Gustav Skytte
{{Short description|Swedish pirate (1637–1663)}}
{{Infobox pirate
| name = Gustav Adolf Skytte af Duderhoff
| birth_date = 1637
| death_date = 21 April 1663
| image =
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| nickname =
| type = Pirate
| birth_place = Småland, Sweden
| death_place = Jönköping, Sweden
| allegiance =
| serviceyears = 1657–1663
| base of operations = Baltic Sea
| rank =
| commands =
| battles =
| wealth =
| laterwork =
}}
Gustav Adolf Skytte af Duderhof (1637 – 21 April 1663) was a Swedish nobleman. He became a pirate and plundered ships in the Baltic Sea in the years 1657 to 1662.{{cite web|url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/ssne/item.php?id=4921|title = Gustav Adolf Skytte|website= University of St Andrews |author= Steve Murdoch & Alexia Grosjean|access-date=March 1, 2020}}
Biography
Skytte was born at Strömsrum Manor in the parish of Ålems at Mönsterås in Kalmar County, Sweden. His parents were Anna Bielkenstjerna (c. 1617–1663) and Jacob Skytte af Duderhof (1616–1654) who served as governor of Östergötland during 1645–1650. He was the grandson of Swedish governor, Johan Skytte (1577–1645) and nephew of the salonist and poet Vendela Skytte (1608–1629).{{cite web |url= http://www.visitmonsteras.se/Om-Moensteraas/Historia/AAlem |title= Ålems socken |website= Mönsterås kommune |access-date= March 1, 2020 |archive-date= March 20, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200320235038/http://www.visitmonsteras.se/Om-Moensteraas/Historia/AAlem |url-status= dead }}{{cite web|url= https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6030|title=Skytte, släkt|website= Svenskt biografiskt lexikon
|access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://digitaltmuseum.se/021016524478/stromsrums-herrgard-stromsrum-omnamns-forsta-gangen-1312-och-da-som-en |title= Strömsrums herrgård |website= digitaltmuseum.se |access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite web|url= https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Skytte_af_Duderhof_nr_8 |title = Skytte af Duderhof nr 8|website= adelsvapen.com |access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite web|url= https://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0375.html|title =Skytte, Wendela
|website= Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor|year =1864
|access-date=March 1, 2020}}
In 1657, Skytte hired a Dutch ship together with some of his friends. Out on the sea, the noblemen murdered the captain and took over the ship, which they used as a pirate ship, attacking ships in the Baltic Sea. One of his colleagues was his brother-in-law Gustaf Drake (1634–1684) the husband of his sister Christina Anna Skytte (1643–1677). They pursued this secret business from a base in Blekinge, Sweden.
In 1661, he, and other pirates, made a successful raid on a Dutch Bojort off the coast of Bornholm.{{Cite web |title=SvD {{!}} Bloggarkivet {{!}} Fribytaren på Östersjön |url=https://blog.svd.se/historia/2012/03/30/fribytaren-pa-ostersjon/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=blog.svd.se}}
In 1659, Gustav Skytte married Brita Margareta Hamilton, daughter of Colonel Hugo Hamilton (c.1600–1678). In 1662, his pirate activity was exposed. Christina Anna and Gustaf Drake fled the country, but Gustav Skytte was arrested and put on trial. He was convicted of piracy and was executed at Jönköping in 1663.{{cite web|url= https://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0375.html|title = Skytte, Christina Anna|website= Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor
|year = 1864|access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite web|url= https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Mobil/Artikel/17630 |title = Gustaf Drake
|website=Svenskt biografiskt lexikon|access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite web
|url = https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/historyssne/item.php?id=6386
|title = Brita Margaretha Hamilton
|website = University of St Andrews
|author = Steve Murdoch & Alexia Grosjean
|access-date = March 1, 2020
}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/ssne/item.php?id=2582|title = Hugo Hamilton (c. 1607-1678) |website= University of St Andrews |author= Steve Murdoch & Alexia Grosjean|access-date=March 1, 2020}}
Gustav Skytte was featured by Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895) in the 1857 novel The Freebooter of the Baltic (Fribytaren på Östersjön Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag).{{cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/fribyt/|title = Fribytaren på Östersjön af Viktor Rydberg |website= runeberg.org
|access-date=March 1, 2020}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Other sources
- {{cite web |url=https://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0375.html |title=Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor |work=Project Runeberg website |year=1864 |access-date=2009-07-21 |language=Swedish}}
- {{cite book |author=Gustaf Elgenstierna |author-link=Gustaf Elgenstierna |year=1925–36 |title=Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor med tillägg och rättelser |language=Swedish}}
{{Pirates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skytte, Gustav}}
Category:People from Mönsterås Municipality
Category:17th-century Swedish nobility
Category:Executed Swedish people
Category:People executed by the Swedish Empire
Category:People executed for piracy
Category:17th-century executions by Sweden