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Abstract
Throughout the 17th century the Swedish kingdom experienced an almost constant state of warfare, which led the kingdom's leaders to engage in state building to meet the military needs of the expanding Swedish empire. In response to the kingdom's military activities, hundreds of widows of soldiers and officers petitioned the crown asking for financial aid, compensation, and information regarding their deceased husbands. In turn, the crown created policies and precedents to provide the widows with compensation. This article investigates the petitioning activities of Swedish war widows during the first half of the 17th century. Its goal is to analyze how women's activities and interests influenced royal policy. On a broader scale, it expands the discussion of the 17th‐century Swedish military state's development by addressing how state bureaucratization developed in response to women's interests.
Notes
2. Citation Svenska riksrådets protokoll , Vol. III, 1633, 121.
3. The connections between warfare and the rise of the centralized state has been a topic of concern to many scholars studying the early modern period. For a discussion of the connections between warfare and state centralization see CitationGlete, Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden; CitationGustafsson, “The Conglomerate State”, 189–213; CitationErtman, Birth of the Leviathan, 25–28; CitationPorter, War and the Rise of the State, 63–104; CitationDowning, The Military Revolution and Political Change, 1–14; CitationTilly, Coercion, Capital, and European States, 20–28.
4. CitationLindegren, “The Swedish ‘Military State”, 305–336.
5. With regard to royal reforms see CitationGlete, Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden, 174–212; CitationNilsson, “Imperial Sweden”, 7–40; CitationFlóren, “Nya roller, nya krav”, 505–529; CitationRoberts, Gustavus Adolphus. For a discussion of the nobility's roles in state building see CitationLappalainen, “Regional Elite Group”, 1–24; CitationRystad, “The King, the Nobility, and the Growth of Bureaucracy”, 59–70.
6. For a discussion of the reform's impact upon the peasantry see CitationVillstrand, “Adaptation or Protestation”, 249–30; CitationÖsterberg, “Local Political Culture versus the State”, 176–191; CitationNilsson, De stora krigens tid; CitationLindegren, Utskrivning och utsugning.
7. For example see CitationPerlestam, Den rotfaste bonden, 135–140; CitationPerlestam, “Ogifta Kristin brukar – har intet folck sig till hielp”, 127–146; CitationStadin, “Stormaktskvinnor”, 184–186.
8. For example see CitationMalmström, “Herrskap och prästefolk”, 67–82; CitationStadin, “Stormaktskvinnor”, 186–187; CitationStadin, “Hade de svenska kvinnorna en stormaktstid?” 193–225. For a discussion of widows' activities within the political realm see CitationSjögren and Lindström, “Widows, Ownership and Political Culture”, 241–262; CitationNorrhem, “Normbryterska eller ansvarstagande hustru?” 141–156.
9. Elisabät Måneskyldh to the College of War, 11 January 1660, Krigskollegii brevböcker 1660, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
10. Elisabät Måneskyldh to the College of War, 22 February 1660, Krigskollegii brevböcker 1660, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
11. CitationNilsson. På väg mot militärstaten, 145–153.
12. Helena Christina Hård to Queen Christina, Biographica, Lenck, vol. L14, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
13. CitationRoberts, “Editorial note”, 93.
14. “Resolution of the Diet of Norrköping, Citation1604”, 93.
15. Gustavus Adolphus to colonel Thomas Muschamp, 27 September 1627, Biographica, Muschamp, vol. M18, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
16. CitationAlmquist, Frälsegodsen i Sverige, 736.
17. CitationElgenstierna, Den introducerade svenska adelns, vol. 1, 625.
18. In order to maintain control over their late husbands' land donations, women had to be named together with their husband in the original donation letter and they had to continue to live as widows. If a widow re‐married, the land would revert back to the crown. For further details see Citation Svenska riksrådets protokoll , Vol. III, 1633, 121.
19. Citation Svenska riksrådets protokoll , Vol. XVI, 1654–1655, 120–121.
20. CitationNorrman, Konserverade änkor och kvinnor på undantag, 35–64, 369–371; CitationWidén, “Nådår”, 108–113.
21. CitationLennström, “Makt och myndighet”, 24.
22. CitationWidén, “Nådår”, 112; CitationUnger, Makten och fattigdomen. 162–163.
23. See for example, Krigskollegium Protokoll, 22 January 1650, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
24. Krigskollegium Protokoll, 8 January 1650, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
25. Beatha Gibb to the king [name of ruler unknown], Militaria Ansökningar och Meritförteckningar arméen, M1083, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
26. Karin Linarsdåtter to the College of War, 27 January 1648, Krigskollegii Brevbok, 1648, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
