The Uncrowned King: Axel Oxenstierna and Sweden's Rise to Power During the Thirty Years War

Axel Oxenstierna, the Chancellor of Sweden from 1611-1656 (his death), played an important role in the development of Swedish power through the Thirty Years War, and crafted reforms and policies which revitalized Sweden's system of governance when it was needed most. Though the monarchs he served, Gustavus Adolphus and his daughter Christina, have become well known figures of early modern European history, Oxenstierna has unfairly been left out of many history books. Given his numerous and enormous influences on both monarchs, as well as the political climate which resulted from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the governance of Sweden, this figure deserves to be discussed more thoroughly.