Letters of Jan Rutgers to Axel Oxenstierna 1615–1625
The letters from Jan Rutgers to Axel Oxenstierna are also available in print as part II:13 of "Rikskanslern Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brevväxling" (AOSB), Stockholm 2007.
Introduction
The Dutch humanist and jurist Jan Rutgers (1589–1625) played a central role in Swedish foreign politics in the crucial period 1615–1625. He served as Swedish representative in the Dutch Republic and as emissary to various North German princes. His most dramatic mission was that to Prague in 1620, where he witnessed and reported on the Bohemian adventure of Elector Palatine Frederick V (James I's son-in-law). Rutgers' work can be followed in his 185 letters to Oxenstierna, which are now made available in a critical edition on the internet, and in Oxenstierna's 35 letters to Rutgers, previously edited in the "Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brevväxling"("The Works and Letters of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna"), series I, vols. 2-3; Stockholm 1896, 1900). In addition, a number of letters from and to King Gustav II Adolf and some passports and instructions are also extant in the Riksarkivet (The National Archives).
The letters give us an insight into Rutgers' varied diplomatic activities and glimpses of Oxenstierna's policies and diplomatic methods. For instance, a series of letters from 1616-1617 allows us to follow Rutgers' difficulties in raising money in Holland to enable the Swedish Crown to pay the ransom for the important fortress of Älvsborg (near Gothenburg), which the Danes had taken in 1612. A letter from May 1618 bears witness to Oxenstierna's diplomatic cunning when approaching the Elector of Brandenburg in a roundabout way to bring about a marriage between a daughter of the Elector and King Gustav Adolf, and in another letter we learn how Rutgers managed to recruit a secret agent at the Danish court.
Rutgers' early years
Rutgers' father (d. 1623) went to great efforts and costs to give his sons a good education. In his home town, Dordrecht, Jan Rutgers was taught by the great scholar Gerhard Johann Vossius. In 1605 he was sent to Leiden University where he was taught by Dominicus Baudius, Joseph Justus Scaliger and Daniel Heinsius. Leiden was a centre for classical philology, and the study of ancient authors such as Sallust, Seneca and Tacitus laid a good foundation for Rutgers' career as a diplomat.
In 1611 Rutgers went to France to continue his philological studies. At Orléans he also passed a law degree "more to comply with his parents's wishes than because he wanted to go in for a legal career". He did not, however, give up classical philology entirely: in Paris he published some notes to Horace, "more tempted by the beauty of the edition that Robert Estienne was publishing than because he thought that he, a young man without access to books, could make a valuable contribution to such a prominent author".
In Swedish service
Rutgers returned to Holland in 1613. The day before he arrived, his mother had died. To console himself, he went to The Hague and entered the legal profession. He had hoped that the work would divert his thoughts, but far from it: his sorrow was doubled. He was now saved by the Swedish ambassador to the States General, Jacob van Dijck, who having been entrusted with the task of finding staff for the Swedish administration suggested that Rutgers should follow him to Sweden. After some hesitation, Rutgers accepted the offer, and went to Stockholm in the ambassador's entourage. King Gustav II Adolf proved, however, to be in Livonia for the war against the Russians, and van Dijck decided to go there. It so happened that Axel Oxenstierna was going to Livonia as well, and Rutgers attached himself to the Chancellor, in this way making his acquaintance. On August 1, 1614, Rutgers was appointed court councillor by Gustav II Adolf, and returned to Holland to pack his things and prepare his removal to Sweden (letters 2045-2046). On his departure from Holland, he was honoured with poems by Heinsius, Hugo Grotius and others.
When in Stockholm, he found that the King was besieging the City of Pskov and for the second time he must sail to Livonia, this time, too, in Oxenstierna' company. The home journey took place in the cold of winter via Turku.
The first mission to Holland
In May 1616, Rutgers was sent to Holland with a charge to the States General (letters 2047-2053). On December 1st, the States General granted a loan of 150,000 Imperial thalers to Sweden as a contribution to the second payment of the ransom for Älvsborg Castle, which was due in January 1617.
The second mission to Holland
In August 1617, Rutgers was sent to Holland again to continue to handle the Swedish-Dutch loan affairs. The Swedes required a loan for the third instalment of the ransom for Älvsborg, but the Dutch were reluctant to grant a new loan, since the Swedes had mismanaged earlier loans. However, Rutgers managed to borrow 15,000 thalers, which sum he brought to Sweden, where he arrived in January 1618 (letters 2056-2069). Rutgers was greatly helped by his uncle, Hugo Muys van Holy, who now stood out as an important figure in Dutch politics.
The third mission to Holland
Rutgers could stay only a few days in Sweden before he was sent back to Holland. He was instructed to call on the Council of Lübeck and the King's uncle, Count Enno III of East Friesland, on the outward journey (letters 2070-2088, 4003 and 2229-2230). In Holland he managed to get a loan of 150,000 thalers, which he brought to Sweden in January 1619 for the fourth and last instalment of the ransom for Älvsborg (letters 2089-2091). A particularly delicate charge was to make the Dutch initiate and pave the way for a marriage between Gustav II Adolf and the Elector of Brandenburg's daughter.
