Agneta Rosenbröijer (ca. 1620 - 11 September 1697) was a Finnish-Swedish

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

and business person. She was a significant figure in the local history of Viborg, known for her pride, temperament and feuds, which has been the subject of many stories.

Biography

Agneta Rosenbröijer was born in

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

. She was the daughter of the burger Tönnies Antonius Bröijer,

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Viborg in

Swedish Finland In Swedish and Finnish history, Finland under Swedish rule is the historical period when the bulk of the area that later came to constitute Finland was an integral part of Sweden. The starting point of Swedish rule is uncertain and controversi ...

. She married in 1640 to

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

Tönnies Antonius Bröijer (d. 1652) who was engaged in commodity trading. As was usual in Sweden at the time, kept her own surname after her marriage In 1647, her father was ennobled with the surname Rosenbröijer. She took her father's new surname and became known as Agneta Rosenbröijer. Widowed in 1652, she took over the trading business of her late spouse. In 1655, she married the recently ennobled captain Peter von Gertten (d. 1671). After marriage, he left for six years to serve in the

Polish–Swedish wars The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and ...

. After his return in 1661, the couple attracted attention with their extravagant life style and belonged to the leading people of the city. They bought the manor Ahijärvi in 1663 to live in accordance with their noble status, while she continued to manage the trading business. It was an important business and belonged to the few in Viborg at that time to trade with foreign nations. After the death of her second spouse in 1671, Agneta Rosenbröijer was dragged in to a fourteen year long period of lawsuits: she was forced to pay of the

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

s accumulated by her spouse and herself during all their years of extravagance, while she herself sued the state and demanded to be given the salary of her late spouse to pay of the

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

s. Her situation was worsened through the reduction of 1683. In 1685, finally, the king granted her the income from a couple of farms for her personal support.

References

Other sources

* ''Biografiskt lexikon för Finland'' 1. Svenska tiden (2008). {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbroijer, Agneta 1620 births 1697 deaths 17th-century Swedish businesswomen 17th-century Swedish businesspeople 17th-century Finnish nobility People of the Swedish Empire 17th-century Finnish women