Jälknäs, Erik2024-12-162024-12-162024-12-16https://hdl.handle.net/2077/84487This study examines the establishment of the first Baltic German nobility in Sweden in the late 16th century and early 17th century. The main perspective concerns their relationship with the swedish royal family (House of Vasa) and the high nobility (titled nobles, counts and barons). The goal is to understand what services the nobility performed once they arrived in Sweden, if some of them were of greater importance to the authority and what role the fiefs, estates and marriges played in the process of establishment. This attempts to understand the role of clientelism in the patron-client relationship between the Baltic Germans on the one hand and the Swedish authority on the other. The noblemen from Estonia and Livonia mainly entered in the service of Duke Charles of Södermanland, the brother of king John III and uncle of Sigismund. The theoretical framework of the study combines the theory of clientelism with social mobility and social stratification. The Baltic German nobility were an elite in their homelands, but many of those that came into the service of Duke Charles and his family started off in rather modest positions, but later when they had proven their worthe, they climbed in the hierarcy in the duchy and later in the kingdom. Contrary to what previous resarch has claimed, this study showes that the first Baltic Germans rather performed duties at the court, rather than solely in the military. Many of them begun their service as page boys or stable boys and later could become valets to Duke Charles. The more higher ranked noblemen in the service of the Duke had been in his service since the 1570’s and they had roles such as advisor on his councill, governors over smaller parts of the duchy and for example Jakob Koskull who held the role as the forester. When it comes to fiefs and estates these were mainly granted to the noblemen at service in the court of Duke Charles. At first Charles only had within his power to grant fiefs and estates within the duchy, but later as his power grew to include the whole of Sweden with Finland and Estonia. The war with Sigismund in Livonia caused a large number of noble families to flee Livonia, these families were often granted estates in Finland. It seems like Charles mainly grants estates in Sweden to those noblemen he knew through the court service, whilst the others was granted fiefs and estates in Finland. Some of the noblemen in the service of Duke Charles and his family were married into family networks often consisting of swedish or other foreign members of the dukes court. It seems as the nationality or noble rank was not as important as the allegiance to Charles. This study is a part of the the discussion that points out the importance of clientelism and personal bonds in premodern Sweden and Northern Europe, also with regard to migration and integration.swePatron-client relationship, German Baltic Nobility, Early modern, Migration, Establishment, Social Stratification, Social MobilityText