Antikvarier i stormaktens tjänst: Antikvitetskollegiet 1666–1692, ledarskap, organisation och nätverk i en ny administrativ era

Abstract

Antiquarians in the service of a great power: Sweden’s Board of Antiquities 1666–1692, leadership, organisation, and networks in a new administrative era

This article examines the organisation of Sweden’s Board of Antiquities, Antikvitetskollegium, which the Lord High Chancellor Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie commissioned in 1666 to investigate the prehistoric monuments and ancient artefacts of the realm, as well to publish works on Swedish history, Icelandic sagas, legal history, and numismatics. The Swedish Empire (1611–1721) saw the state expand quickly in both territory and bureaucracy, and this article explores the position of the Board of Antiquities in this expanding administration. While earlier research has investigated the use of history to legitimise the expanding power of the Swedish state and provide it with a glorious past, this article clarifies how the Board of Antiquities was organised – its leadership, terms of employment, and position in the state administration – in light of the theory of how a knowledge elite develops distinct fields of expertise, placing it in the framework of the early modern state.

The analysis reveals that the leadership of the Board of Antiquities was not determined by appointment or rank, but rather that Johan Hadorph emerged as its leader by taking on a range of functions and creating the necessary networks and connections. By travelling to investigate prehistoric monuments, he was the Board’s representative with local clergy, officials, and the public. By corresponding assiduously with high-ranking officials, he secured and managed the Board’s finances, paying the other staff’s wages. The financial accounts he left show that, beyond the prominent members of the Board, it came to employ a large number of people, including draftsmen, carvers, scribes, and printers. Wages were a challenge throughout the period as the state finances were unreliable, and Hadorph made a conscious effort to achieve a closer connection between wages, contributions, and competence in the antiquarian field. Between 1666 and 1692 the Board of Antiquities came to define what constituted antiquarian competence, and previous work for the Board became a qualification when applying for a position or promotion in the antiquarian field. From around 1680, the Board relocated from Uppsala University to the Royal Chancellery in Stockholm and changed from a collegium of learned men to an antiquarian workshop with a clear leader who managed a group of individuals with specialised competence in the antiquarian field.