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Perceptions of local uprisings in Swedish and Danish diplomatic correspondence of the 1620s

Nils Erik Villstrand is a former professor of Nordic history at Åbo Akademi University (2000–2017) and has a research focus on the early modern era. He is currently participating in the research project In search of corruption and bad governance practices: Swedish and Finnish experiences, ca. 1614–1917. Miriam Rönnqvist is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä. Her research interests include revolts and political culture in the early modern Swedish empire. She is currently part of the research project In search of corruption and bad governance practices: Swedish and Finnish experiences, ca 1614–1917.

In our collective volume on revolts and diplomacy in early modern times, Nils Erik Villstrand and Miriam Rönnqvist contribute a Scandinavian perspective:

This chapter investigates the first two diplomatic residents between Denmark and Sweden in the first half of the 1620s. The two countries fought for dominance over the Baltic Sea, with Denmark’s leading role increasingly challenged by Sweden under Gustav Adolf. Both governments were interested in insider information about their opponents, especially their weaknesses, such as political unrest and revolt. In this respect, the main function of the residents was not representation or cultivation of friendship, but gathering information and spying on the enemy. Peder Galt worked in Stockholm as a resident of the Danish crown. In contrast, the Swedish government did not send its resident Anders Svensson to the Danish capital, but to the city of Elsinore, as toll commissioner for the Sound, which played a decisive geostrategic role. Both residents were primarily tasked with acquiring relevant military information, and both sides also tried to build up a network of informants to obtain secret information. Interestingly, both governments commented on and criticized the dispatches of their diplomatic guests, thus making it clear that they were able to intercept the letters before letting them through to the actual addressees, i.e. the hostile neighbouring court. The chapter analyzes the informational policies and conflicts that resulted from them and discusses how the two diplomatic residents characterized their host societies.

Eerste_fase_van_de_Zeeslag_in_de_Sont_-_First_phase_of_the_Battle_of_the_Sound_-_November_8_1658_(Jan_Abrahamsz_Beerstraten,_1660)

The naval Battle of the Sound occurred on 8 November 1658 during the Dano-Swedish War. (c) Wikimedia

 


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
miriamronnqvist (June 25, 2016). Perceptions of local uprisings in Swedish and Danish diplomatic correspondence of the 1620s. Revolts as Communication. Retrieved February 17, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/tows


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