Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVIII. Christina's Minority. The Guardians. A.D. 1633—1645
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1645.]
Regency of guardians
appointed; tlieir oatb. CHRISTINA. miiT? T>r’/-’-i7’TvTn-v Pretensions of tlie Polish branch ,„,
i il b KJ’.b l!.iN L> Y .
of jhe Vasas revived. "^^ ^
been frequently suspected, that in this point there
was a departure from the will of Gustavus Adol-
phus, as appears to u.s, without sufficient ground ’.
The count Palatine was not a Swede ;
he was a
Calvinist ;
and the Palatine house was already giving
intimations of its claims to the eventual succession
to the throne ^. All this was of importance at the
time. "Her majesty the queen-dowager, the pals-
grave and palsgravine, were in great dispute with
the council of state regardmg the manner of go-
vernment and other pretensions," says count Peter
Brahe ^,
" but the council held on their course,
without letting themselves be hindered by the one
or the other."
On the 17th January, 1634, the number of the
guardians was complete, a steward and treasurer
being nominated by the votes of the council. In
both cases their choice devolved upon an Oxen-
stierna. Gabriel Gustaveson (brother of the chan-
cellor) was made high-steward, and Gabriel Ben-
netson Oxenstierna, high-treasurer. Both were
proposed by the chancellor*. But already on the
5th April, 1633, the guardians had been sworn in.
Count Peter Brahe then took the oath instead of
the steward, Clas Fleming in place of the treasurer,
Peter Baner in that of the absent chancellor, and
the following was the sum of the subject-matter :
" Forasmuch as I, according to what hath been
unanimously resolved at this diet now holden,
together with four others my colleagues in the
council, will take upon me the guardianship of my
most gracious queen elect, and direct the govern-
ment of the realm, with the other lords of the
council of state, without prejudice to the rights of
the estates of the realm ;
even so will I uphold the
five colleges and fraternities (broderskap), which
consist of the palace-court, the council of war, the
admiralty, the chancery, and the chamber of ac-
counts, as the same have been established by former
kings, but especially by his majesty our last reign-
ing sovereign,
—maintain the rights of her majesty
and of the realm, and every man’s well-won free-
dom,—dispense and defend the law, justice, and
polity of Sweden,—represent and dispute for the
realm, as I shall stand to answer before God, my
’
His grace the prfaice made mention of a testament which
he believed to have been made in Prussia, and wherein he
was named. Protocol of council, Aug. 15, 1633. Adlersparre,
Hist. Col, iii. 354.
2 " The lord Fleming came back from his grace the Pals-
grave, and related that the prince was somewhat malcontent,
and when he requested to know the cause his grace answered,
that he could not leave his children in that uncertainty in
which they now were. Whereto it was replied, that what-
ever his grace had requested, as confirmation of his estates
and else, all this he had received. He rejoined, that the
senate had promised him its best recommendation for his
due place, thereby indirectly signifying that such should
lately have been done by the estates. The lord Fleming
thereupon asked what that might import, to mention his
grace to the estates ; for it was our basis to keep together the
knot which was formerly tied, namely, that the queen’s ma-
jesty, after her lord and father, of happy memory, should be
maintained upon the throne." Protocol of the council for
April 12, 1633. Adlersparre, id. iii. 347. The council’s soli-
citude went so far, that they would not permit the Palsgrave
to give an account of his administration before the estates.
In a letter to Oxenstierna upon the Brandenburg overture of
marriage, the council entreats the chancellor " to consider
the case (which God avert!) of Christina dying before mar-
riage,
—how far then the kingdom of Sweden might be
most gracious queen, the estates of the realm, and
every honourable man : so may God send me help
for body and soul *
!"
With respect to the final version of the form of
government, the council of state had sent two of its
members to the chancellor with chai-ge to delibe-
rate thereon, in consequence of which the first
di-aught received sundry alterations. One of them
is perhaps more important in its tendency than in
the literal significance. The chancellor’s concept
begins thus :
" In Sweden the sovereign is heredi-
tary, not elective." The coimcil refers it to him
whether this may not be ambiguous, and be con-
strued to mean that the hereditary settlement
should be applicable likewise to the future consort
and heirs of the young queen. It appears as if the
old leaning to an elective monarchy were not yet
fully extinct. The words quoted were omitted.
The enunciation of general principles was avoided,
and appeal was made only to the hereditary settle-
ments of 1544 and 1604, together with the statute
of the year 1627, whereby Christina’s right to the
throne was acknowledged. For the rest, her title
I’an in this phrase :
"
Queen elect of the realm."
Probably it was intended in this way to meet the
more securely the hereditary pretensions of the
Polish branch of the Vasas. The revival of these
claims, after the death of Gustavus Adolphus ’^,
led
to a remarkable letter from the Swedish govern-
ment to the elector of Brandenburg, who had ten-
dered his mediation in the negotiations which had
been opened for peace with Poland. " Yom- lovLiig-
ness knows," thus run the words which were placed
in the mouth of Christina,
" that the monarchy of
Sweden was of old elective, and that through the
merits of our great-grandfather, it was assigned to
his family as hereditary; not without limitations,
but upon certain conditions, agreed to between the
king and the estates, on the acceptance of which
by the king, his subjects are bound to obedience,
but with their impairment and neglect these are
released from their obligation ;
if strife arise there-
from, God alone is judge, and saving the estates of
the realm, no other judicatory is
acknowledged ^."
obliged to (a blank space for the Palsgrave’s name)
and his heirs." Memorial to the chancellor, March 29, 1633.
Reg.
3 Journal.
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