Jacob De la Gardie

Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie (Reval, 20 June 1583 – Stockholm, 22 August 1652) was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward. 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. Biography Antoine Marie Jacob De la Gardie was born in Reval (today Tallinn), Estonia (then part of the Swedish Empire), as a son of Pontus De la Gardie and Sofia Johansdotter Gyllenhielm, the illegitimate daughter of King John III of Sweden. His mother died giving birth, and his father perished two years later in Narva. From his age two onward, Jacob was raised in the Vääksy manor, Kangasala, Finland (then part of Sweden proper) by his grandmother Karin Hansdotter (Finnish: Kaarina Hannuntytär), the mistress of King John III. As a young adult, De la Gardie was held prisoner in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for four years, together with Carl Gyllenhielm. After being released, De la Gardie took part of the Dutch Revolt as a volunteer. In 1606–1608, De la Gardie served under the Dutch general Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange. Impressed with the Dutch way of waging war, De la Gardie began introducing Dutch methods into the Swedish army upon his return to the service of Sweden.