See also I. Anderson, A History of Sweden (1956).

Additional Sources

Roberts, Michael, From Oxenstierna to Charles XII: four studies, Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

For more information on Axel Gustafsson Count Oxenstierna af Södermöre, visit Britannica.com.

Oxenstierna, Axel, Count (Län Uppsala, 1583-1654, Stockholm), who studied at the German universities of Rostock, Wittenberg, and Jena, became in 1612 chancellor to King Gustavus Adolphus. After Swedish intervention in Germany (see Dreissigjähriger Krieg) he worked for the realization of the King's German policy. Unlike Gustavus Adolphus (d. 1632) he was not a great military leader, but he was a determined and gifted diplomat. Through the formation of the League of Heilbronn (see Heilbronner Bund), without the Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony, he became the leader of German Protestantism. But partly through military defeat at Nördlingen and partly through the divergent interests of his French ally Richelieu, his influence was checked. He approached the negotiations leading to the Peace of Westphalia for which the Swedish Queen Christina pressed, primarily from the standpoint of his country's prestige and of war reparation. At first regent for the Queen, he became, after her majority, her chancellor. In 1645 he was created count. He is a minor figure in Brecht's play Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder.

(äk'səl gʊs'täfsən ŭk'sənshĕr'nä) , 1583–1654, Swedish statesman. Named chancellor in 1612, he was the actual administrator of Sweden because Gustavus II was continually occupied with foreign campaigns. Oxenstierna also organized the conquered territories, skillfully managed financial affairs, and aided Gustavus's wars by his diplomacy. In 1629 he arranged a favorable truce with Poland, freeing the army for the campaign in Germany. Habitually cautious, he opposed Sweden's entry into the Thirty Years War, but he acceded to the king's wishes and devoted his energies to keeping supplies and troops at the command of the king. After the death (1632) of Gustavus II at Lützen, the diet granted Oxenstierna full control of Swedish affairs in Germany. At a congress at Heilbronn (1633), he managed to weld the German Protestant princes into some semblance of unity. The Swedish defeat at Nördlingen (1634) forced Oxenstierna to solicit direct assistance from France. From Cardinal Richelieu he secured enlarged subsidies and the open entry (1635) of France into the conflict. As the dominant member of the council of regency in the minority of Christina and virtual ruler of Sweden (1632–44), he followed a cautious foreign policy and distinguished himself by his great program of reforms, including commercial, administrative, and social improvements. He was the author of the constitution of 1634, which centralized administration. He planned and directed the war against Denmark (1643–45) and brought it to a successful conclusion in the Peace of Bromsebro, by which Sweden gained several Danish provinces. Clashes between Oxenstierna and the young queen led to the decline of his power. He himself took no part in the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia (1648), but his son was one of the Swedish representatives. Oxenstierna opposed the abdication of Christina in 1654, but for the short remainder of his life he served Charles X well in attempts to rehabilitate Sweden financially.

Oxenstierna, Axel (1583–1654), Swedish diplomat and statesman. The son of Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna and Barbo Axelsdotter Bielke, and a contemporary of Richelieu and Mazarin, Oxenstierna was a major figure in Swedish history for over half a century. The leading member of the family in this period, he served as governor of several Swedish imperial territories in the Baltic region including Prussia, director of Sweden's war efforts in Germany, member of the council of state, head of the regency for Christina from 1632 to 1644, and chancellor from 1612 to 1654. During this time, Oxenstierna redefined Sweden's constitution through a series of documents and helped to design and implement reforms in almost every aspect of state affairs. His efforts contributed importantly to Sweden's successes in the seventeenth century.

Oxenstierna was the primary proponent of Swedish aristocratic constitutionalism during this period. His position was formalized in Gustavus II Adolphus's accession charter (1611), by which the king promised to "rule with the council's advice" and honor the legal, tax, property, and career privileges of the nobility, and in the 1634 Form of Government. Oxenstierna's views were also manifested in his definitions of the parliament, the estate of the nobility, the justice system, and provincial administration. He was most able to implement his views during the reign of Gustavus II Adolphus (1611–1632) and Christina's regency period (1632–1644).

Despite holding a constitutional view that, if carried to the extreme, would relegate the crown to the role of figurehead, Oxenstierna was able to work effectively (to varying degrees) in all manner of state business with Charles IX, Gustavus II Adolphus, and Christina. He established a truly remarkable partnership with Gustavus Adolphus in which the roles of leader and follower blurred and were often indistinguishable. They effected an end to the crown–noble conflict that had marred much of the sixteenth century, created a new high court system, regularized the makeup and roles of the parliament, systematized the central administration and revised regional government, reformed the military, made peace with Denmark and Russia, concluded a six-year truce with Poland, extended Sweden's holdings in the southeastern Baltic region, intervened in and made substantial gains for Sweden in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), and nurtured the development of Sweden's economy and educational institutions.

During the years of Christina's minority, Oxenstierna was the most powerful person in Sweden and effectively its leader. It was then that he secured acceptance of the 1634 Form of Government, a sixty-five-paragraph constitutional document that defined Sweden's political system, probably written by Oxenstierna, which he claimed carried Gustavus Adolphus's approval. The king's right to rule was clear, and ordinary business was entrusted to the five great officers of state (chancellor, steward, treasurer, marshal, and admiral), each of whom headed one of the "colleges" (departments). The competencies and review procedures for each were defined. The parliament's place in the system was affirmed. Overall, it spelled out existing trends in political development and assured the continuance of government during the absence of a monarch or during a minority.

In this same period, Oxenstierna directed Sweden's involvement in Germany, negotiated new subsidies from the French, and engineered a brief war with Denmark (1644–1645). He also worked successfully to improve the state's economic situation, which was accomplished by encouraging the immigration of experts in banking, trade, mining, and manufacturing (many from the Netherlands), helping to found commercial companies (such as the New Sweden Company), supporting monopolies (such as those in the copper, iron, and grain trades), and revising the toll systems in Swedish-held ports in the Baltic to increase revenues.

During the last decade of his life, Oxenstierna's health and powers declined. Christina did not share his constitutional views, and she asserted her independence via court favorites and clever political manipulations. She opposed him on the war in Germany, financial policies, her marriage, and the succession issue. Her abdication and the accession of Charles X Gustav in 1654 were both defeats for the aging statesman.

Historians vary in their assessments of Oxenstierna. Some argue that he was power-hungry and wanted to create a dynasty, if not to gain the throne, then to control it. Others believe he hoped to make Sweden an aristocratic republic, on the model of Poland but more effective. There are also those who claim he epitomizes the selfless public servant working for the good of his state. There is no consensus, and the truth probably lies in a mixture of these views. Whatever his motives were, it is clear that he devoted his entire professional life to the development of Sweden.

Bibliography

Jespersen, Leon, ed. A Revolution from Above? The Power State of 16th- and 17th-Century Scandinavia. Odense, 2000.

Nilsson, Sven A. "Gustav II Adolf och Axel Oxenstierna: En studie i maktdelning och dess alternativ." Scandia, 62 (1996), 169–194.

Roberts, Michael. Gustavus Adolphus. London and New York, 1992.

——. Sweden as a Great Power. New York, 1968. This collection of documents includes translations of Gustavus Adolphus's accession charter and parts of the 1634 Form of Government.

—BYRON J. NORDSTROM

Quotes:

"The quantity of books in a person's library, is often a cloud of witnesses to the ignorance of the owner."

"Behold, my son, with what little wisdom the world is ruled."

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