Karl Edvard von Hessenstein

1737–1769

Born: 12 Nov 1737, Stockholm
Country of birth: Sweden
Died: 2 Apr 1769, Paris

facts: 8
sources: 1
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Facts and their sources

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Birth12 Nov 1737, StockholmProbable1 source
Titleregiment commander, 1747–1769Confirmed1 source
Death2 Apr 1769, ParisProbable1 source
ParentFrederick I of SwedenConfirmed1 source
ParentHedvig TaubeConfirmed1 source

A life in time

12 Nov 1737
Born · Stockholm
Birth, Stockholm
1747–1769
Event · regiment commander
Event
2 Apr 1769
Died · Paris
Death, Paris

What was it like?

The world around Stockholm, 1737: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Karl was born around the same time as Carl Michael Bellman, Isabelle de Charrière, and Giovanni Paisiello.

Known for

Titles held

regiment commander1747–1769

Born around the same time

Carl Michael Bellman
1740 · Swedish poet, songwriter and composer (1740–1795)
Isabelle de Charrière
1740 · Dutch French-language writer and composer (1740-1805)
Giovanni Paisiello
1740 · Italian composer of the Classical era (1740-1816)
Samuel Arnold
1740 · English composer and organist (1740-1802)
James Watt
1736 · British engineer (1736–1819)
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
1736 · Mathematician and astronomer (1736–1813)

Fashion

Festive men's leather breeches

For festive occasions, men in some areas wore leather breeches tied below the knee with colorful, tasseled ribbons and knee-high boots with red heels.

Ribbons for unmarried women’s hair

In 1749, unmarried women in Virestad often wore their hair uncovered, decorated with various braided ribbons made of red cloth, black velvet, or silver glitter.

Music

Folk instruments and church singing style

Common folk instruments in this period included the nyckelharpa, hurdy-gurdy, and drums, while country church congregational singing was often described by clergy as shrill and heterophonous.

Rural wedding festivities lasted days

In rural Swedish wedding customs during this era, celebrations often spanned from Sunday to Wednesday, with dancing starting after the first evening meal. Couples typically danced two dances at a time, such as a minuet and a polska, or two polskas.

Getting around

Special saddles for women riders

Women commonly used special saddles (tvärsadlar) for travel, which allowed them to sit with both legs on the same side of the horse, rather than riding astride.

Travel by horseback and packhorse trails

In the early to mid-1700s, riding on horseback or walking were the standard ways to travel long distances, while goods were often transported using packhorses (klövjehästar) on trails because many roads were too poor for wheeled vehicles.

Daily life

Cooking with the large iron pot

The large iron or bronze cooking pot remained the primary tool for preparing food in most households throughout this period. In many rural homes, these pots were among the most expensive individual items owned.

Self-sufficient rural households without schools

Schools did not exist in the countryside, and households were responsible for producing everything needed for daily life, including tools and clothing. Medical care was also absent in rural areas, leading families to rely on traditional home remedies found in household books.

Food

Grain-based diet and survival mixtures

Ordinary Swedish families relied on a grain-based diet, consuming bread, porridge, and gruel as their primary energy sources. To extend limited grain supplies during spring, common people frequently mixed their flour with alternative ingredients like chaff, bark, or various plants.

Salted food and diluted beer consumption

Food was often heavily salted for preservation, particularly meat and fish, which provided essential protein alongside dairy. People commonly drank large quantities of beer, often diluted with water, as a standard daily beverage.

Prices and wages

Around 1725–1735

Cost of a cow and rye

A cow cost 30 daler kopparmynt in 1725, while a barrel of rye cost 18 daler kopparmynt in 1735.

Rising cost of rye relative to wages

Between 1770 and 1784, the price of rye was 31 percent higher relative to the wages of day-workers compared to the period of 1735 to 1744.

Work

Reduction of work-free holidays

By the mid-18th century, the number of work-free holidays had been reduced significantly, requiring the annually employed to work more days to support their families.

Spinning as supplemental income

Spinning was a common but low-paid way to earn extra income, and it was often performed at home during winter months when darkness and cold limited other types of agricultural labor.

During their lifetime

1738
Introduction of road labor corvee
In 1738, the crown introduced the corvee, a system of forced labor requiring peasants to build and maintain the royal roads.
1748
Abolition of the royal galleys
In 1748, King Louis XV abolished the galleys, transferring convicts to coastal prisons or ships, ending a long-standing form of harsh penal servitude.
1756
Mass confiscation of illegal distilleries in 1756
The government ordered the confiscation of all private aquavit manufacturing equipment, rounding up approximately 180,000 illegal distilleries across the country.
1766
Freedom of the press act passed in 1766
Sweden passed the world's first freedom of the press act, which granted citizens the right to publish their opinions and access official government documents.

Family

Parents

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.