Experiencing the Reduction

Crisis and Hopefulness in Swedish Aristocratic Households in the 1680s

Abstract

A large body of scholarly work has been dedicated to the Swedish reduction in the early 1680s when fiefs granted to the nobility were revoked as the crown strengthened its position. However, this research has focused on political and economic developments from an elite perspective. Insufficient attention has been paid to the actions and lived realities of other groups, not least the servants of the struggling aristocratic households. The aim of this study is to examine how a servant of the aristocracy, the secretary and archivist Jonas Lorin in the household of Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, experienced the reduction and how his expectations for the future were shaped by contemporary cultural notions and literary forms. This endeavour is possible thanks to Lorin’s frequent and well-preserved letters to the count during these exceptional years. In terms of theory, the study utilises the concept of experience, which is viewed as an interpersonal, meaning-making everyday process. In order to study how Lorin’s personal driving forces were moulded in his own specific context, the ideas and genres that enabled and limited his experiences are analysed as part of a rhetorical repertoire.

The article concludes that Jonas Lorin’s expectations were formed through this repertoire in three distinct ways. First, the misfortunes and persistent suffering were interpreted in light of a world ravaged by evil and nearing its end, thus in line with widespread eschatological ideas. At the same time, there was hope that salvation would soon end all worldly struggles, while patience, constancy, and trust in God were highlighted as desirable virtues by way of biblical examples. Second, the reduction was experienced as a breakdown of the social order. Greed, intrigues, and duplicity raged, especially in Stockholm – in contrast to the count’s rural resort. However, Lorin observed signs of God’s reprisal, and his steady belief in God and the king as unfailing sources of grace, as well as his own loyalty, underpinned his expectations for a revived reciprocity throughout the social order. Third, Lorin lamented that the glorious De la Gardie family no longer received due praise now that the reduction had corrupted the connection between merit and high status. Still, his belief in rehabilitation and posthumous fame materialised in a concrete environment: the archive of the count’s family. Lorin’s persistent archival work thus sought to remedy the damage of the reduction.