Bulstrode Whitelocke´S Journal of the Swedish Embassy, 1653-1654
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Representing a Nation of Tailors and Cobblers A Study of Bulstrode Whitelocke´s Journal of the Swedish Embassy, 1653-1654 Rebecca Martin Magisteruppsats Vårterminen 2007 Institutionen för idé- och lärdomshistoria Uppsala universitet Rebecca Martin: Representing a Nation of Tailors and Cobblers: A Study of Bulstrode Whitelocke´s ‘Journal of the Swedish Embassy’ 1653-1654. Uppsala universitet: Institutionen för idé-och lärdomshistoria, Magister Uppsats, Vårtermin, 2007. In November 1653, a vessel arrived in the harbour town of Gothenburg, on the west coast of the Protestant monarchy of Sweden. Aboard the ship was the newly appointed English Ambassador Extraordinary, Bulstrode Whitelocke (1605-1675); jurist, Puritan and avid diary keeper. In his journal, Whitelocke noted down the entirety of what he was to experience during his stay in Sweden. From the heaps of papers he produced over his lifetime, he later edited this particular record under the title Journal of the Swedish Embassy. Spanning between 1653 and 1654, the pages of the journal contains information of the most mundane kind, as well as eye witness accounts of what must be recognised as a very interesting part of European history. More so, it reveals Whitelocke’s views on the political questions of his time, mainly presented through conversations with important actors from Swedish society, such as Queen Christina, Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, and the Archbishop of Uppsala, Johannes Canuti Lenaeus. In the eyes of the Swedes, Whitelocke became a representative not only of the new Commonwealth of England, but of the new ideas that had formed the basis of its government. As such, he was often made to explain the conduct of his country men, as well as defend the recent events in England. Thus, through these recorded exchanges, an image of Whitelocke´s representation and of his views regarding the changes in England emerges from the pages. This Masters Thesis will analyse this image, as well as discuss Whitelocke’s political views, both practical and ideological, at the time of his embassy to Sweden. Keywords: Bulstrode Whitelocke 1605-1675, Queen Christina of Sweden 1626-1689, Axel Oxenstierna 1583-1654, Diary, Diplomacy, English Civil War, Seventeenth Century Political Theory. CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 3 Prologue 3 Purpose and Questions 5 Primary Sources and Previous Research 6 Contextual work 6 Editions of the Journal 7 Texts on the embassy 8 Clarifications and Limitations 9 II. CONTEXT 13 Political Theory 13 General tendencies 13 Sweden 14 England 16 Bulstrode Whitelocke 19 The Aims of the Embassy 22 III. THE JOURNAL 25 The Obligation of the State 26 The Power of the People 29 Supremacy of Law 33 Christina and the Commonwealth 36 Representative of the People 38 Puritanism and Diversity 41 IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 46 Summary 46 Conclusions 47 V. BIBLIOGRAPHY 52 2 I. INTRODUCTION Prologue Around noon on the fifteenth of November 1653, an English ship moored close to the port of Gothenburg, a trading town on the west coast of the Protestant monarchy of Sweden. The gentleman presiding over the ship, who had braved the autumnal seas to head the mission, was happy to finally reach his destination. The journey had been eventful, a Dutch ship had been intercepted and seized by the English convoy, and great storms had tossed and rolled the ships and made even the most experienced seamen sick to their stomachs. They had passed the “Pater Noster” cliffs on the coast of Norway, called so because they made the passengers of the mind to say their prayers. They had sailed through waters where it was said monstrous sea creatures dwelled, where witches roamed and other creatures of the wild north were lurking. The gentleman didn’t think it was fitting for him to take these stories seriously. He was after all a man who trusted in his God and furthermore believed himself to be a representative of the most advanced society on earth; the Commonwealth of England. However, he had to admit that he had no inclination to go and investigate their truthfulness. He couldn’t help himself from shuddering at the prospect of the craggy northern shores. He stated in his journal that these views inspired even a man like himself to thoughts of dread and terror. The man was Bulstrode Whitelocke, travelling under the title of Ambassador Extraordinary, and sent to Sweden as a representative of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England. His mission was to treat directly with Queen Christina of Sweden and her ministers. The orders were to establish a trade agreement regarding the Baltic Sea and also to strengthen the ties between two of Europe’s strongest Protestant nations. Whitelocke had been loath to leave England. On two previous occasions he had been named for missions abroad, and on both occasions he had avoided being sent. As royalist agents had murdered both the gentlemen taking his place on these missions abroad, it is perhaps safe to argue that Whitelocke had done well to avoid the appointments. However, this time it had not worked, and therefore Whitelocke found 3 himself gazing at these northern shores with the responsibility of his undertaking resting heavily on his shoulders. It wasn’t in his nature to wallow in self pity. Instead he tried to live his life after the motto he had fashioned for himself by adapting the words of the stoic Epictetus – “Whatever happens is best – if I make it so”. 