To Örebro University

This article explores how dynastic centralisation in early seventeenth-century Sweden shaped relations between dukes and kings as well as their respective courts. Focusing on Duke Johan of Östergötland, it examines how courtly socialisation influenced Johan’s loyalty to his uncle, Charles IX, and cousin, Gustavus Adolphus. Drawing on correspondence and court records, the study argues that Johan’s childhood socialisation was instrumental in fostering his allegiance and contributed to a novel court configuration. While ducal courts in sixteenth-century Sweden had often been divisive, the early seventeenth century witnessed the emergence of a more cohesive constellation of courts. The ducal court remained a platform for princely display and patrimonial authority, but the relationship between ducal and royal courts was characterised by a harmonious coexistence and interaction. This transformation was intrinsically linked to dynastic centralisation, which redefined the role of cadet princes, fostering greater compliance within the royal family and hierarchy.

This article examines the media construction of Duke Johan of Östergötland (1589–1618), a Swedish prince, through the lens of his recorded gift giving practices. It posits that gifts should be conceptualized as media, shaping the construction of Duke Johan as a ruler and virtuous prince, both in the early seventeenth century and for posterity. By analyzing the remediation of Duke Johan’s gift giving practices in primary sources such as account books, letters, testaments, and funeral sermons, this study proposes a novel approach to gift analysis. It emphasizes that all archives are media archives, suggesting implications for understanding princes not only as producers and content of media but also as media entities themselves.

This article investigates the evolution of aristocracy as a concept in Swedish historiography from the early nineteenth century to the present. In the political climate of the early 1800s, aristocracy became an increasingly contested concept, as reflected in ordinary language and the writing of national histories. A scholarly debate over anti-aristocratic prejudice between the historians Anders Fryxell and Erik Gustaf Geijer in the 1840s illustrates contemporary concerns to define the Swedish aristocracy and its relation to the nation. The debate gave rise to a persistent yet adaptable dualistic view of history, enduring well into the twentieth century. Historians portrayed monarchs, aristocrats, nobles, and peasants in a dualistic manner, dividing social groups into two oppositional forces. By emphasising the agency of freeholding peasants, notions of a Swedish Sonderweg were reinforced, facilitating the conceptualisation of peasant aristocrats. In tracing this historical trajectory, the article demonstrates how the meaning of aristocracy has evolved in response to scholarly objectives and historiographical trends.

Hösten 2021 infördes ett nytt examensmål för lärarutbildningarna rörande lärarstudenternas förmåga att ”kommunicera och reflektera kring frågor som rör identitet, sexualitet och relationer”. För att våra studenter ska kunna uppfylla detta mål har vi inom historieämnet på ämneslärarutbildningen vid Örebro universitet infört ett obligatoriskt moment i form av en muntlig rollspelsövning. I denna text diskuterar vi möjligheterna att stärka studenters kompetens i att genomföra historiska samtal om ämnen som kan upplevas som känsliga, fördjupa deras förmåga att leda pedagogiska samtal och utveckla deras kommunikativa utsträckning integrera muntliga övningar inom högre utbildning.

Heated discussion and challenging silence: Learning to lead conversations about identity, sexuality and relationships

In 2021, a new requirement for obtaining a teacher’s certificate was added to the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance. Students must now demonstrate an ability to “communicate and reflect on issues regarding identity, sexuality and relationships”. In a history course within the teacher education programme at Örebro University, we have developed an obligatory roleplay exercise focused on verbal communication to meet this requirement. Here, we discuss how the role-play exercise can develop students’ communicative abilities and strengthen their competencies in leading group discussions on issues potentially perceived as sensitive. Like our students, we recognize the value of incorporating verbal, communicative exercises into the curriculum to a higher degree. 

This book examines how dukeship – the position of being a duke – was defined and negotiated in Sweden between the late 1550s and the early 1620s. The aim is to shed light on how the structural problem of royal spares, with dukes as pillars and perils of hereditary monarchy, influenced politics and the integration process of a ruling house. Through an institutional biography approach and a critical perspective on dynasty, the book considers how dukes, kings, and their associates interacted with dukeship by making claims to define its meaning, norms, and im-plications. These claims are seen as expressions of self-identification, categorisation, and legitimation, which are linked to processes of dynastic securing, centralisation, decentralisation, participation, and distanc-ing. In the study, a wide range of sources are examined: testaments, genealogies, ceremonial instructions and accounts, oaths, letters, Diet minutes and statutes, marriage contracts, speeches, sermons, court articles, and the material culture of burial sites. The book shows the diverse ways in which dukeship was continuously negotiated for as long as the ducal positions existed. The malleability and pervasiveness of structures and norms that characterised dukeship and its practices of negotiation are uncovered. The study also demonstrates how notions of lineages and houses – or dynasty – functioned as a symbolic resource in the political bargaining of rulership. The negotiation of dukeship was thus an integral part of the early modern bargaining state and shaped early modern integration processes of the state as well as the royal house. The critical dynastic perspective on dukeship challenges views of the early modern period and its political practices derived from purely statist outlooks. The study compels historians to critically rethink concepts, chronologies, and causes of change that are commonly invoked to make sense of early modern politics and integration processes.