Johan Oxenstierna

Johan Oxenstierna was the head of the Swedish delegation in Onsabrück. Since his father, Axel, was chancellor of the realm and carried out a private correspondence with him, Johan enjoyed a particularly strong position with regard to his lower-ranking colleague, Johan Adler Salvius. On the other hand, Salvius was older and far more experienced as a diplomat (Johan had been present at the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf, but this could not compare with the two decades or so that Salvius had spent in foreign courts); in addition, Salvius enjoyed the favour of Queen Christina, who gradually began to assert her authority as the Congress of Westphalia progressed. Johan Oxenstierna was, furthermore, disagreeable in the extreme and was frequently drunk. In the end, therefore, his role in the negotiations was overshadowed by Salvius’s.