Maria Sofia De la Gardie

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Maria Sofia De la Gardie
Tyresö Castle

Maria Sofia De la Gardie (born 1627 in Reval ; died August 22, 1694 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish countess , lady-in-waiting , banker and industrial entrepreneur . She has been called the first female large-scale entrepreneur in her country. She previously served as chief stewardess to Queen Christina of Sweden .

Live and act

Maria Sofia De la Gardie was born to Jakob De la Gardie and Ebba Brahe . She was the sister of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie , a general, statesman, poet and patron who, according to rumors, had also been a lover of Queen Christina. She was born in Estonia , which had been under Swedish rule since 1561. Her father was governor of Reval at the time .

In 1643 she married Baron Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna , the nephew of Queen Christina Axel Oxenstierna , who succeeded her father as Governor of Estonia . As was the custom, she kept her name after the wedding and in the absence of her husband she administered his property.

Life on the farm

After the death of her husband in 1648, she became the guardian of the two underage daughters and was responsible for the family's property. After the death of her father in 1652, she inherited other goods. This inheritance made her a large landowner in Sweden.

Maria Sofia De la Gardie has been described as a great beauty, spirited, powerful and talented. She was fluent in French and German and was close to her brother Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. She received an allowance to help organize her affairs and her late husband was posthumously granted the title of Count. Thus she also got the title and rank of countess. In 1651 she was appointed lady-in-waiting, first with the title "Hovmästarinna" (court master), but soon she rose to "Överhovmästarinna" (chief court master), the highest office for a woman at the royal court, which during the reign of Christina on several People was divided. She often entertained Queen Christina at her residence, Castle Tyresö , where the queen loved to hunt.

In 1649 there were reports of a possible marriage to the heir to the throne, future King Charles X of Sweden . The plans never came to fruition, but rumors continued until 1652. They may have been kept up by Queen Christina to take the pressure off Christina to marry Karl herself. In fact, she did not intend to remarry; however, it is known that the Duke of Croy proposed marriage to her. Maria Sofia De la Gardie had many applicants but preferred to remain unmarried. However, she was later able to marry her daughters to influential politicians: Gustaviana Juliana in 1669 with Christopher Gyllenstierna , Märta Elisabet in 1672 with Gustaf Persson Banér .

She was passionate about supporting her brother when he fell from grace in 1653, but this does not appear to have affected her own position or his. With a few exceptions, such as Ebba Sparre , Lady Jane Ruthven, and Louise van der Nooth, Christina showed no interest in the lives of her female courtiers and generally only mentions them to express contempt for their femininity. She allowed herself to be portrayed more masculine than this. After Christina's abdication in 1654, Maria Sofia De la Gardie left the court to devote her life to the business interests for which she became known.

Entrepreneurial activities

Maria Sofia De la Gardie lived at Tyresö Castle. From there she led her possessions around the Baltic Sea . At the suggestion of her brothers, she went on a study trip to the Netherlands . There she learned about industrial life, especially cattle breeding and gardening. She studied the handicraft of the glove maker and the brass working . Her later ventures also included textile production on her estate. With the help of water power, she produced boiled wool and textiles that the army was equipped with.

During the 1650s dealt De la Gardie with banking and competed with the Stockholms Banco from Johan Palmstruch . She took out large loans from Palmstruch Bank and used these sums by lending them to customers in her own bank. At first this was a lucrative business, but after difficulties arose, the Palmstruch Bank was able to take over its collateral.

Maria Sofia De la Gardie took part in the pacification of Skåne in 1658 and acquired several estates after the area was incorporated into Sweden. In 1667 she bought the Krapperup Castle and managed a coal mine for export. She built ships, exported wood and grain, founded paper mills and produced linseed oil.

When the Katarina witch trials took place in Stockholm in 1676, the main witness Lisbeth Carlsdotter , who was inspired by the Gävlepojken , tried her and her sister-in-law Marie Euphrosine von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg , the wife of her brother Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie and sister of König Charles X accused of witchcraft. This accusation was not taken seriously and was never brought to court, but damaged the credibility of the witness so much that it led to the end of the witch hunt.

During the Svenska reduktioner of King Charles XI. in the 1680s, most of her and her brother's property was confiscated by the Crown, which hit her deeply. She died in Stockholm in 1694 and was buried in Tyresö Church.

literature

Web links

Commons : Maria Sofia De la Gardie  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anita Du Rietz: Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år , 1st uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm 2013.
personal data
SURNAME De la Gardie, Maria Sofia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES De la Gardie, Maria Sophia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish countess, lady-in-waiting, banker and industrial entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH 1627
PLACE OF BIRTH Reval
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1694
Place of death Stockholm