The Lord High Constable (Swedish : riksmarsk or only marsk) was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from the 13th century until 1676, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Swedish Privy Council and, from 1630 and on, the head of the Swedish Council of War. From 1634, the Lord High Constable was one of five Great Officers of the Realm.
In a letter from 1268, during the reign of Valdemar Birgersson, the title marscalcus of the king is mentioned. The holder of the prestigious title is a nobleman, but it is not possible to decide much about the assignments belonging to it. It is possible that the marsk, or the constable, replaced the stabularius that previously governed the king's mounted following. [1]
Constable Torgils Knutsson was the foremost among the powerful men that ruled Sweden during the childhood of king Birger Magnusson in the late 13th century. Later constables seem to only occasionally be called upon by the king, without having regular tasks to fulfill. Queen Margaret, who tried to reclaim power that previous kings had lost, chose to have neither a Lord High Constable nor a Lord High Steward. Her successor Eric of Pomerania was forced by the Swedish noblemen to appoint a constable. Thus, in 1435, Karl Knutsson Bonde, a future Swedish king, became the first constable for quite some time. In a suggestion to a treaty of the Kalmar union from 1436, the constable got responsibilities in two areas: law/justice and heading the country's army in war time. For most of the remaining part of the 15th century, the office was vacant. [1]
Lars Siggesson Sparre, long-time constable of Gustav I, was a significant figure during his king's reign, but the office seemingly still lacked any specific assignment. When something reminiscent of a council of war was founded in 1540, the constable was not included. King Gustav's successor, his oldest son Eric XIV, apparently had plans to modernize the constable office, as did the following rulers John III and Sigismund, but those intentions remained unfulfilled. [1]
The title meant no particular assignment until 1630, when constable Jacob De la Gardie became president of the Council of War (Swedish: first Krigsrätten, later Krigsrådet and the War College). The Lord High Constable was second in rank of the five Great Officers of the Realm, established in 1634, who was the five most prominent members of the Swedish Privy Council. When Carl Gustaf Wrangel died in 1676, the office was abolished. King Charles XI, who had come to age four years earlier, wanted to avoid appointing new holders of the high offices, once these became vacant. The riksmarsk title has not been used since, in contrast to two other offices that Charles XI abolished, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward, who were both revived for a relatively short period in the late 18th century. [2]
A number of other high offices, that namewise are somewhat similar to the riksmarsk and to some degree inherited assignments that earlier had been attached to the constable office, have figurated in Swedish history. [2]
Sten Sture the Younger, was a Swedish nobleman who served as the regent of Sweden, during the era of the Kalmar Union.
Svante Nilsson was a Swedish nobleman and regent of Sweden from 1504 – 2 January 1512. He was the father of Sten Sture the Younger (1493–1520) who later served as regent of Sweden, during the era of the Kalmar Union.
Charles VIII, contemporaneously known as Charles II and called Charles I in Norwegian context, was king of Sweden and king of Norway (1449–1450).
Sture was a name borne by three distinct but interrelated noble families in Sweden in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. It was originally a nickname, meaning 'haughty, proud', but later became a surname. Particularly famous are the three regents from these families who ruled Sweden in succession during the fifty-year period between 1470 and 1520, namely:
Baron Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna was a Swedish statesman.
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military leader of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. Engelbrekt Parish and Engelbrekt Church (Engelbrektskyrkan) in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Stockholm were both named in his honor.
Count Magnus Brahe (1564–1633) was a Swedish noble. Being both Lord High Constable and Lord High Steward of Sweden, he was a notable figure in 17th century Sweden.
Baron Klaus Eriksson Fleming was a Finnish-born member of the Swedish nobility and admiral, who played an important role in Finnish and Swedish history during the rise of Sweden as a Great Power. He was a trustee of kings John III and Sigismund Vasa. His wife was Ebba Stenbock.
Ekenäs Castle is a castle located outside Linköping in Linköping Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. The present castle was built in the 17th century on top of the foundations of a medieval fortress from the 14th century. The lake surrounding the castle hill created a natural defense; however, this was drained in the late 19th century to create more arable land in the area.
Penningby Castle is a medieval-period private castle located the Länna parish of Norrtälje Municipality in Uppland, 70 kilometres north of Stockholm, Sweden. Penningby situated in the valley near Edsviken, a narrow inlet in the Saltsjön bay of the Baltic Sea.
Arvid Birgersson, Lord of Bergkvara was a Swedish magnate and politician in the last decades of Middle Ages. He was justiciar of Östergötland and then of Tiohärad, as well as a Lord High Councillor of Sweden, and once a candidate for Regent. His family coat of arms depict a headless troll whereby some have retrospectively called him Arvid Trolle.
The Great Officers of the Realm were the five leading members of the Swedish Privy Council from the later parts of the 16th century to around 1680. With the constitution of 1634, the five officers became heads of five different branches of government. The same constitution also declared that the great officers were to act as regents during the minorities of kings or regnal queens. All great officers of the realm were abolished by king Charles XI of Sweden. The Lord High Steward and the Lord High Chancellor offices were revived in the late 18th century, but were soon removed again.
The House of Trolle is the name of a Scanian noble family, originally from Småland, in Sweden. The family has produced prominent people in the histories of Denmark and in Sweden since the Middle Ages and is associated with several estates in both countries.
The Natt och Dag is a Swedish noble family and the oldest surviving family of pure Swedish extraction, with origins stretching back at least as far as the late thirteenth century. However, the actual name Natt och Dag, alluding to the contrasting colours of its coat of arms, was not coined until the sixteenth century, and was not used as a surname by the family itself until the eighteenth century It is therefore customary to write the name in parentheses when applying it to individuals prior to 1700.
The Lord High Admiral or Admiral of the Realm was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from c. 1571 until 1676, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Swedish Privy Council and the head of the navy and Admiralty of Sweden. From 1634, the Lord High Admiral was one of five Great Officers of the Realm.
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 Kammarkollegiet and, from 1634, one of five Great Officers of the Realm.
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.
Henrik Teofilus Scheffer was a Swedish chemist notable for his contribution to the discovery of platinum.
Per Gustafsson Banér, also known as Peder Gustafsson Banér was a Swedish nobleman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden.
The Kalmar Bloodbath, sometimes described as the First Kalmar Bloodbath to distinguish it from a later massacre in the same location, was a politically-motivated mass execution that was carried out in Kalmar, Sweden, on July 2, 1505, immediately after a conviction of treason and a sentence of death had been pronounced against participants in the Swedish Uprising against the Danish ruler, King Hans.