Anna Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734–1801) was a professional Swedish
fortune-teller
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
during the reign of
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...
. She was commonly known as ''
Mamsell (from the French ) was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for women in the burgher and the clergy classes. The word was replaced after the middle of the ...
Arfvidsson''.
Biography
Background
Ulrica Arfvidsson was the daughter of a caretaker of the royal palace, Erik Lindberg, and Anna Katarina Burgin (d. 1771). After the death of her father, her mother remarried in 1740 to a chef of the royal household, Arfvid Arfvidsson (d. 1767), and Ulrica took the name of her stepfather.
Ulrica Arfvidsson grew up comfortably in an environment where she heard many rumours and gossip of the higher circles in society. She became well-informed about things which many people outside of the court would like to know. Ulrica is described as an intelligent, with a sharp talent, well-developed intuition, and always very up-to-date about everything in society. Judging from the school-books from the inventory of her childhood-home, she seem to have been given a good education. She had no siblings.
Not much is known of her earlier life. It seems she had run away from home at one point, since she was sought via a newspaper advertisement. She never married. After the death of her widowed mother in 1771, she received an inheritance which made her moderately wealthy.
Professional fortune teller
The
Gustavian age was a great age for fortune tellers and mediums: though occultism was formally a crime at this point, the law was in practice seldom enforced. It is not known from which point she was professionally active, though it is believed to have been from 1774 onward. In 1780, she is confirmed as a professional fortune-teller, and her clientele came from all walks of society.
Arfvidsson had her business at
Lästmakargatan not far from
Johannis Church in Stockholm, hidden away in an alley where mainly poor people, such as "blind and crippled women" lived, in order for her customers to come to her discreetly.
Speculation about her background pointed her out both as an eloped noblewoman and as a Finnish woman.
Her office was reportedly not much different from that of an ordinary room, however it had a corner covered by a drape, behind which she used to retire during the seances. Her clients were banned from entering it, as there was a rumor that she hid some sort of magic device behind the drape. Though she offered several different methods of fortune telling, such as card readings, her primary method was the reading of
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
grounds, thereby earning the nickname ''Kaffepytissan'' (The Coffee Seeress). During this time, several female professional fortune tellers supported themselves by this method, and they were commonly referred to as "coffee goddesses", but Arfvidsson became the most successful of her trade.
She had two assistants. One was the former domestic of her childhood home, Maja Persdotter. The other has been called Adrophia, Adotia and Adrecka Dordi (d. 1800), who was of African origin and described as a Turkish woman from Morocco, which was seen as exotic. Nothing is known of her origin other than that she had arrived to Sweden from Germany, and that she had originally been a slave.
Arfvidsson enjoyed great popularity within the aristocracy. It was said that she was never wrong, and that her predictions became more and more accurate every year. Reportedly, Ulrica Arfvidsson had a wide net of informers from all over society, reaching from the royal household to private homes. She was said to have been an informer of the police, and members of the royal house asked her for political advice, such as the future King
Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII, or Carl XIII ( sv, Karl XIII, 7 October 1748 – 5 February 1818), was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 to his death. He was the second son (and younger brother to King Gustav III) of King Adolf Frederick of Sw ...
. She was consulted by Gustav III, duke Charles and other influential people during the
Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790)
Wars between Russia and Sweden have been recorded since as early as the 12th century. These conflicts include:
See also
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Russian conflicts
Lists of wars by country, Russia and Sweden
Russia–Sweden military relation ...
.
She was also protected by Gustav III. In 1790, the chief of police
Henrik Liljensparre cautioned her to discontinue her fortune telling, Liljensparre was ordered by the monarch to allow Arfvidsson to continue her trade.
During her last years, her business seems to have become less lucrative. The reason for this is suggested to have been connected to the coffee ban, which was applied twice during these years, in 1794-96 and again in 1799-1802, something which would have affected her activity significantly, as it was the reading of coffee grounds which was the preferred method of fortune telling for her and her clients. She died in poverty.
Ulrica Arfvidsson is perhaps the most famous fortune-teller in Swedish history. She is mentioned in many contemporary memoirs and diary notes. During the 19th-century, several professional fortune tellers used her fame by claiming to have been her students in the occult. Another famed occultist was
Elin Håkansson, who had the ear of both
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721).
He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...
and
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...
.