1 After gathering his retinue around him they said their prayers of thanksgiving for their safe arrival at their sea journey’s end after such a dangerous and arduous expedition. However, the journey was far from over. Due to an outbreak of plague in the nation’s capital, the queen was residing in Uppsala, on the eastern coast, north of Stockholm. A strenuous trek by land across the barren and autumnal Swedish countryside awaited them. During this journey they were to brave scant provisions, dismal lodgings, as well as the sometimes open disdain of those that believed them to represent a nation of commoners rising against their superiors. But for now - at this very moment - they were safe. Throughout his journey and during his stay in Sweden, Whitelocke recorded his experiences and reflections in his journal. He wrote in third person and reported on meetings of both official and private character. While in Sweden he moved in the highest circles and met with the most illustrious people of the day. In his journal, he recounted the more important conversations verbatim. The journal is a detailed day to day record, spanning a few months between 1653 and 1654, during which the author not only suffered the seizure of power by a commoner in his own country, but witnessed the voluntary descent from the throne by the Queen of Sweden. The conversations laboriously recollected and penned down in the journal, and the opinions and ideas of people that figure within its pages, make it a unique testament of objections and opinions in Sweden on ideas central to Whitelocke’s society. It is also a testimony of Whitelocke’s own thoughts regarding the recent upheaval in England and the ideas that this alteration had built on. 1 The stoic Epictetus had said “Quodcunque evenerit optimum”, which translates as “Whatever happens, happens for the best”. Whitelocke added the second part, which is characteristic to his personal beliefs. Whitelocke had even written a poem on the subject, set to a lute accompaniment see Ruth Spalding, The Improbable Puritan, London (1975), p. 40f 4 Purpose and Questions Over the centuries that span between Whitelocke’s death and the present day, his political and historical work has been studied on several occasions; treated with respectful hands by some and scathing scorn by others. His life has been outlined and statesmen and historians of their own different political and historical climates have passed judgement on his political and personal choices. But many of these judgements have been made on the basis of the majority of Whitelocke’s oeuvre, and on the actions of his whole life. Choices he made late in his life has been compared to earlier statements, or earlier actions to later statements. As will become evident from this study, this way of looking at Whitelocke’s contribution has produced differing perceptions of his character and political standpoints. It would seem that the very longevity of Whitelocke’s career and the turbulent times over which it spanned implies that there must be either some discrepancy in what Whitelocke did to what he wrote, or that the beliefs and actions that are recorded in his work must be in some other way falsifications. It also seems to be a natural outcome of that particular method of analysis. Therefore, although these suspicions will be addressed briefly in the introduction of this study, the author feels confident that more may be gained by focusing specifically on a smaller part of Whitelocke’s work and subsequently on a shorter period of his life. Looked at from this perspective, Whitelocke’s Sweden Journal poses an interesting challenge. Spanning between 1653 and 1654, its pages reveal Whitelocke’s views on the political questions of his time, mainly presented through conversations with the important actors in Swedish society. It would seem plausible that Whitelocke in the eyes of the Swedes would have become a representative not only of the Commonwealth of England, but to the new ideas that formed the basis of this society. The purpose of this study is therefore to shed some light on Whitelocke’s political views, both practical and ideological,