Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna af Eka och Lindö, Baron of Eka and Lindö (1591 at Frösvik near Rydbo – 1643 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Swedish Livonia Swedish Livonia () 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 Brömsebro) and the northe ...

), in non-contemporary sources sometimes referred to as Resare-Bengt ''("Bengt the Traveller")'', was a Swedish diplomat and noble, Swedish Privy Councillor, and

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Ingria Ingria (; ; ; ) is a historical region including, and adjacent to, what is now the city of Saint Petersburg in northwestern Russia. The region lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian ...

and

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

. 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 (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Biography

Bengt Bengtsson was a member of the influential

Oxenstierna The Oxenstierna family ( , ) is a Swedish nobility, Swedish noble family, originally from Småland in southern Sweden, and is part of the Swedish ''uradel'', the ancient nobility. History The Oxenstierna family held vast estates in Södermanl ...

family and was born in 1591 to Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna the Elder, 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 (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany 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 in ...

and

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

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 12-year rei ...

. In 1616 he travelled to the Middle East again, through Asia Minor to

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, making him the first Swede known to have visited

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

. 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, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, but was forced to return to Isfahan by way of

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. After travelling back through Baghdad, Aleppo, Palestine and Egypt, he reached

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

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, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

in 1621. During the 1620s, he followed King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

in the field, served under his cousin Governor-General

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. 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 confidant of ...

in the Swedish administration in Prussia, e.g. as Governor of

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

in 1626, or was sent on diplomatic missions. He was named Crown Equerry in 1627 and was appointed Governor of Swedish occupied

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

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 ( or : sometimes in ), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates () which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the King of Sweden. The 1634 Instrument of Government, Sweden's fir ...

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,

Lord High Treasurer of Sweden The Lord High Treasurer () 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 and, from 1634, one of five Great Officers of t ...

, 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 east of

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

. 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 (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, 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. The public domain edit ...

''
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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxenstierna, Bengt 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 Diplomats for Sweden Bengt People from Vaxholm Municipality