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The Swedish Aristocracy and the French Enlightenment Circa 1740–1780

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The Swedish Aristocracy and the French Enlightenment Circa 1740–1780 Scandinavian Journal of History ISSN: 0346-8755 (Print) 1502-7716 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/shis20 THE SWEDISH ARISTOCRACY AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT CIRCA 1740–1780 Charlotta Wolff To cite this article: Charlotta Wolff (2005) THE SWEDISH ARISTOCRACY AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT CIRCA 1740–1780, Scandinavian Journal of History, 30:3-4, 259-270, DOI: 10.1080/03468750500279632 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03468750500279632 Published online: 08 Aug 2006. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 527 Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=shis20 Charlotta Wolff1 THE SWEDISH ARISTOCRACY AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT CIRCA 1740–1780 During the second half of the 18th century, Sweden had important political and cultural contacts with France. The aristocracy, which had a central role in Swedish politics during the Age of Liberty, showed an active interest in the French Enlightenment. This article examines the meaning of radical philosophy in the context of court society. It focuses on the Swedish diplomats in Paris as an example of a learned elite for which philosophy was not so much a way to transform society as an alternative form of intellectual satisfaction. During the period known in Swedish history as the Age of Liberty 1719–1772, the nobility had a prominent position in the Swedish political system. The first estate of the realm was dominated by an old court aristocracy progressively renewed by the rise of ambitious servants of the state. Within this renewed aristocracy, the councillors of state, also called senators by their contemporaries, and their friends and clients formed a political elite. Designed by the diet and governing together with the king, whose power had been reduced to a formality by the constitution of 1720, they dominated state politics and held the most important offices, such as the diplomatic representations in London or Paris. Political life was characterized by the struggle between the two parties known as the ‘‘Hats’’ and the ‘‘Caps’’, reflecting French and British competition for influence in the Baltic region. The French government encouraged the ‘‘Hat’’ party at the Swedish diet and particularly favoured the influential aristocracy, trying to attach it to French interests. When its party began to lose power, France advocated the reinforcement of the monarchy during the first years of the reign of Gustavus III. The alliance with France was central in the political system built up by the ‘‘Hat’’ party. The primary interest of the relation between the Swedish nobility and France is, however, no longer in its bilateral, diplomatic aspects, thoroughly studied since the 19th century.2 In a larger context, it can be seen as an example of the intellectual and political cosmopolitism of a European elite that took advantage of political circumstances and of its own cultural resources. The contact with France was not only a matter of money and political influence; it also brought new ideas, books and philosophies that are said to comprise the ‘‘French Enlightenment’’.3 The Swedish aristocracy of the 18th century was an educated elite, familiar with foreign politics, literature and art. Like other European nobilities, it maintained a strong tradition of cultural mobility. During journeys on the continent, young Scandinavian Journal of History Vol. 30, No. 3/4. September 2005, pp. 259–270 ISSN 0346-8755 print/ISSN 1502-7716 online ß 2005 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/03468750500279632 260 SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY aristocrats perfected their education and were introduced in court society. Swedish diplomats, politicians, military officers taking up assignments in the French army, and gentlemen on tour used personal relations to obtain favours and economic benefits from the French court. Birth and name, personal relations and aristocratic courtesy were ways to surpass practical difficulties and make one’s way abroad. This cosmopolitan and polite sociability of the European aristocracies transmitted and generated common values and cultural practices. It also permitted the exchange of different ideas, news and fashions. Its language and forms of expression were not far from those of the Republic of Letters; French language, politeness and the importance of correspondence and personal credibility were common to both of them. Neither was the Swedish political aristocracy unfamiliar with the intellectual aspects of European elite cosmopolitism. Some of its members were members of influential circles in Paris, participated in intellectual debates there and acted as important cultural intermediaries.4 It is this cultural cosmopolitism and the contact with French literary sociability and intellectual life that interests us here. The Swedish aristocracy of the Age of Liberty, jealous of its privileges, and later the Gustavian councillors, represented or wished to represent the political summit, like the French Parlementaires, i.e., the members of the sovereign courts of justice, which pretended to exercise not only jurisdictional, but also political power.5 That could go hand in hand with a strong interest in philosophy and contemporary critical debate. The interaction and interpenetration between the political and the intellectual spheres, philosophy and political power, is perceptible both in the elaboration of new political theories and in the literary sociability that contributed to the development of public opinion, particularly in France.6 Particularly the Swedish diplomats, future senators or councillors, showed an active interest in cultural and political debates and developed important networks of sociability and correspondence during their missions to France. This article will focus on their attitudes towards French philosophy, radicalism and intellectual debate during the period c. 1740–1780. What was the cultural outcome of their stays in France? Which circles did they frequent, what kind of intellectual sociability and which philosophical or ideological tendencies did they represent? What was the significance of philosophical engagement for an aristocratic political elite? In this article, I argue that the Swedish aristocracy came in contact with French intellectual culture and, eventually, radical Enlightenment philosophy. The meaning of this radicalism for the aristocratic elite, however, remains ambiguous. It is evident that it left traces in libraries, vocabulary and statements, but the fact that the Swedish aristocracy was aware of an intellectual movement does not imply that all its members agreed with it. In court society, acceptable forms and aesthetics often tended to be more important and safer than open approval of nonconformist thought and behaviour. Diplomats, politics and enlightenment From 1739 onwards, after their party had risen to power at the Swedish diet, the ‘‘Hats’’ took control of diplomatic representation in Paris. The office of minister at THE SWEDISH ARISTOCRACY AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT c. 1740–1780 261 the French court was given to the party leader Count Carl Gustaf Tessin. It then passed on successively to his prote´ge´ Count Clas Ekeblad, their friends Baron Carl Fredrik Scheffer and his brother Ulric Scheffer, then to Ekeblad’s prote´ge´ Count Gustav Philip Creutz and finally, in 1783, during the Gustavian era, to Creutz’s former attache´ Erik Magnus Stael von Holstein. These Swedish diplomats in France were connected to each other by kinship and political friendship. There are numerous examples of how they promoted their friends and used their personal relations in the run for favours and graces at the French court, such as appointments in the French army, pensions and other honours.7 Among an almost constant number of some 20 European ministers in Paris during the 18th century, the Swedish diplomats held an honourable position. French police reports as well as the private correspondence and other archives of the Swedish diplomats confirm that they had contacts and personal acquaintances in the highest circles of the French court and aristocracy. In the 1770s, after the royal revolution in Sweden, ambassador Creutz was always one of the first to be mentioned in the hierarchical list of foreign ambassadors and ministers in France, together with the ambassadors of Spain and Naples, before the ministers of Russia or of minor German courts.8 Speaking and writing French as a second language, the Swedish diplomats had no difficulties in adopting French manners, which made it easy for them to win the favour of the French court and highest aristocracy.9 Thanks to their continuous contacts with both the French court and the aristocratic opposition that sympathized with the Parlement of Paris, they were well placed to participate in the continuous and frenetic exchange of ideas and news in salons and circles that contributed to both public debate and more secret political choices. They obtained entrance to exclusive societies and salons; they were learned, skilful and socially trained.10 Their position as political agents made them well suited to observe and participate not only in formal court ceremonies and negotiations, but also in more substantial political and philosophical debates in informal surroundings or private settings where they could contribute to the forming of public opinion. This observation of all kinds of political activity was part of
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