Predictions
In 1783, she received a visit from
Carl August Ehrensvärd
Count Carl August Ehrensvärd (5 May 1745 – 21 May 1800) was a Swedish naval officer, painter, author, and neo-classical architect.
Ehrensvärd was born in Stockholm, and died in Örebro. Though active as a naval officer during his entire l ...
and the General-Admiral af Trolle in disguise. She looked into the coffee, revealed their identities, and stated that Ehrensvärd would replace af Trolle in his position. This was not likely at the time, as Ehrensvärd was not designated as the replacement of af Trolle. In 1784, however, af Trolle died during the King's visit to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and it was found that the King had left an instruction that Ehrensvärd should be his replacement in the event of af Trolle's death.
In 1786, Ulrica Arfvidsson was consulted by King
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...
in disguise, who came to her in the company of Count Jacob De la Gardie posing as someone else. Arfvidsson presented several predictions about his past and his future, as well as that of his escort. At this occasion, she warned him about a man in a mask with a sword. This was remembered when in 1792, the King was assassinated at a masque ball by
Jacob Johan Anckarström
Jacob Johan Anckarström (11 May 1762 – 27 April 1792) was a Swedish military officer who is known as the assassin of King Gustav III of Sweden. He was convicted and executed for regicide.
Life
He was the son of Jacob Johan Anckarström the E ...
who shot the King from behind. She also warned the King: ''Beware of the man with a sword you will meet this evening, for he aspires to take your life''.
[* Erland Ros]
Biography
Digitalized version of ''Strövtåg i S:t Johannes församling'' (''Trips through the congregation of Saint John'')
When the King and the Count left her, they saw no one suspicious on their way back to
the palace
''The Palace'' is a British drama television series that aired on ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of the death of King ...
. The Count told the King to ignore her warning, but he answered: ''But she has told me so many other things, that have already come true!''
When they entered the palace and were proceeding up the stairs, they met a man with a sword leaving the apartment of the King's sister-in-law the
duchess of Södermanland
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...
, consort of
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, who was suspected of conspiring against him. The man was
Adolph Ludvig Ribbing
{{Infobox noble, type
, name = Adolph Ribbing
, title = Count
, image = Adolph Ribbing.jpg
, caption = Adolph Ludvig Ribbing
, alt =
, CoA =
, more = n ...
, one of the future participants in the conspiracy which planned the regicide of the King in 1792. During the Russo-Swedish war of 1788–1790, the King consulted Arfvidsson again. After the murder of Gustav III, the chief of the police,
Henrik Liljensparre, interviewed her about the attitude toward the King in the upper class opposition, and she is said to have been of some assistance in the investigation.
In 1792, Ulrica Arfvidsson was also consulted in connection to the conspiracy of
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (russian: Граф Густав-Маврикий Максимович Армфельт, tr, ; 31 March 1757 – 19 August 1814) was a Finnish-Swedish-Russian courtier and diplomat. In Finland, he is considered one of ...
, who conspired to depose the guardian government of King
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.
The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...
by an alliance with Russia. The co-conspirator of Armfelt,
Magdalena Rudenschöld
Countess Magdalena "Malla" or "Malin" Charlotta Rudenschöld (1 January 1766 – 5 March 1823 in Stockholm, Sweden) was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and conspirator. She was a key member of the Gustavian Armfelt Conspiracy who conspired to depose th ...
, was instructed by him to consult Arfvidsson, which she did three days after his departure from Sweden. Rudenschöld described the prediction in her correspondence to Armfelt. Arfvidsson consulted her coffee leaves and stated that the man of whom Rudenschöld was thinking (Armfelt) had recently left the country in anger over a child (the King) and a small man (the regent, Duke Charles), whom he would soon scare by an agreement with a woman with a non-royal crown on her head (
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
). She predicted that Armfelt risked to be revealed by the loss of a letter, which would be his ruin. As for Rudenschöld herself, Arfvidsson told her that she was observed and mentioned to Catherine the Great in letters by a fat man (the Russian ambassador
Stackelberg __NOTOC__
Stackelberg is a surname, mainly known as the surname of a noble family of Baltic German descent (see Stackelberg family). Notable people with the surname include:
A
* Adolphe Stackelberg (1822–1871), Swedish count and Christian reviv ...
), that she should be careful, and that great sorrows awaited her.
