  count erik jÃ¶nsson dahlbergh (10 october 1625 â 16 january 1703) was a swedish engineer, soldier, and field marshal. he was born of peasant stock but he eventually rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. he was renown for fortification works and was called the "vauban of sweden". == life == erik dahlbergh was born of peasant stock in stockholm, sweden, but rose to the level of titled nobility due to his military abilities. his early studies involved the science of fortification and as an engineer officer. orphaned at an early age, erik's studies qualified him as a scribe and in 1641 he found employment with gert rehnskiÃ¶ld, the senior accountant for pommern and mecklenburg. during his six years he was taught the fundamentals in draughtsmanship and stood out for his ability to draw. while learning these skills, he also intensely studied mathematics, architecture, perspective and map drawing. in 1650, the military command dispatched dahlbergh to frankfurt to recoup war indemnity awarded to sweden following the end of the thirty years' war and the treaty of westphalia. dahlbergh contacted the publishing firm of merian and provided topographical maps. in 1635 matthÃ¤us merian the elder initiated the theatrum europaeum, a series of contemporary chronicles published until 1732. both works, the theatrum europaeum and the topographical prints, were continued following the death of mattheus merian in 1650 by his sons and stepsons.  he attempted several unsuccessful pilgrimages to palestine and jerusalem both by sea and land. while studying art in italy, news reached him of a coming war between sweden and poland-lithuania and he saw a the potential for a military career and he rode from rome to stettin in 23 days. in his military career, dahlbergh saw service in poland where he probably witnessed the fighting at the second battle of warsaw and survived a plague which nearly killed him. as adjutant-general and engineering adviser to charles x of sweden, he had a great share in the famous crossing of the frozen belts, and at the sieges of copenhagen and kronborg where he 
1625_births 1703_deaths 17th-century_Swedish_people 17th-century_cartographers 17th-century_soldiers County_governors_of_Sweden Field_marshals_of_Sweden Governors-General_of_Sweden People_from_Stockholm Swedish_cartographers Swedish_military_engineers Swedish_military_personnel_of_the_Great_Northern_War Swedish_nobility