page_title: Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
section_title: 1660–1672: In the regency
hierarchical_section_title: Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie / Biography / Career / 1660–1672: In the regency
context_page_description: 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 Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.
context_section_description: De la Gardie was the most renowned and influential among the regency members, although he was often challenged. This  may have been due to the fact that he was, reportedly, unable to work enough, and that he often left the court to spend significant time on his different estates, a disadvantage for both the government and De la Gardie's own position of power.
  Being experienced and having many important relationships, he was a prominent member of a regency but he looked too much to the past and the traditions during the Thirty Years' War and therefore lacked a vision suitable to the demands of a new era. The regency was divided into parties. De la Gardie was the main representative of the party in favour of warlike adventures and a close relationship to France. The opponents, represented by Lord High Treasurer Gustaf Bonde, Lord High Steward Per Brahe the Younger and Johan Gyllenstierna, were advocates of a more peaceful and economical way. The opinions of De la Gardie's side most often won out and, therefore, Sweden was nearly drawn into wars against Russia and Poland during the regency period.
  Early on in the period, in 1661, Sweden and France had signed a treaty which included a secret paragraph committing Sweden to support the French candidate on the first vacancy of the Polish throne, in exchange for a large sum of money. In April 1672, the two allies signed a new treaty in Stockholm. According to this treaty, Sweden would keep an army of 16,000 men in its German dominions to make sure the German states would not interfere in a war between France and its enemies the Netherlands and Spain. In return, Sweden would receive 400,000 riksdaler annually in peacetime. In wartime, the amount would be increased to 600,000 riksdaler. In a Sweden with great financial problems, these subsidies was, in Count De la Gardie's thinking, a more attractive way to improve the state's finances than a reduction, which would mean that lands granted the nobility would be reclaimed by the Crown.
  De la Gardie himself was responsible for parts of the financial troubles Sweden faced at the time, created by Johan Palmstruch and his paper money. He made several donations from the Crown to himself and used national resources for private matters. Meanwhile, since they did not receive the funds necessary for maintenance, the navy went into decline, and soldiers died or ran away from the army since they did not receive their pay.
caption: Statue of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie in Lidköping
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