In 1797, she was consulted by
Hedvig Ulrika Armfelt about the future of her exiled spouse,
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (russian: Граф Густав-Маврикий Максимович Армфельт, tr, ; 31 March 1757 – 19 August 1814) was a Finnish-Swedish-Russian courtier and diplomat. In Finland, he is considered one of ...
, upon which she answered, that the days of sorrow would soon be over for Hedvig Ulrika Armfelt, and that all would be well for her spouse.
Ulrica Arfvidsson in culture
Ulrica Arfvidsson is a character in
Daniel Auber
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...
's
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
''
Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué'' (''Gustave III, or The Masked Ball''), which used a libretto by French playwright
Eugene Scribe
Eugene may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...
.
In preparing his opera ''
Gustavo III'' between 1857 and 1859, the Italian composer,
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
, had his librettist,
Antonio Somma
Antonio Somma (28 August 1809, Udine – 8 August 1864, Venice) was an Italian playwright who is most well known for writing the libretto of an opera which ultimately became Giuseppe Verdi's ''Un ballo in maschera'' in 1859. While a student, his tr ...
, use Scribe's libretto as its basis. As a result of changes imposed by censors in both Naples and Rome, the title of the opera became ''
Un ballo in maschera
''Un ballo in maschera'' ''(A Masked Ball)'' is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The text, by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, '' Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué''.
The ...
'' and it premiered in Rome on 17 February 1859.
She is also mentioned in the famed novel ''
The Queen's Tiara
''The Queen's Tiara'' ( sv, Drottningens juvelsmycke lit. "The Queen's Jewels") is a classic Swedish novel by Carl Jonas Love Almquist.
It is the fourth instalment in the series of novels known as ''Törnrosens bok'' (The Book of the Thorn Rose) ...
'' by
Carl Jonas Love Almquist
Carl Jonas Love Ludvig Almqvist (28 November 1793 – 26 September 1866) was a Swedish author, romantic poet, romantic critic of political economy, realist, composer and social critic.
Biography
Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was born in Stockho ...
.
See also
*
Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou
Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou (1756–28 September 1819), was a Swedish mystic and medium who gained a great influence in the circles of Charles XIII of Sweden by claiming to communicate with the spirits of the dead.
Lieutenant Ulfenklou arrived in St ...
*
Charlotta Roos Charlotta Roos, née Wrangel (1771-1809) was a Swedish medium.
She was the daughter of the lieutenant and noble Henrik Herman Wrangel and Fredrika Philp. In 1791, she married the rich brewer and Swedenborgianist Sven Roos (1746-1798), in and in ...
, who also predicted misfortune to King Gustav III, something he reportedly referred to on his death bed after the assassination.
[Carl Forsstrand (1913). Spåkvinnor och trollkarlar. Minne och anteckningar från Gustav III:s Stockholm (Andra upplagan). ortune tellers and magicians. Memory and notes from the Stockholm of Gustav IIIStockholm: Hugo Gebers Förlag. p. 35-36]
References
Notes
Sources
* Erland Ros
BiographyDigitalized version of ''Strövtåg i S:t Johannes församling'' (''Trips through the congregation of Saint John'')
*Wilhelmina Stålberg and P. G. Ber
digitalized version of ''Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor'' (''Notes on Swedish women'')
* Peter Englund: ''Förflutenhetens landskap'' (''The country of past times'')
* Nils Bohman: Svenska män och kvinnor. 1, A-B (''Swedish men and women''. Book 1, from A to B, Reference-book)
* https://archive.org/stream/svenskafolketsun07grimuoft/svenskafolketsun07grimuoft_djvu.txt
* Carl Rimberg: ''Svenska Folkets underbara öden. Gustav III:s och Gustav IV Adolfs tid'' (''The wonderous destinys of the Swedish people. The age of Gustav III and Gustav IV Adolf'')
* Carl Forsstrand (1913). Spåkvinnor och trollkarlar. Minne och anteckningar från Gustav III:s Stockholm (Andra upplagan).
ortune tellers and magicians. Memory and notes from the Stockholm of Gustav IIIStockholm: Hugo Gebers Förlag.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arfvidsson, Ulrica
1734 births
1801 deaths
18th-century occultists
18th-century Swedish businesspeople
Gustavian era people
Clairvoyants
Fortune tellers
Swedish occultists