Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna

Like other contemporary members of the influential Oxenstierna family, he was educated abroad and entered the service of King Charles IX upon his return in 1606.

He retained royal favour during the rule of King Gustavus Adolphus and was made Governor-General of Reval and Swedish Estonia in 1611, subsequently being appointed Privy Councillor and Master of the Ordnance in 1617.

He was made Hovrättsråd and Lawspeaker of Värmland in 1627 and was part of the Swedish diplomatic delegation to the Holy Roman Emperor during the 1630 peace negotiations in Danzig.

In 1631, he was appointed Governor-General of Finland, continuing the work of his predecessor Nils Turesson Bielke to improve the central administration and legal system.

He returned to Stockholm after the death of King Gustavus Adolphus to become part of the regency council for Queen Christina in 1633, becoming Lord High Treasurer of Sweden in 1634.

Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna, engraving by Jeremias Falck (1650).