Jacob De la Gardie

Jacob De la Gardie
Portrait, 1606
Lord High Constable of Sweden
In office
1620–1652
Preceded byAxel Nilsson Ryning
Succeeded byGustaf Horn
Governor of Swedish Estonia
In office
1619–1622
Preceded byAnders Eriksson Hästehufvud
Succeeded byPer Gustafsson Banér
1st Governor-General of Swedish Livonia
In office
1622–1628
Succeeded byJohan Skytte
Personal details
Born(1583-06-20)20 June 1583
Reval (Tallinn), Swedish Estonia
Died22 August 1652(1652-08-22) (aged 69)
Stockholm, Sweden
SpouseEbba Brahe (m. 1618–1652)
Children14, including Magnus, Maria and Axel
Residence(s)Makalös Palace, Stockholm
Läckö Castle

Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie (20 June 1583 – 22 August 1652) was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward.[1]

He was Privy Councilor from 1613 onward, Governor of Swedish Estonia in 1619–1622, Governor-General of Livonia in 1622–1628 (conquered by the Swedish Empire in 1621, and referred to as Swedish Livonia in 1629–1721), and Lord High Constable from 1620. He introduced reforms based on the then novel Dutch military doctrine into the Swedish army. He commanded the Swedish forces in Russia and against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He also served as one of the five regents jointly ruling Sweden during the minority of Queen Christina.

  1. ^ Vilhelm Fredrik Palmblad (1838): Biographiskt Lexicon öfver namnkunnige Svenska Män 4, D – Fl; Upsala, pages 83–97.