Axel Oxenstierna

Count Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna {{Audio|sv-Axel Oxenstierna.ogg|listen}} or Oxenstjerna (June 16, 1583 - August 28, 1654), Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, was born at Fånö in Uplandia, and received his education with his brothers at the universities of Rostock, Jena and Wittenberg. On returning home in 1603 he took up an appointment as kammarjunker to King Charles IX of Sweden. In 1606 he undertook his first diplomatic mission, to Mecklenburg, gained appointment to the Privy Council (Riksrådet) during his absence, and henceforth became one of the king's most trusted servants. In 1610 he travelled to Copenhagen with the aim of preventing war with Denmark, but unsuccessfully. This embassy has importance as marking the beginning of Oxenstierna's long diplomatic struggle with Sweden's traditional rival in the west, which he regarded as his country's most formidable enemy throughout his life.

Thirty Years' War

After the Battle of Breitenfeld on September 7, 1631 Oxenstierna received a summons to assist the king with his counsels and co-operation in Germany. During the king's absence in Franconia and Bavaria in 1632 he held the appointment of legatus in the Rhine lands, with plenipotentiary authority over all the German generals and princes in the Swedish service. Although he never fought a battle, he proved a born strategist, and frustrated all the efforts of the Spanish troops by his wise regulations. His military capacity showed strikingly with the skill with which he conducted large reinforcements to Gustavus through the heart of Germany in the summer of 1632. But only after the death of Gustavus Adolphus at Lützen in 1632 did Oxenstierna's true greatness came to light.

Related Topics:
Battle of Breitenfeld - September 7 - 1631 - Germany - Franconia - Bavaria - 1632 - Rhine - Strategist - Spanish - Lützen

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