In Italy in 1528 the famous author Baldassare Castiglione published the book Il Cortegiano. In words Castiglione portraits the ideal courtiers and provides a lot of advice on how to achieve the ultimate courtier manner. For example he introduces and explains the words sprezzatura and grazia. His advice spread from Italy and influenced the courts around Europe.  My purpose with this study has been two folded. Firstly, I have analysed Castigliones Il Cortegiano in order to examine his vision of virtues and ideals. Castiglione’s advice on the perfect courtier is several and the book is quite extensive. In order to make his advice clear I have arranged these under five headings: noble birth, ideals of a gentleman, beautiful character, warlike virtues and book learning. Furthermore, I have analysed four portraits of Swedish rulers. The portraits are as follows: Johan Baptista van Uther’s portrait of Johan III produced in 1582, Matthaeus Merian’s picture of Gustav II Adolf from 1632, David Beck’s portrait of queen Kristina produced in 1650 and finally David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl’s portrait of the riding Karl XI from 1682. Finally, I have applied Castiglione’s advice on the portraits in order to study how well they conform.   The study has shown that many of the ideal and virtues emphasized by Castiglione are similar to many of those highlighted in the portraits. The idea of a beautiful soul in a controlled body seems to run like a thread through the selected portraits as well as in Castiglione’s advice on how to be an ideal courtier. In conclusion, many of the ideals stressed by Castiglione in sixteenth century Italy also inspired Swedish sovereigns. His advice also seems to have survived in the seventeenth century, if nonetheless in other forms.

This study shows how the image of Gustavus Adolphus's personality and his political deeds have been portrayed in historical works dealing with the overall history of Sweden. The study has also, with the help of analytical tools on uses of history, examined how the memory of Gustavus Adolphus's personality and political deeds has been used by focusing on the scientific, existential, moral, ideological, and political interests. A total of eight works have been examined during a period stretching from the years 1830-2000.  Based on the historical cultural perspective, the analysis of the historical works shows a consistently positive and idealised portrayal of both Gustavus Adolphus's personality and political deeds. This idealised portrayal of the king is especially visible in the sources from the 19th century where he is ascribed several leadership characteristics and personal qualities. From the 20th century onwards Gustavus Adolphus continues to be described in positive terms, however the idealization aspects in the author’s portrayal are gradually diminishing. Throughout the 20th century a gradual shift in focus from Gustavus Adolphus's personality and his role in political affairs can be observed. Instead, the authors start focusing more on describing the overall course of historical events. In the examination of the different uses of history, the scientific and ideological uses of history are the most visible and dominant elements in the authors portrayal. It has been observed that the scientific use of history over the course of time become a stronger and more dominant at the expense of the other uses of history. In summary, the authors portrayal has shown that Gustavus Adolphus has consistently been viewed in a positive light, however the extent to which he is featured in and the role he plays in the authors depiction has gradually diminished with time. A clear trend towards a more scientific use of history has also been observed. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur bilden av Gustav II Adolfs person och hans politiska gärningar har framställts i allmänna översikter om svensk historia. Studien ska därtill med hjälp av en historiebrukstypologi undersöka hur historien om Gustav II Adolfs person och politiska gärningar har använts genom att fokusera på vetenskapliga, existentiella, moraliska, ideologiska och politiska intressen. Totalt har åtta verk undersökts under tidsperioden 1830-2000.  Med utgångspunkt i ett historiekulturellt perspektiv visar analysen av författarnas framställningar på en konsekvent positiv och idealiserad bild av både Gustav Adolfs person och politiska gärningar. Denna idealiserade porträtt av kungen är särskilt märkbar i källor från 1800-talet där han tillskrivs ett antal olika ledarskapsegenskaper och personliga kvalitéer. Från och med 1900-talet så fortsätter Gustav Adolf att beskrivas i positiva ordalag men det ideala porträttet av kungen har gradvis avtagit med tiden. Genom hela 1900-talet ser vi ett successivt skifte i fokus från Gustav Adolfs person och hans roll i den politiska händelseutvecklingen. Istället börjar författarna fokusera mer på att beskriva översiktliga händelseförlopp och utvecklingslinjer.  I undersökningen och analysen av historiebruket så är det de vetenskapliga och ideologiska historiebruket som utmärker sig som dem mest synliga och dominanta historiebruken i författarnas framställningar. En utvecklingslinje har observerats där det vetenskapliga historiebruket successivt blivit ett starkare inslag i författarnas framställningar på bekostnad av andra historiebruk. Sammanfattningsvis så har författarnas framställningar visat på en konsekvent positiv bild av Gustav II Adolf. Men det utrymme kungen får och den betydelse han tillskrivs av författarna har minskat med tiden.

Uppsatsen behandlar propagandabilder under det trettioåriga kriget föreställandes Gustav II Adolf. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur bilden av Gustav II Adolf konstrueras under det trettioåriga kriget från 1630 till 1633 och hur propagandabilderna fungerar som identitetsskapande medel. Uppsatsen behandlar bilderna utifrån ett sociologiskt perspektiv.  Bilden av Gustav II Adolf konstrueras delvis för att fungera som en central protestantisk enande gestalt under hans levnad, en martyr efter hans död och en legitimering för fortsatt svensk närvaro i det trettioåriga kriget. Genom att definiera vilka attribut och egenskaper fienden hade kunde man skapa en motbild till Gustav II Adolf som hjälper till att konstruera bilden av den svenska kungen.

