Women at the Early Modern Swedish Court

Fabian Persson is a Lecturer in History at Linnaeus University in Sweden and currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford. He is a specialist on the history of the early modern court and also writes on patronage, corruption, élites, aristocratic marriage and duelling.

• List of Illustrations, List of tables and genealogical charts, Acknowledgements, Note on Names, Dramatis Personae, Genealogical Charts, WOMEN LIVING WITH POWER: Introduction, Opportunities, Growing interest, Sources and the challenge of invisibility, OUTSIDERS, 1 Rituals of royal compassion, Who and when, Institutionalisation, The quality of compassion, 2 Why be at court? The example of the Königsmarcks, INSIDERS, 3 All the queen's women, The creation of the Swedish court in the sixteenth century, The women in service, The recruitment process, Pay and perquisites, Marriage, The appeal of the court, 4 Noblewomen crossing borders, Change over time, Princely women visiting and residing in Sweden, Swedish noblewomen in service abroad, Clean break or gradual erosion?, From melting pot to enclave, 5 Servants of power, Everyday power-and more, Maids of honour as power brokers, Everyday power-and high politics, Power struggles on several levels, Emerentia Düben, Juliana Schierberg, Anna Catharina Bärfelt, Measures of success, 6 Left behind, Reputational damage, Beata Sophia Horn, trapped at court, Ageing and unmarried, 7 Dirt among the apples: Hierarchy and gender at court, A Swedish Table of Ranks, Formal hierarchies, Royal decisiveness, Increasing formality, Marks of status, Negotiating the hierarchy, 8 A small circle with wide horizons, Living under surveillance, Socialised into a group, Widening interests and attitudes, Changes in appearance, The best school in the world, 9 Fumbling for power: Being a royal mistress, A golden age of adultery, A passing fancy, An emotional anchor, A lesser sort of marriage, The extraordinary success of Karin Månsdotter, Pimped to a King, The role of a royal mistress, , ROYALS, 10 The performance of a lifetime: Being queen consort, Being foreign, Being sociable, Being self-assured, Being a success, 11 The winding road: Royal marriage negotiations, A queen's worth, How to pick a marriage partner, Successful failures, 12 The broken mirror: Gender differences in the system of royal apartments, Mirroring apartments, Royal apartments outside Stockholm, Renovations, A mirror cracked, In-built gender, 13 Death and beyond, A Swedish Artemisia manquée, Commemorating a dynasty, Dynastic memory, 14 The court as substitute family, The Princess, her sister, and the need for trust, A court of her own, Court rather than family, A long-lost sister, The entertaining princess, 15 Epilogue, Glossary, Court positions, Abbreviations, Coinage, The calendar, Bibliography, Manuscript sources, Published sources, Secondary publications, Index.

"The book looks at a broad range of women: foreign and Swedish, married and unmarried, those who stayed a short time at court and those who lived their lives there. Persson often contrasts the mutual experiences of these women to the hiearchical differences that divided them. He analyses where and when gender played a part in a nuanced way. [...] "That Persson does not just use structures to explain change is a strength. The personal and human is allowed much room in the book. These actors are not just power players or representatives of a group, an identity or a gender. They are also sensitive and complex human beings. Persson's depiction shows how personality and human relationships influenced the court and, as a consequence, history. To conclude, Women at the Early Modern Swedish Court provokes many thoughts, questions, and ideas. It is a rich, informative text built on enormous empirical work."- Hedvig Widmalm, 1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 18 (2021) [Translated from Swedish] "The study displays a vast knowledge of the intricate early modern courtly life and showcases much material that previously has been overlooked. Women at the Early Modern Swedish Court: Power, Risk, and Opportunity paints a fascinating picture of early modern Swedish court through the lens of women’s agency, voices, and challenges."- Johanna Vernqvist, Linköping University, Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme 44.2 (Spring 2021)