Brita Olovsdotter Tott (or ''Thott'') (in

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 ...

) or Birgitte Olufsdatter Thott (in

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

), ( fl. 3 March 1498) was a Danish and Swedish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

, landowner and royal

county administrator In local government in the United States, a county administrator or county manager is a person appointed to be the administrative manager of a county, in a council–manager form of county government. In some counties, the equivalent position is ...

She was judged for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and for the forgery of

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

s. She was one of the biggest landowners in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, and her estates played a role in politics in Sweden and Denmark.

Background

Brita was born the eldest daughter of two Danish nobles; statesman Olov Axelsson Tott (d. 1464) and Karen Jensdotter Falk (d. 1429). Her family was one of the most powerful in Scandinavia: her father was politically influential in both Sweden and Denmark, and her mother was the heir of

Vallø Castle Vallø Castle ( da, Vallø Slot) is a manor house located 7 km south of Køge, in Stevns Municipality, on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It now serves as a residence for Vallø stift, a home for unmarried, widowed and divorced women of no ...

. She was related to the Swedish regent consort Lady

Ingeborg Tott Lady Ingeborg Åkesdotter Tott or 'Ingeborg Aagesdotter of the Thott' (Year of birth unknown –December 1507), in her lifetime called Ingeborg Åkesdotter or simply Fru Ingeborg (Lady Ingeborg), Biografiskt lexikon för Finland 1. Svenska tid ...

(d. 1507), consort of the Swedish regent

Sten Sture the elder Sten Sture the Elder ( sv, Sten Sture den äldre; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470–1497 and 1501–1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist fo ...

. She was in 1442 married Swedish noble councillor Eringisle Nilsson (d. 1469) son of Erengisle Nilsson (d. 1406) and Margareta Bengtsdotter Bielke (d. 1370). He had inherited the estate of Hammersta at

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the ...

and the manor Hammerstahus after the death of his father in 1406.

Treason

During the war between Sweden and Denmark (1451–52), she corresponded with the enemies of king

Charles VIII of Sweden Charles VIII ( sv, Karl; 1408–1470), contemporaneously known as Charles II and called Charles I in Norwegian context, was king of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and 1467–1470) and king of Norway (1449–1450). Regnal name Charles was the ...

and became involved in a plot against the king. During the war, her spouse was governor of

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. When the Danes invaded

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, Brita Olovsdotter corresponded with them and informed them of every movement of the Swedish army which, among other things, enabled the Danish army to capture the fortress of

Lödöse Lödöse (), also known as Gamla Lödöse is a locality situated in Lilla Edet Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg and is considered the precursor to modern-day Gothenburg. Gaml ...

and avoid being cast out by the Swedish army. She was charged with having falsified a number of documents. She was put on trial for treason against the crown at the assembled court in Stockholm of 1452. She was judged guilty of high treason and sentenced to be burned at the stake. The sentence was then changed and she spent a period of time at St. John's Priory, Kalmar. After her release, she financed the paintings of

Ösmo Ösmo () is a locality situated in Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of ...

Church in

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

as a penance; one of the paintings there is said to be her own image.

Landowner and county administrator

In 1469, she became a widow and managed the estate herself. The following years was spent on the managing of her large estates and the ownerships over them which, due to their size, was a question debated in the Swedish council. Her stepchildren questioned her right to the Swedish estates of her late spouse, and her stepmother, her father's widow Anne Jensdatter Present (d. 1484), questioned her right to the Danish estates inherited from her mother. In 1475, she gave Hammersta to the church and left

to the Danish crown. As long as Brita Olofsdotter enjoyed the support of her powerful relatives, she was able to defend her position. She had the support of her powerful uncles, the Tott brothers collectively unknown ''Axelssönerna''. However, Olof Axelsson died in 1464 and Åke Axelsson died in 1477. Erik Axelsson (Tott), who served as regent of Sweden, died in 1481. In 1479, she was put on trial in her absence in Stockholm for forgery and judged guilty of having illegally sold her estate Vallö to the Danish crown. She received mercy and was released. This case caused a change in the law: in 1483, the monarch was banned from receiving noble estates with a specific motivation to the case of 1479. In 1484, she was appointed county administrator of the royal estate of Dronningholm Slot ved Arresø, a position she managed until 1495. In 1495, she left Denmark for Sweden, where she spent her last years. She was one of the largest landowners in Sweden of her time, and her estates played a part in politics and was the perhaps well known court cases in this area of her time. The dates of her birth and death are both unknown, but she was still alive on 3 March 1498. In her will, she left her estate both to the Swedish regent

Sten Sture the Elder Sten Sture the Elder ( sv, Sten Sture den äldre; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470–1497 and 1501–1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist fo ...

and to

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran t ...

, which aroused great confusion.

References

External links

Wilhelmina Stålberg: Anteqningar om Svenska kvinnor (Notes on Swedish women)
(Swedish)

(Swedish)

(Swedish)
Ingeborg Wilcke-Hndqvist: En Kyrkoreparation på 1400-talet (A Church reparation of the 15th century)
(Swedish)
Anders Fryxell: Berättelser ur svenska historien (Stories from Swedish history)
(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tott, Brita Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Female wartime spies Medieval spies 15th-century Danish women landowners 15th-century Danish landowners Swedish landowners 15th-century births 15th-century Danish nobility 15th-century Swedish nobility 15th-century Danish women 15th-century Swedish women Women in medieval European warfare Women in European warfare Thott family

Background

Treason

Landowner and county administrator

See also

References

Further reading

External links