Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm & Christina Ribbing grave 2009

Baron Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (4 March 1574 – 17 March 1650) was a

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 ...

soldier and politician. He was made a baron (''friherre'') in 1615, appointed Field Marshal in 1616,

Privy Councilor 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 ...

in 1617,

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 ...

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 Esto ...

in 1617 and served as Lord High Admiral from 1620 until his death.

Biography

He was an illegitimate son of Duke Carl, later King Charles IX of Sweden, and Karin Nilsdotter, the daughter of a clergyman from Östergötland. He was raised at the royal estate of Julita Abbey (''Julita gård'') 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 ...

. He was thus the older half-brother of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. It was the tradition in Sweden in this period that noble children born out of wedlock were acknowledged by their fathers, as long as they were not the product of adultery. Carl Carlsson was ennobled in 1592 with the surname Gyllenhielm and entered the service of the crown as a soldier. He served with the navy in the 1590s before moving to the army during the Swedish-Polish War (1600-11). He was captured by the enemy in Poland in 1601 and remained a prisoner of war for twelve years. After attempting to escape, he was forced to wear leg irons for the last six and a half years of his captivity. He was freed in 1613, and shortly after raised to the rank of baron and field marshal by his half-brother, the king. On 27 February 1617 the

Treaty of Stolbovo The Treaty of Stolbovo () was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617. History After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from Sw ...

ended the

Ingrian War The Ingrian War ( sv, Ingermanländska kriget) between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke ...

(1610–1617), fought between the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

and Russia. From 1617, Gyllenhielm was the governor general of the province of Ingria, until he returned to Sweden in 1620 to become Lord High Admiral. Admirals in this period were expected to lead the navy at sea as well as administrate, but Gyllenhielm did not often take command himself. He delegated much of the day-to-day business of the navy to Clas Fleming, and focused his naval efforts on overseeing the navy's finances. In September 1628, he served as the chairman of the tribunal convened to investigate the loss of the new warship '' Vasa''. After the death of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany during 1632, Gyllenhielm was responsible for returning his half-brother's body to Sweden. In the following year, he was appointed to the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

government which ruled in the name of Queen

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

during her minority, until 1644. He built

Karlberg Palace Karlberg Palace () is a palace by the Karlberg Canal in Solna Municipality in Sweden, adjacent to Stockholm's Vasastaden district. The palace, built in 1630,Solna: Huvudsta today houses the Military Academy Karlberg. In the palace park are fou ...

to the northwest of Stockholm and spent his last years there. He died at Karlberg in 1650, and was buried at

Strängnäs Cathedral Strängnäs Cathedral ( sv, Strängnäs domkyrka) is a Lutheran cathedral church in Strängnäs, Sweden, since the Protestant Reformation the seat of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Strängnäs. Architecture Construction of the cathedral bega ...

. Karlberg was eventually taken over as an administrative headquarters for the Swedish military, but several of the central reception rooms are preserved as they were in Gyllenhielm's lifetime.

References

Other sources

*Glete, Jan (2010) ''Swedish Naval Administration: Resource flows and organizational capacity '' (Leiden: Brill) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllenhielm, Carl 1574 births 1650 deaths Illegitimate children of Swedish monarchs Ingria 17th-century Swedish politicians Field marshals of Sweden Swedish admirals Governors-General of Sweden 16th-century Swedish nobility Members of the Privy Council of Sweden 17th-century Swedish nobility