Lady Ingeborg Åkesdotter Tott or 'Ingeborg Aagesdotter of the Thott' (Year of birth unknown –December 1507), in her lifetime called Ingeborg Åkesdotter or simply Fru Ingeborg (Lady Ingeborg), was a Swedish noble, the consort of the Swedish regent Sten Sture the elder (reign 1470–97 and 1501–03). She was the fiefholder of Häme in Finland. She functioned as the de facto queen consort of Sweden for over three decades and participated in state affairs during the reign of her spouse.
Early life
Ingeborg was the daughter of the Danish noble and riksråd Aage Axelsson Tott (1405–1477), governor of Örebro Castle in Sweden, and the Swedish noble Märtha Bengtsdotter of the Vinstorpa family (d. 1480). She belonged to the elite of Dano-Swedish nobility at the time and was related to the infamous Brita Tott.
In 1464, she was engaged to marry the Norwegian noble Hans Sigurdsen, son of the Norwegian drots, noble Sigurd Jonsen, but he died before they were married. In 1467 she married the Swedish noble Sten Sture the elder. The marriage produced no heirs. Sten Sture was the nephew of King Charles VIII of Sweden through his mother, and the paternal uncle of Ingeborg, Ivar Axelsson Tott, was the son-in-law of Charles VIII by his marriage to Princess Magdalena of Sweden.
Wife of the regent
In 1470, Sten Sture the elder was elected Regent of Sweden after the death of his uncle Charles VIII. While Sten became the King in all but name, she was equally given the position of queen in all but name as the first lady in rank in the Swedish court. The court of Sten and Ingeborg was described as a jolly one.
In 1476, she was granted equal inheritance as her brothers after their parents.
Political influence
Ingeborg has been described as a wise, brave and intellectually capable character, and the equal match of her spouse. The marriage was described as happy. In the correspondence between regent Sten and Ingeborg, the regent referred to her as ('my heart's dearest friend and comrade'), and she was entrusted by him with participation in state affairs. Ingeborg became known for her loyalty toward Sten and Sweden against her birth country Denmark. In the absence of Sten, Ingeborg, according to the chronicles, ruled wisely over fortresses and counties. Her political involvement is apparent from her correspondence with Sten. In 1503, for example, a letter is preserved with the message that he had received her report, that a meeting between the Hanseatic League and the Danish monarch was to take place, information she had extracted from a ship from Lübeck, and he gave her the task to find out when and where this meeting was to take place.
During the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471, Ingeborg called the poor of Stockholm to the Royal Castle of Tre Kronor, where she distributed food among them in exchange for their prayers of victory for the Swedes over the Danes, after which she and her ladies-in-waiting watched the battle from the castle wall, praying for victory.
In 1483, during the absence of the Regent on Gotland, a riot took place in Stockholm, when the noble Sten Kristiansson Oxentstierna murdered a commoner, and the public tried to lynch him as retaliation. On this occasion, Ingeborg ventured out upon the street in an attempt to calm the situation, but she fell to the ground and was almost trampled to death in the crowd. Upon the return of the Regent, he became so agitated by this incident that he had to be prevented by the council from exacting revenge upon the city. Reportedly, his warning to the city of Stockholm on this occasion kept the peace in the city for the remainder of his reign.
Patronage
Ingeborg showed an interest in science, theology and education. In 1477, she encouraged the foundation of the first secular university in Sweden, the Uppsala University. She acted as a patron of science and literature, and gave donations to finance libraries and the printing and translations of books. Ingeborg commissioned the by Alanus de Rupe, which was completed in 1498. She also took an interest in religion. She and acted as the patron of the Order of the Carmelites as the benefactor of the Carmelite convent of Varberg, which was founded by her father. In 1493, she acted as the patron of the first convent of the Carthusian Order in Sweden, the Carthusian convent of Mariefred.
Interlude and second regency
In 1497, the nominal union with Denmark was again made a fact when John, King of Denmark, was elected King of Sweden. Thereby, Sten lost his position of Regent. Sten and Ingeborg left for Finland, where they held a grand court at Tavastehus Castle.