Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock

Who was Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock?

Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock was a Swedish noble and lady-in-waiting; daughter of Count Erik Stenbock and related to queen Katarina Stenbock; sister of the political salonist Magdalena Stenbock. She was described as beautiful and well educated and could speak French, German and Italian. She was the lady-in-waiting of the queen dowager, Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp.

Stenbock caused a great conflict of rank at the royal court when she demanded precedence in etiquette before another lady-in-waiting, Johan Göransson Gyllenstiernas sister Ingeborg Gyllenstierna, despite Gyllenstierna being senior as a lady-in-waiting: "on the grounds that she was the daughter of a Count and a lord of the state, while Ingeborg was the mere daughter of a Baron, admiral and governor”. The queen dowager judged the matter in favour of Stenbock, which meant that Stenbock had in fact changed the etiquette of precedence at court. It was considered that the conflicts among the nobles at the royal court cause by this had political consequences: ” and thus this battle of etiquette were among the motivation as to why the great reduction were so swiftly and strictly conducted” by Johan Gyllenstierna, who became the enemy of Stenbock and her family.