Introduction

When he arrived in Stockholm in early October 1671, the Danish traveller Corfitz Braem took the opportunity to take a close look at the rapidly growing Swedish capital. Churches, bridges, palaces, and other noteworthy buildings were part of his itinerary, as were dinners and socializing with assorted nobles. On 17 December, Braem made his way to one of the more lavish buildings in the city, on the waterfront opposite the royal palace of Tre Kronor. It was more palace than mansion, once built by the leading military figure Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie and now in the possession of his equally influential son, the Chancellor of the Realm Magnus Gabriel, and it struck Braem as ‘a delightful building with well-furnished chambers’, with spacious halls for entertaining, audiences, and meetings, all in the service of the expanding Swedish realm. ¹ The De la Gardie palace in Stockholm, popularly called Makalös (unequalled), was a conspicuous manifestation of political power.