Carl Fredrik Ehrensvärd (January 7, 1767 – 1815) was a Swedish

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

, soldier, farmer and political writer who was convicted of involvement in the murder of

Gustav III 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 King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

in 1792 and sentenced to death. The sentence was later changed by the

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and his life was spared on the condition that he left the country for good. He was stripped of his status as baron and his civil rights were revoked. Following his forced departure from Sweden, he eventually settled in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

where he met the author and mother of Johan Ludvig Heiberg,

Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd Baroness Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd (9 November 17732 July 1856) was a Danish author, born in Copenhagen. Her maiden name was Buntzen. Life and writing She married the famous writer Peter Andreas Heiberg when she was 16 years ...

whom he married.

Early life

Ehrensvärd joined the military at an early age. He received his first military training in the royal guard, working as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

for

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia Louisa Ulrika of Prussia (; ; 24 July 1720 - 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden from 1751 to 1771. She was married to king Adolf Frederick and she was queen mother during the reign of king Gustav III. Background Louisa Ulrika was born in Berl ...

and eventually rose to the rank of first

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. This branch of the army contained some of the most dedicated opponents of Gustav III and his dissatisfaction with the king, which had started when he was employed as a page, increased.

Murder of Gustav III and time in Germany

In 1792 he had become involved in a plot to murder the king. His role in the plot, which was successful, first resulted in a death sentence but was later deemed too minor to justify a death sentence and was changed by the supreme court. Instead, his civil rights were revoked, effectively making him an outlaw, his title was revoked and he was expelled from Sweden for good. Following his expulsion from Sweden he initially went to Germany, where he planned to seek employment with the French army but the revolution made this impossible and after a short time as a farmer in

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

he decided to move to Denmark.

Life in Denmark

When Ehrensvärd decided to settle in Denmark he became friends with several authors who shared his liberal political views. Among these were

Peter Andreas Heiberg Peter Andreas Heiberg (16 November 1758 – 30 April 1841) was a Danish- Norwegian author and philologist. He was born in Vordingborg, Denmark-Norway. The Heiberg ancestry can be traced back to Norway, and has produced a long line of priests, h ...

, husband of Thomasine Christine Heiberg, born Buntzen. He also assumed his mother's maiden name ''Gyllembourg''. In 1801 Buntzen divorced Heiberg and married Ehrensvärd, thus changing her last name to Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd. The couple eventually settled in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and Ehrensvärd continued to pursue his interest in politics and agriculture by writing books and papers. Among these were a paper consisting of remarks and suggestions for a Norwegian

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Norway had entered into a union with Sweden in 1814 and his paper was anonymously incorporated into the proceedings of the Norwegian rigsforsamling.Dansk biografisk leksikon, Volume VI, page 400, 1887–1905

Selected writings

*''Den huslige lyksalighed, grund til den borgerlige'' (1798) *''Forsøg til landbrugs-bogholderi'' (1808) *''Bemerkninger og forslag med hensyn til en constitution for Norge'' (1814) *''Nogle forsøg med cerealier'' (1815)

Early life

Murder of Gustav III and time in Germany

Life in Denmark

Selected writings

See also

References

Further reading