Lord High Constable of Sweden

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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.

Middle Ages

Karl Knutsson Bonde
- Lord High Constable 1435-?.

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

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]

Early modern period

Jacob De la Gardie - Lord High Constable 1620–1652.

Lars Siggesson Sparre, long-time constable of

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]

Carl Gustaf Wrangel - Lord High Constable 1664–1676.

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]

Related offices

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]

  • The fodermarsk appeared in the late Middle Ages and was responsible for the foddering of the court's horses.[3]
  • The first hovmarskalk, Marshal of the Court, was appointed in c. 1540 and the office is still in use. Earlier, the office holder was supervising the economy of the court.
    Swedish Royal Family.[5]
  • Göran Klasson Stjernsköld became the first riksmarskalk, Marshal of the Realm, in 1607. As such, he was the head of the royal court, and that is still a valid description for the holder of the office.[6][7]

Lord High Constables of Sweden

Gallery

References

  1. ^ a b c "Nordisk Familjebok - Marsk". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Nordisk Familjebok - Marsk". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  3. ^ "Fodermarsk". Svenska Akademiens ordbok at g3.spraakdata.gu.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  4. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Hofmarskalk". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  5. ^ "Hovmarskalkämbetet". ne.se (in Swedish). Nationalencyklopedien. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  6. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Riksmarskalk". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  7. ^ "Riksmarskalksämbetet". ne.se (in Swedish). Nationalencyklopedien. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  8. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Tyrgils Knutsson". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  9. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Karl Knutsson". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  10. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Nils Stensson Natt och Dag". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  11. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Tord Bonde". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  12. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Svante Nilsson Sture". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  13. ^ "Svante Sture d.y." historiska-personer.nu (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  14. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  15. ^ "Klas Fleming". Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  16. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Magnus Brahe". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  17. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Axel Nilsson Ryning". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  18. ^ "Gustaf Horn". Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  19. ^ "Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon - Adolf Johan". Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  20. ^ "Nordisk Familjebok - Lars Kagg". Nordisk Familjebok at runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
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