Under den svenska stormaktstiden rådde en hierarkisk ordning mellan stånden, men också mellan man och kvinna. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att göra en jämförande analys på porträtt av Gustav II Adolf och Drottning Kristina av Sverige. Hur valde hovet och konstnärerna att gestalta en manlig och en kvinnlig regent och vilka argument förs och försvarar en kvinnlig regent. Metoden som använts är Erwin Panofskys ikonografiska metod i tre delar. Metoden är deskriptiv och komparativ. Porträtten på båda regenterna visar på deras suveräna makt. Det är tydligt att den manliga regenten kommunicerar fysisk styrka enligt tidens krigarideal, något som den kvinnliga regenten inte visar på då hon inte tilläts strida. Konstnärerna hittar andra sätt att avbilda den suveräna drottningen, något som denna uppsats behandlar.

The main source material in this essay is a diary written by the Swedish nobleman Johan Hand in the year of 1620. Johan Hand had the opportunity to accompany the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus on a secret journey to Germany. The ultimate goal of this journey was the king's proposal to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg and the diary depicts these events. Using the principles of History of mentalities, the purpose of this study is to examine Johan Hand's and the travel companion's world of thought and view of society, their attitude towards the proposal and why the king chose to be anonymous during the trip. The analysis shows that there were probably both political and economic reasons for the king's anonymity. Furthermore, the noble group of travelers showed a strong belief in a society composed of four hierarchically separated estates – the nobility, the burghers, the peasantry and the clergy. They also expressed a typical of the time, noble attitude towards virtue and etiquette. Finally, Johan Hand's and especially the king's emotional expressions surrounding the proposal, show that it was not the emotionless, political affair that it first seemed to be.

This essay presents a comparative study of the Swedish articles of war of year 1621 and 1683 which aims to, through analysis, assess the extent of the development in Swedish army legislature during the 17th century and to derive the likely underlying causes for this development. The study is in large comprised by a detailed comparison of the two collections of articles of war in order to determine the practical changes to the legislature that occurred between the years that they came into force. / Denna uppsats presenterar en komparativ studie av de svenska krigsartiklarna av år 1621 och 1683 och ämnar att genom analys avgöra vad som förändrades inom svensk krigslagstiftning under 1600-talet samt att härleda denna utveckling till de förhållanden som kan förmodas ha framkallat denna. Studien utgörs till stor del av en detaljjämförelse av de två uppsättningarna krigsartiklar för att avgöra de praktiska förändringar i lagstiftningen som tagit plats emellan de år de trädde i kraft.

This study examines German illustrated broadsheets that were manufactured and published in the Holy Roman Empire between 1630-1633. They were part of a pro-Swedish media campaign launched soon after the arrival of the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf and the Swedish army in the Holy Roman Empire in June 1630 with the intention to legitimate the Swedish king’s presence in the Holy Roman Empire.  Inspired by Jan Glete’s notion about the early fiscal-military states as protection-selling enterprises, this study uses pro-Swedish illustrated broadsheets as a source material in order to examine how they were used to encourage German Protestants to buy Swedish protection. By looking for protection-selling arguments, this study wants to find out how Swedish protection was portrayed in the illustrated broadsheets. This study also makes a distinction between confessional and non-confessional protection-selling arguments, making it possible to distinguish which aspects of the protection-selling arguments that had a more religious character and vice versa. After the analysis of the source material, the protection-selling arguments are organised into various categories of representation, which enables the study to establish how Sweden and Gustav II Adolf were portrayed, and what they were claimed to represent in terms of protection.  The study concludes that the illustrated broadsheets portrayed Sweden and Gustav II Adolf as competent seller of protection who had the ability to protect its allies and co-religionists against aggression, religious oppression, plundering, murdering, destruction, the Devil and his collaborators, and consequences of the Edict of Restitution. Gustav II Adolf represents the Swedish state, and the illustrated broadsheets highlight his courage, competence as a political and military leader, and his Protestant devotion.  Their enemies are portrayed as dissident aggressors who represented religious oppression, plundering, murdering, destruction, heresy, devil-worshiping, and witchcraft. They were said to possess the negative qualities of hypocrisy and mortal sin, as well as an incapable military leadership.

This thesis is an intellectual biography of the Swedish statesman Johan Skytte (1577–1645), focusing on his educational ideals and his contributions to educational reform in the early Swedish Age of Greatness. Although born a commoner, Skytte rose to be one of the most powerful men in Sweden in the first half of the seventeenth century, serving three generations of regents. As a royal preceptor and subsequently a university chancellor, Skytte appears as an early educational politician at a time when the Swedish Vasa dynasty initiated a number of far-reaching reforms, including the revival of Sweden’s only university at the time (in Uppsala). The contextual approach of the thesis shows how Skytte’s educational reform agenda was shaped by nationally motivated arguments as well as by a Late Renaissance humanist heritage, celebrating education as the foundation of all prosperous civilizations. Utilizing a largely unexplored source material written mostly in Latin, the thesis analyzes how Skytte’s educational arguments were formed already at the University of Marburg in the 1590s, where he learned to embrace the utility-orientated ideals of the French humanist Petrus Ramus (1515–1572). Moreover, the analysis shows that the expanding Swedish state administration in the early seventeenth century was in urgent need of educated civil servants, and that this basic demand favored an ideology based on education, skill and merit. It is shown that Skytte skillfully combined a Ramist and patriotic rhetoric with narratives of individual merit and rewards, conveying not least himself as an example. The thesis argues that Skytte’s rhetoric reflects the formation of a new professional category in the Swedish society, one that was distinguished from the royal courtier, the clergyman, the merchant, the warrior, and the scholar. This category is the professional civil servant whose identity was dependent on skills and education.