In May, 1618, Rutgers' philological main work, the Variarum lectionum libri sex, had come out in Leiden with a dedication to Gustav II Adolf.
In acknowledgement of his services, Rutgers was raised to the nobility on December 21st, 1619 and awarded a gold chain.
The mission to Bohemia
In Bohemia, the Protestant estates had risen in revolt and deposed their Catholic king, Ferdinand (Emperor Ferdinand II from 1619). The crown of Bohemia was offered to the Calvinist Elector Palatine, Frederick V, who reluctantly accepted. Gustav II Adolf was favourably disposed to the Bohemian rebels and decided to send Rutgers to Prague to report on the development and to explore the prospects for an alliance. At best the Swedes would find an ally who could attack the Poles in the rear. On his way to Bohemia, Rutgers was to call on the authorities in Lübeck and Hamburg, Prince Archbishop John Frederick of Bremen (Gustav II Adolf's uncle), the Dukes of Mecklenburg and the Elector of Saxony (letters 2095-2101). Rutgers set out from Sweden on January 4th, 1620, and in early April he arrived in Prague, where he stayed (with the exception of a short visit to Germany: letter 2116) to the bitter end, the battle at the White Mountain on November 8th, 1620 (letters 2102-2115, 2117 and 1583; some letters from March-May 1620 are regrettably lost), where the Bohemians were defeated by the Imperialist army. Rutgers, like King Frederick, fled to Bratislava, but lost part of his papers during his flight.
The mission to Segeberg
In the critical situation after the fall of Bohemia and in the face of the expiration of the Spanish-Dutch truce, Christian IV of Denmark invited some princes to a meeting at Segeberg in the Lower Saxon Circle. Gustav II Adolf, too, was invited, and Rutgers was sent there as observer (instructions dated February 28th, 1621). His charge was in brief to try to upset Christian IV's apple-cart. He was instructed to try to work against a closer association between Denmark and the Netherlands, to offer improved trade conditions to the Hanseatic cities and to offer support to the Archbishop of Bremen in his conflict with Christian. The meeting was over when Rutgers arrived at Segeberg, however, and he went on to the Duke of Holstein and to the Archbishop of Bremen to state his business to them (letters 2118-2122). He was back in Sweden in May 1621.
The fourth mission to Holland
Rutgers was promptly appointed commissary in Holland (his instructions were issued in June 1621). His charge was to get information about and try to counteract an agreement between Denmark and The Netherlands. Further, he was to assure the Dutch that Gustav II Adolf wanted peace with Poland, but that the Polish war was in the interests of the Dutch in the same way that Sweden derived advantage from their war against Spain, since Poles and Spaniards conspired to promote the propagation of Catholicism. Rutgers was also told to explain why the contract with Steven Gerards about the sale of copper had been broken. In November, he was instructed to negotiate with Louis de Geer about the shipment of weapon and powder to Sweden. (Letters 2123-2159) He took leave of the States General on June 11th, 1622.
The conference with Poland
Oxenstierna was one of the Swedish commissaries appointed to negotiate for peace or armistice with the Poles, and Rutgers was called to Riga to assist at the negotiations (his instructions were issued on October 4th, 1622). After the close of the negotiations Rutgers returned to Sweden, where he arrived early in March 1623. The passage proved dangerous for the boat got stuck in the thick ice of the sea of Åland.
The fifth mission to Holland
To get support against Poland, Gustav II Adolf made several attempts to connect his war against Sigismund III with the struggle of the Evangelical powers against the Habsburgs. In his opinion, the Emperor and the Kings of Poland and Spain tried to force everyone to become Catholic, under the Pope: in order to stop them, the King of Sweden and the States General should initiate a close cooperation. Rutgers was thus instructed in July 1623 to try to get Dutch support for the Polish war and to warn the Dutch that the King of Denmark only wanted to look after his personal interests and could not be trusted as a champion of the common Evangelical cause. He was also to prepare the Dutch for the possibility of a war between Sweden and Denmark. After having visited Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen on his way, Rutgers arrived at The Hague in January 1624 (letters 2162-2228). He had now been promoted to Swedish resident in the Netherlands.
Rutgers' death
In June 1625, Rutgers informed Oxenstierna that he was seriously ill and could neither write nor even dictate letters, and on October 26th he died in The Hague at the age of 36. His archives was taken care of by Heinsius, his brother-in-law, and Ludvig Camerarius, his successor as Swedish ambassador in The Hague. His vast library was sold by auction. His short autobiography was printed for the first time in Leiden in 1646 ("Vita ... Jani Rutgersii ... ab ipso olim conscripta, & inter schedas ejus reperta"), and his poems were collected and printed (with a reprint of the autobiography) in 1653 by his nephew, Nicolaus Heinsius.