The creation and granting of counties and baronies in Finland began with the coronation of King

Eric XIV Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Est ...

in 1561 and continued through

Great Reduction In the Great Reduction of 1680, by which the ancient landed nobility lost its power base, the Swedish Crown recaptured lands earlier granted to the nobility. ''Reductions'' ( sv, reduktion) in Sweden and its dominions were the return to the Cro ...

s in the latter half of the 17th century. Eric XIV created two baronies in 1561, the barony of Arvasalo to Lars Fleming, who was later entitled to use the name of his manor, Sundholmen, as his barony, and the barony of Joensuu to Klas Kristersson

orn Orn or ORN may refer to: *Orn (name), a given name and surname * ''Orn'', the second book in Piers Anthony's trilogy Of Man and Manta * Offshoring Research Network, an international network researching the offshoring of business processes and ser ...

King John III is responsible for both the first granted barony, the barony of Viikki, to Klaus Eriksson Fleming in 1570 and the first granted county, the county of Raseborg, to baron Sten Eriksson of Grevsnes' widow and heirs in 1571.

King Sigismund Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

recognized in 1594 Erik Bielke, the heir-general of late baron Lars Fleming, as baron without specifying a barony, and simultaneously his father (widower of baron Lars' heiress) and siblings. Much later, in Gustav II Adolf's reign, the same baron Erik was granted permission to use his own late father-in-law's (Klas Fleming's) barony of Wik as his and his wife's baronial title. King Charles IX granted just one barony, the barony of Nynäs to Abraham Leijonhufvud, and

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 to ...

granted the county of Pärnu (in modern

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

) to Frans Bernhard von Thurn, the barony of

Kimito Kimito (; fi, Kemiö ) is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Dragsfjärd and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön. Prior to the consolidation, it was one of the four municipalities l ...

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 ...

and the barony of Tuutarhovi (in Ingria, now Tuutari) to Juhana Skytte.

Creation of baronies under Queen Christina I

Queen

Christina I of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden in Queen regnant, her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father ...

was a most profligate donator, having created more than half of the ever existed baronies, during 1647-54: * county of Wasaborg to

Gustaf Gustafsson Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

, her illegitimate half-brother * county of

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

(Arensburg), in

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

, today

(later exchanged to

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

in continental coast of today Estonia) to Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie and his brothers * county of Sortavala to Johan Adam Banér * county of Pori to

Gustaf Horn Count Gustav Horn af Björneborg (October 22, 1592 – May 10, 1657) was a Finnish nobleman of the Swedish Empire, military officer, and Governor-General. He was appointed member of the Royal Council in 1625, Field Marshal in 1628, Governor ...

* county of

Korsholm Korsholm (; fi, Mustasaari) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscap ...

and Wasa to

Gabriel Oxenstierna Baron Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (15 June 1587 – 27 November 1640) was a Swedish statesman. Born either in Tyresö, Sweden, or in Reval (modern Tallinn, Estonia), he was the son of Privy Councillor Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna and Ba ...

* county of Salmi and Suistamo

pogosta ''Pogost'' (russian: погост, from Old East Slavic: погостъ) is a historical term with several meanings in the Russian language. It has also been borrowed into Latgalian (''pogosts''), Finnish (''pogosta'') and Latvian (''pagasts' ...

Carl Gustaf Wrangel ''Fältmarskalk'' Carl Gustaf Wrangel (also Carl Gustav von Wrangel; 23 December 1613 – 5 July 1676) was a Swedish Statesman and Military Commander who commanded the Swedish forces in the Thirty Years', Torstenson, Bremen, Second Northe ...

* county of

Kronborg Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNES ...

to Ture

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 ...

* barony of Loimijoki and county of Nyypori to

Arvid Wittenberg Arvid Wittenberg or Arvid Wirtenberg von Debern (1606 – 7 September 1657), Swedish count, field marshal and privy councillor. Born in Porvoo, Finland, died in prison in Zamość, Poland, 7 September 1657. Arvid Wittenberg preferred call himself ...

* county of Karleborg to Klas Tott * barony of Korpo to count

Nils Bielke Count Nils Bielke (7 February 1644 in Stockholm – 26 November 1716) was a member of the High Council of Sweden, military and politician. Born the eldest son of Baron Ture Nilsson Bielke, who died in 1648, Queen Christina granted the young b ...

* barony of Kajaneborg to count Per Brahe * barony of Örneholma to Juhana Adler-Salvius * barony of Liperi pogosta to Hermann Fleming * barony of Oulu to Erik Gyllenstierna * barony of Kitee pogosta to count

Axel Lillie Count Axel Lillie, also spelled Lillje (23 July 1603 – 20 December 1662) was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor General of Pomerania in 1643, Privy Councilor in 1648, Governor General of Pomerania in 1652 ...

* barony of Limingo to Matias Soop * barony of Marienburg (in Livonia) to Gustaf Horn and certain his relatives * barony of Vöråborg to Göran Paijkull * barony of Tohmajärvi pogosta to Lars Kagg * barony of Kokkola to

Gustaf Banér Gustaf Banér (May 19, 1547 – March 20, 1600) was a Swedish noble, member of the Privy Council of Sweden. Life Gustaf Axelsson Banér was born at Djursholm Castle, the son of the Privy Counselor Axel Nilsson and Margareta Pedersdotter (Bielke). ...

* barony of Laihia to

Carl Bonde Count Carl Gustaf Bonde af Björnö (28 April 1872 – 13 June 1957) was a Swedish Army officer, equerry and horse rider who competed at the 1912 and 1928 Olympics. Military career Bonde was born in Stockholm, Sweden and was the son of landow ...

barony of Pyhäjoki Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the Brit ...

to Klas Bielkenstierna * barony of Iijoki to Åke Axelsson Tott * barony of Ikalapori to

Schering Rosenhane Schering may refer to * Schering (surname) * Schering Bridge, an electrical circuit *Schering AG, a German pharmaceutical company *Schering-Plough, an American pharmaceutical company *Hoechst Schering AgrEvo GmbH Hoechst Schering AgrEvo GmbH was ...

* barony of Hailuoto to

Berndt Taube Taube is an ancient Baltic noble family, originally from Denmark, Jutland whose earlier roots can be traced from Westphalia, Germany. History The family historic references: Engelke Tuve (Taube) 1373 Danish vassal in Estonia. Another branch ...

* Hans

Wachtmeister (Wm; German for 'master-sentinel' or 'watch-master') is a military rank of non-commissioned officers (NCO) in Austria and Switzerland. The was initially responsible for the guard duty of the army. Later, it became the equivalent NCO-grade of ...

Baron of Koivisto * Johan

Kurck The Kurki or Kurck family, also known as the family of Laukko, is a medievally-originated Finnish noble family that produced several historically prominent persons. It is documented in the late 14th century. The family is usually divided in seve ...

baron of Lempäälä Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

* Jakob and Anders Lilliehöök barons of Närpes * Kasper and Carl Henric

Wrede Wrede is a surname that includes two different noble families, the German princely one and Finnish-Swede noble family "von Wrede" that originated from Westphalia. It may refer to: People *Carolus Wrede (1860–1927), Finnish industrialist *Caspar ...

barons of Elimä * Erik Fleming baron of Lais, near

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

in what is now Estonia After Christina's reign, fiefs were soon to be confiscated, but yet

Charles X Gustav Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

created P. Wuertz baron of Örneholma that had fallen extinct.

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Counties And Baronies In Finland Geographic history of Finland 16th century in Finland 17th century in Finland Early Modern history of Sweden Finland under Swedish rule