Hans Lagerberg’s book digs into the truth about Jöran Persson
Published at 04:00
“A wicked man at heart” by Hans Lagerberg
We don’t know how Joran Persson looked, but we know that he was born in Sala around the year 1530 and that he was the son of a priest. At the age of six, the family moved to Stockholm, whose biggest employer was the castle.
The king’s name was Gustav Vasa and like the other princes of Europe at this time, he had begun a nation-building that required a professionalization of the state. The nobility lost its monopoly on violence at the same time as the growing administration needed educated people. Suddenly, the children of the middle class and priests’ children could compete with the descendants of the nobility for positions in the state administration.
One of them was the young Jöran Persson, who was allowed to study in Wittenberg. Back home, he was connected first to Gustav Vasa’s office and then to the crown prince who in 1560 became Eric XIV.
Jöran Persson was considered unusually capable and he quickly advanced to secretary and procurator, but in 1568 he was executed and has since been the symbol of “the evil adviser”. Is it a fair verdict? wondering Hans Lagerberg in the personal biography “An evil man at heart”.
Lagerberg uncovers what the sources allow about this neglected man, but the book is bigger than that. With a sure hand, Lagerberg guides the reader through the rise of capitalism, the new cultural and human view of the civilization process and the strife within the Swedish nobility.
The latter are not to be trifled with. The Sturars in particular have difficulty accepting the new order of time, but so do Erik XIV’s brothers. The intrigues are sometimes tricky, I advise the reader to take help from the introductory character gallery.
Eric XIV, he too slandered by posterity, had a fragile position and was also fragile in spirit. Internal strife, failed war adventures, a high-octane conflict with Ivan the horrific and mental illness ended in tragic chaos. However, the process of state formation was not inhibited, which is important to remember. How much was the king’s fault and how much responsibility did Jöran Persson have? Was he the one who decided or was he just obeying the king’s orders?
According to Carl Grimberg – that this dark blue history activist is included in the Tidö government’s cultural canon is self-evident – Jöran Persson was pretty much the devil himself and others have nodded in agreement. Persson has suffered the same fate as his contemporary Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s nearest man. (The dramatization of Hilary Mantels romance suite Wolf Hall can be seen for a while on SVT, don’t miss it.) Both were competent and corrupt, but also rarely loyal. Both were also upstarts.
Like a thread of steel runs through history, the conservatives’ class contempt for the ignoble names that have managed to get into the corridors of power. This is how it goes, when creti and pleti get to eat in! That Erik XIV also flirted Karin Månsdotter to queen only reinforces the matter.
“One in the heart mean man” makes me think about our fascination with the “evil advisers” in the writing of history and popular culture. Perhaps one is attracted by the idea of being able to advance just as far, but one also enjoys the fact that those who succeed get kicked on the ass. The Jantelagen gets in the way of an objective assessment of the individual person, and it is precisely such abuses that Hans Lagerberg wants to free Jöran Persson from.
Lagerberg twists and turns the evidence about Persson’s alleged corruption and brutality, sometimes perhaps with a slightly cloudy lens. However, he is nowhere near Börje Ahlstedtwho in 1981 played Jöran Persson in the TV series “Liten Karin”, and thought he sensed a Swedish Salvador Allende.
With Hans Lagerberg’s efforts, Jöran Persson may finally be able to rest in peace. And may the rest of us be inspired by daring to give all of history’s sleazy and sleazy little vomits a new and fair trial.
Åsa Linderborg is a senior reporter at Aftonbladet and a critic on the culture side.
HISTORY
» “A wicked man at heart”. Jöran Persson: power play, intrigue and the verdict of history
Hans Lagerberg
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