Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
man. It is to this latter quality that the King of Sweden
alluded gracefully and gratefully in one of his
donation-letters It is stated there that he most unselfishly during
our time of need waited for what was due to him. Spens
left two sons, James and Axell, the former of whom
became the ancestor of the now flourishing line of the Counts
Spens in Sweden.1 They were educated at the expense
of Queen Christina, who set aside six hundred Thaler
annually for that purpose, until they should have come of
age. During that time the widow was to enjoy the
revenues of the landed property (9th September, 1637).
More famous, and endowed with greater qualities as a
military leader, was Alexander Leslie, the Field-Marshal.
He also served two countries, Sweden and Scotland. Of
his coming to Sweden and his achievements generally
during the Thirty Years’ War in Germany we have
spoken in another place.2 We need only add here what
more immediately concerns his relations to the Swedish
king and his chancellor, and affords at the same time a
glimpse into the details of a busy life. For this purpose
his letters to Oxenstierna form the soundest basis. They
commence in the year 1626, when Leslie was
commandant of the town and fortress of Pillau in Eastern
1 Spens’s widow, Margaret Forath, petitioned the Riks-Råd,
claiming salary due to her late husband. Instead of the 10,000 thus
demanded she received 500 Thaler as a pension for two years.
Riks-Radets Protokoll (1634). Queen Christina gave her moreover the
church tithes of Härkirberga Socken for three years (Registr.
Riks-Ark.) ; but she would not allow the sale of the estate of Orrholmen, as
directly opposed to the terms of the Donation Deed. In a letter, dated
9th July 1635, she expresses as much to the Marquis of Hamilton, who
had interceded for Spens’s son William (?) and his widow. We doubt not,
the queen continues, that “ Dominus Spens ” will have sufficient
opportunity to raise money on the estate wherewith to satisfy his father’s
creditors.
2 See Scots in Germany, Part II.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
