Änkedrottning Hedvig Eleonoras livgeding 1660-1719

(The principality of Hedvig Eleonora, dowager queen of Sweden 1660-1719.)

Hedvig Eleonora, princess of Holstein-Gottorp, born in 1636, married the Swedish king Charles X Gustav in 1654 and became a widow already in 1660. As a dowager queen she was allotted parts of the Swedish provinces Uppland, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland for her maintenance (Swed. "livgeding", Germ. "Leibgedinge"). She governed her lands as an independent principality with the help of a governor and several bailiffs until her death in 1715.

This paper gives for the first time a description of the administration and the economy of her lands. The incomes were mainly based on grain rents which were sold to merchants, brewers and foundry proprietors in central Sweden. The expenses were often caused by building costs for the many palaces in the area. The paper ends with a survey of the remaining archives of the "livgeding".