Letters from Sir James Spens and Jan Rutgers
When Axel Oxenstierna, Chancellor of Sweden, died in 1654, Sweden was a great power. In 1612, however, when Oxenstierna took office, Sweden was on the verge of collapse. In the east, she was menaced by Muscovy, in the south-east by Poland, and in the west by Denmark. One of the means to save the Swedish realm was through active diplomacy. Two important figures in Oxenstierna’s diplomatic network w