Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna (February 18, 1635 – June 10, 1680) was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

.

Biography

He completed his studies at Uppsala University

Uppsala University

Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...

 and then visited most of the European states, which laid the foundation for his deep insight into international politics which afterwards distinguished him. On his return home he met King Charles X in the Danish islands and was in close attendance upon him till the monarch's death in 1660.

He began his political career at the diet which assembled in the autumn of the same year. An aristocrat by birth, he nevertheless belonged to a family which had not benefitted from the lavishness of recent regimes. Both personal interest and patriotism thus contributed to his zeal for the recovery of the crown lands and for strengthening the crown against the aristocratic families.

In the Upper House he was the spokesman of the gentry against the magnates, whose inordinate privileges he sought to curtail or abolished. His adversaries vainly endeavoured to gain his favour, for as court-marshal and senator he was still more hostile to the dominant patricians who followed the adventurous policy of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...

. Thus he opposed the French alliance which de la Gardie carried through in 1672 and consistently advocated economy in domestic and neutrality in foreign affairs.

On the outbreak of the Scanian War

Scanian War

The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

 in 1675 he was the most loyal and energetic supporter of the young king Charles XI

Charles XI of Sweden

Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....

 and finally became his indispensable counsellor. Indeed, it may be said that the political principles which he instilled into the youthful monarch were faithfully followed by Charles during the whole of his reign.

In 1679 Gyllenstierna was appointed the Swedish plenipotentiary at the peace congress of Lund

Peace of Lund

The Peace of Lund, signed on 16 September / 26 September 1679, was the final peace treaty between Denmark-Norway and the Swedish Empire in the Scanian War.The war had started when Sweden on French initiative attacked Brandenburg-Prussia...

. The alliance which he then concluded with Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 bound the two northern realms together in a common foreign policy, and he sought to facilitate their harmonious co-operation by every means possible. In 1680, after bringing home Charles XI's Danish bride from Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, he was appointed governor-general of Scania (Skåne), but died a few weeks later.