Anders Fryxell on the life of Arnold Messenius

Source:

Berättelser ur svenska historien, nionde delen: Drottning Kristina, första afdelningen, pages 145 to 146, by Anders Fryxell, 1841

https://runeberg.org/svhistfry/9/0157.html

The account:

TJUGONDE KAPITLET.

OM ARNOLD MESSENIUS, SONEN.

Arnold Messenius, äldsta sonen af Arnold Johan Messenius och dess första hustru, föddes på Kexholms fästning år 1629. Ehuru lika som far och farfar utrustad med liflig fattningsgåfva, blef han likväl icke hållen till allvarsammare studier, utan åtnjöt en så kallad adelig uppfostran, mest beräknad för hof- och krigstjenst. Wid aderton års ålder antogs han till kammarsven hos pfaltsgrefven Karl Gustaf, hvilken han någon tid åtföljde under dess vistande i Tyskland; sedermera kom han till pfaltsgrefvens bror, Adolf Johan. Sommaren 1651 skildes han derifrån och skulle under två års tid resa utrikes för att fullkomna sig i adeliga öfningar. Han erhöll af Karl Gustaf löfte att årligen bekomma 400 riksdaler till understöd på resan; men ämnade innan dess för någon tid begifva sig till Uppsala och der som förberedelse inhämta närmare kännedom af befästningskonsten.

Under en pfaltsgrefvens resa genom Södermanland, hade den åtföljande unga Messenius sjuknat och blifvit till vård upptagen af kyrkoherden Kristofer i Fors, densamme, som vid riksdagen 1650 utmärkte sig genom häftiga och politiska predikningar. Under tillfrisknandet fattade Messenius liflig kärlek till herr Kristofers dotter, så att han ämnade fria; men hvarken fadern eller flickan voro honom benägna. Likväl fortfor han att tillskrifva henne underliga och öfverspända bref; ty äfven hos denne yngling röjde sig Messeniska slägtens besynnerliga och häftiga sinnelag.

English translation (my own):

CHAPTER TWENTY.

ABOUT ARNOLD MESSENIUS, THE SON.

Arnold Messenius, the eldest son of Arnold Johan Messenius and his first wife, was born at Kexholm fortress in 1629. Although, like his father and grandfather, he was endowed with a lively gift of intellect, he was nevertheless not given to serious studies, but enjoyed a so-called noble upbringing, mostly calculated for court and military service. At the age of eighteen he was accepted as a chamberlain to Count Palatine Karl Gustav, whom he accompanied for some time during his stay in Germany; later he came to the Count Palatine's brother, Adolf Johan.

In the summer of 1651 he left from there and was to travel abroad for two years to perfect himself in noble exercises. He received from Karl Gustav a promise to receive 400 riksdalers annually as support on the journey; but he intended before that to go to Uppsala for some time and there, as a preparation, to acquire a closer knowledge of the art of fortification.

During a journey of the Count Palatine through Södermanland, the accompanying young Messenius had fallen ill and was taken into care by the vicar Christoffer of Fors, the same one who distinguished himself at the Riksdag in 1650 by his fiery and political sermons. During his recovery, Messenius fell in love with Mr. Christoffer's daughter, so much so that he intended to propose; but neither the father nor the girl were inclined to him. Nevertheless, he continued to write strange and exaggerated letters to her, for even in this young man the peculiar and fiery disposition of the Messenian family was revealed.

Notes: Arnold Johan Messenius' first wife = Valborg Abrahamsdotter (died circa 1645).

The city of Kexholm is now Priozersk and has been a part of Russia again since 1721. Its name in Finnish is Käkisalmi, and in Karelian it is Kägöisalmi.