![Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Bengt_Bengtsson_Oxenstierna.jpg)
Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna af Eka och Lindö, Baron of Eka and Lindö (1591 at Frösvik near
Rydbo
Rydbo is a locality situated in Österåker Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 582 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated about 20 km north-east of Stockholm and is served by Roslagsbanan narrow gauge suburban railway. Near Rydbo is Rydb ...
– 1643 in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
,
Swedish Livonia
Swedish Livonia ( sv, Svenska Livland) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Brömse ...
), in non-contemporary sources sometimes referred to as Resare-Bengt ''("Bengt the Traveller")'', was a Swedish diplomat and noble,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Privy Councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, and
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
of
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Est ...
and
Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
. He is mainly known for his extensive travels, as he was one of the few Swedish contemporaries who travelled to
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
Biography
Bengt Bengtsson was a member of the influential
Oxenstierna
Oxenstierna ( , ) is a Swedish noble family, originally from Småland in southern Sweden which can be traced up to the middle of the 14th century. The Oxenstierna family held vast estates in Södermanland and Uppland during the late Middle Ages a ...
family and was born in 1591 to
Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna the Elder
Bengt may refer to:
People In arts, entertainment and media Actors
* Bengt Djurberg (1898–1941), Swedish actor and singer
* Bengt Ekerot (1920–1971), Swedish actor and director
* Bengt Eklund (1925–1998), Swedish actor
* Bengt Logardt (1914 ...
, councillor to
Charles, Duke of Södermanland, Närke and Värmland (later King Charles IX), and his second wife Brita Posse.
As was customary in the Oxenstierna family, he was educated abroad and spent the years 1607–1613 travelling the European continent, studying at the German universities of
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
,
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
and
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
and visiting Poland and Italy. He visited Palestine in 1613 but was robbed and returned impoverished to Italy, where he entered the service of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
Cosimo II de' Medici
Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until his death. He was the elder son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Christina of Lorraine.
For the majority of his twelve-ye ...
.
In 1616 he travelled to the Middle East again, through Asia Minor to
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
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...
,
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
, making him the first Swede known to have visited
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. He entered the service of Shah
Abbas I for a time. From there, he continued to
Hormuz, seeking passage to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, but was forced to returned to Isfahan by way of
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
. After travelling back through Baghdad, Aleppo, Palestine and Egypt, he reached
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
in 1619 and returned to Sweden in 1620.
On his return he entered royal service and was sent on a diplomatic mission to the
Venetian Republic
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
in 1621. During the 1620s, he followed King
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
in the field, served under his cousin Governor-General
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (; 1583–1654), Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a c ...
in the Swedish administration in Prussia, e.g. as Governor of
Elbląg
Elbląg (; german: Elbing, Old Prussian: ''Elbings'') is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County.
...
in 1626, or was sent on diplomatic missions.
He was named Crown Equerry in 1627 and was appointed Governor of Swedish occupied
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
in 1632–33. In 1631, he headed diplomatic missions as extraordinary ambassador to France and the Netherlands. In 1634 he was appointed Governor-General of Swedish Livonia and Ingria and Master of Horse of the Realm, and was appointed to the
Privy Council of Sweden
The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council ( sv, Riksrådet or sv, Rådet: sometimes in la, Senatus Regni Sueciae), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates ( sv, stormän) which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the Ki ...
alongside several of his Oxenstierna relatives in 1641. Oxenstierna died without issue in Riga in 1643.
Family and personal life
The Oxenstierna family occupied many of the highest offices of the state during the reign of Gustavus Adolphus and
Queen Christina's minority. Other well-known members of the same generation of the family included his older half-brother
Gabriel Bengtsson
Gabriel Bengtsson (born 5 September 1977) is a Swedish judoka
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版 ...
,
Lord High Treasurer of Sweden The Lord High Treasurer (Swedish: ''Riksskattmästare'') was a highly prominent member of the Swedish Privy Council between 1602 and 1684, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The Lord High Treasurer was head of the ''Kammarkollegium'' ...
, and his cousins, Axel Gustafsson,
Lord High Chancellor, and
Gabriel Gustafsson,
Lord High Steward
The Lord High Steward is the first of the Great Officers of State in England, nominally ranking above the Lord Chancellor.
The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, and is now an ''ad hoc'' office that is primarily ceremonial and ...
.
Oxenstierna married
Margareta Brahe
Margareta Abrahamsdotter Brahe (28 June 1603, Rydboholm – 15 May 1669, Weferlingen) was a Swedish aristocrat and court official, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg by marriage to Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. She aroused a lot of attentio ...
in 1633, in her first marriage, which remained childless at the time of his death in 1643. His widow commissioned his final resting place, the Brahe burial chapel of
Jäder Church
Jäder Church, Swedish: ''Jäders kyrka'', is a church building in the village of Jäder, Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, approximately 10 km east of Eskilstuna. Belonging to the Lutheran Church of Sweden, it is part o ...
east of
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna has ...
.
According to contemporary sources, Oxenstierna was able to talk, read and write in Swedish, Latin, French, German, Italian and Spanish and also spoke some Persian and Turkish.
Legacy
The 20th century Swedish explorer and geographer
Sven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...
wrote a biography on Oxenstierna in 1918,
[Hedin, Sven. Resare-Bengt: En Levnadsteckning (1918)] popularising the moniker "Resare-Bengt", which however is posthumous and only recorded since the late 18th century.
References
* ''
Nordisk Familjebok
''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
''
Oxenstierna: 12. Bengt Bengtsson O. Stockholm 1914
* ''
Svensk uppslagsbok
''Svensk uppslagsbok'' is a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1929 and 1955, in two editions.
First edition
The first edition was started in 1929 by ''Baltiska förlaget AB'', but publishing was taken over by ''Svensk uppslagsbok AB'' in 1 ...
'', Malmö 1932
* Åstrand, Göran; Aunver, Kristjan (1999). ''Här vilar berömda svenskar: uppslagsbok och guide''. Bromma: Ordalaget. p. 100. Libris 7777883.
External links
1591 births
1643 deaths
17th-century Swedish military personnel
Ingria
People from Livonia
Swedish nobility
Governors-General of Sweden
17th-century Swedish politicians
University of Rostock alumni
University of Jena alumni
University of Wittenberg alumni
Swedish diplomats
Bengt
{{Sweden-politician-stub