27. CitationSträng, Vadstena Krigsmanshus, 39–40, 44; CitationBelfrage, “Krigsinvalider i Sverige”, 20.
28. CitationSträng, Vadstena Krigsmanshus, 84.
29. Sigrid Olofzdotter to Charles XI, Adminstrativa handlingar rörande armén. Strödda administrativa handlingar, vol. 24, Handlingar och räkningar rörande Vadstena krigsmanshus, Militaria 923, Riksarkivet, Stockholm; Sigrid Olofzdotter to the Council of War, Krigskollegium kansli. Inkomna handlingar Krigskollegii brevböcker, 1660, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm; Sigrid Olofzdotter to the Council of War, 3 September 1660, Krigskollegium kansli. Inkomna handlingar Krigskollegii brevböcker, 1660, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
30. Karin Pedhersdåtter to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, De la Gardieska samlingen. Skrivelser till M.G. de la Gardie, Series C:VIII, Kvinnoansökningar (Militäränkor m. fl.), E1623, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
31. Anna Persdotter Justen to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, De la Gardieska samlingen. Skrivelser till M.G. de la Gardie, Series C:VIII, Kvinnoansökningar (Militäränkor m. fl.), E 1623, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
32. See for example Elisabeta Brelssdotter to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie; Joneta Bälfrage to Magus Gabriel de la Gardie; Hebela Birckholt to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, De la Gardieska samlingen, Skrivelser till M.G. de la Gardie, Series C:VIII, Kvinnoansökningar (Militäränkor m. fl.), E1623, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
33. Margareta Sigfridhsdåtter to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, De la Gardieska samlingen, Skrivelser till M.G. de la Gardie, Series C:VIII, Kvinnoansökningar (Militäränkor m. fl.), E1623, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
34. Isobel Spens to Queen Christina, Biographica, Ramsey, vol. R3, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
35. Barbara Borthwick to Charles XI, Biographica, Hamilton, vol. H5, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
36. See for example the Lieutenant‐Captain widow's meeting with the Council of the Realm on 24 March 1652 and Elissabeth Adolpsdotter's meeting with the Council on 12 July 1652 in Citation Svenska Riksrådets Protokoll , Vol. XV 1651–1653, 302, 333.
37. See for example Brita Jonsdotter's meeting with the Council of the Realm on 8 July 1652 in Citation Svenska Riksrådets Protokoll , Vol. XV, 1651–1653, 331.
38. CitationPersson, “Servants of Fortune”, 42–48.
39. CitationPersson, “Servants of Fortune”, 176.
40. CitationKouri, “Health Care and Poor Relief in Sweden and Finland”, 167–168.
41. CitationGrell, “The Protestant Imperative of Christian Care”, 49–51.
42. CitationGrell, “The Religious Duty of Care”, 259; CitationUnger, 18–30.
43. CitationKouri, “Health Care and Poor Relief in Sweden and Finland”, 178–184. Also see CitationPulma, “The Riksdag, the State Bureaucracy and the Administration of Hospitals”, 119–120.
44. CitationKouri, “Health Care and Poor Relief in Sweden and Finland”, 183–184.
45. See for example the Council of the Realm's discussion of how to deal with the growing problem of homeless people in Stockholm in 1647. Citation Svenska riksrådets protokoll , Vol. XII, 1647, 1648, 162.
46. Tiggareordning, Ämnessamlingar 757.10 Fattigvård, Nödhjälp och Tiggari, vol. 1, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
47. CitationSjöberg, “Två urkunder”, 239–240.
48. CitationUtterström, Fattig och föräldralös, 35, 58.
49. For a discussion of the difficulties that the wives and widows of soldiers faced in running farms by themselves and finding work to support their families see CitationPerlestam, “Den rotfaste bonden”, 137–140. Also see CitationJohansen, “Widowhood in Scandinavia”, 182.
50. Isobel Spens to Queen Christina, Biographica, Ramsey, vol. R3, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
51. CitationUnger, Makten och fattigdomen, 150.
52. Citation Svenska Riksrådets Protokoll , Vol. XIV, 1650, 78.
53. Helena Bethon to Hedvig Eleonora, Biographica, Betton, vol. B20a, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
54. Karin Hansdotter Bohm to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, De la Gardieska samlingen, Skrivelser till M.G. de la Gardie, Series C:VIII, Kvinnoansökningar (Militäränkor m. fl.), E1623, Riksarkivet, Stockholm.
55. A comparative example comes from late 18th‐century and early 19th‐century England where the government established a welfare system for the families of soldiers and sailors. In this system, women and children could qualify for aid, but only in the context of being related to a man who had performed military service. See CitationLin, “Citizenship, Military Families, and the Creation of a New Definition of ‘Deserving Poor’”, 5–46.
56. Krigskollegium Protokoll, 27 September 1649, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
57. Krigskollegium Protokoll, 22 January 1650, Krigsarkivet, Stockholm.
58. CitationGlete, Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden, 181–191; CitationFlóren, “Nya roller, nya krav”, 517–519.
59. CitationTaussi Sjöberg, Rätten och kvinnorna, 106–108; SjöCitationberg, “Hade jorden ett kön?” 373.
60. Citation Svensk riksrådets protokoll , Vol. III, 1633, 121.
61. Citation Svenska riksrådets protokoll , Vol. X, 1643, 1644, 15–16.
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