Sven Rospigg, adlad Eketrä. Född i Påvalsböle, Kemiö, Finland.

Häradshövding i Värmdö och Åkers tingslag.

Ståthållare på Viborg och Nyslott.

Död 1626.

Ref 712. Sven Månsson Eketrä, Slottsfogde. Född på Påvalsböle i Kimito Finland. Vigd med Anders Hanssons änka.

Barn:

• Märta f. 1599
• Gustaf f. 1600
• Johan d. ä. f. 11 november 1601 d. 30 maj 1652
• Peder f. 1603
• Margareta f. 1610
• Barbro f. 1612

Källa: E och SoH 1989 sida 68-70.

Var 1584 Johan III:s kammartjänare. Om han sedan också var son till Johan III genom ett utomäktenskapligt förhållande under dennes tid i Finland är inte helt klarlagt. Flera indicier tyder på att det skulle vara så men historikerna är inte helt eniga.

Ref. Tidskriften Släkt o Hävd 1989 sida 68-70

Enligt Elgenstierna så skulle Sven Månssons far heta Måns Helgesson som bl a var ladufogde åt Johan III på Kungsbro i Östergötland. Detta kommer förmodligen att vara en omdiskuterad fråga även i framtiden. T. v. har jag inte den kungliga grenen med här då kung Johan III aldrig erkände faderskapet och Sven Rospigg, adlad Eketrä, använde patronymikon efter Måns Helgessons .

Begravd i Värmdö (Stockholms län)

Enligt Finska adelns gods och ätter var Sven son till hertig Magnus av Vasa. N-F Beerståhl var säker på att Johan III var far till Sven Månsson Eketrä. Starka indicier som Sven Månsson Eketräs höga positioner, många privilegier och att han omnämns som wälbyrdig tyder på det."

Controversy about his father

1. The earliest record of Sven indicates he was a child was in the household of Måns Helgesson, bailiff at Kungsbro when Johan III wrote a letter to Måns asking about Sven's education. Sven's patronymic suggests he was Måns' son.
2. There was a near contemporary rumor that Sven was a son of Duke Magnus. Måns Helgesson and later Sven himself were bailiffs at Kungsbro, an estate in Östergötland owned by Duke Magnus.
3. There is a modern theory that Sven was actually the son of King Johan III.

The oldest direct statement about Sven’s paternity says there was a rumor he was an illegitimate son of Duke Magnus. This statement is contained in an entry in Palmskiöldska samlingen (Uppsala universitetsbobliotek). Palmskiöldska samlingen is a collection of 500 volumes of documents collected by Elias Palmskiöld (1667-1719), an archivist.

Neither Elgenstierna nor Hildebrand mentions this evidence in their biographical articles about Sven. Beerståhl argues that Sven’s father was Johan III, but slants his argument by glossing over the details: “Already in the 1600s there was a tradition of Vasa descent reproduced in Palmskiöldska collection.” Berglund, who argues against Beerståhl, fails to mention that there is another, better supported tradition.

The Palmskiöldska entry might be this unsourced statement: "Namnet Eketrä härstammar från en man vid namn Sven Månsson, som stod kungahuset nära och ryktas också vara son till Magnus som i sin tur var son till Gustav Vasa. För sina bedrifter och hjälp åt hertig Karl (Karl IX) blev Sven adlad 1607 och ätten kallades finsk adlig och fick i svenska riddarhuset namnet Eketrä. Adliga ätten nr 137.

(English: The name Eketrä is derived from a man named Sven Månsson, who stood close to the royal family and is also rumored to be the son of Magnus who in turn was the son of King Gustav Vasa. For his achievements and help to Duke Karl (Karl IX) Sven was knighted in 1607 as a Finnish noble and was received into the Swedish House of Nobles under the name Eketrä. Noble family No. 137.)

http://rossi.se/phpGedView/individual.php?pid=I4772&show_change...

There is (apparently) no direct evidence Sven was a son of Måns Helgesson. The evidence is circumstantial. As a child Sven seems to have been in Måns‘ custody, and the patronymic Månsson indicates that Sven’s father was a man named Magnus or Måns. The evidence might be sufficient if not for the early rumor that Sven’s father was Duke Magnus. In fact, it’s not possible to say on the basis of the surviving evidence whether Måns Helgesson was Sven’s father, step-father, or guardian. Hildebrand leaves the question open, reporting Sven’s father as “Måns (Helgesson?)”, but Elgenstierna and Berglund accept Måns Helgesson as Sven’s father with no indication that there is any doubt.

There is (apparently) also no known evidence that Måns Helgesson lived in Finland (or anywhere else except Kungsbro in Östergötland), or that Sven inherited property from him. Måns might have lived for a time in Roslagen, as Sven’s surname Rospigg suggests he spent some part of his early life there. Further, it might be significant that Sven was bailiff at Kungsbro in 1590, the same place where Måns had earlier been steward (ladufogden). One of the criticisms of Hildeband’s research is that he found what he expected to find, then failed to look further. We don’t know when Måns died or who his heirs were.

There is (apparently) also no direct evidence Måns Helgesson was married to Sven’s mother. The evidence here is also circumstantial. Sven’s mother was Barbro Sigfridsdotter. As a child Sven was apparently in the custody of Måns Helgesson, and Sven’s patronymic was Månsson. Therefore Måns Helgesson must have been married to Barbro. This reasoning ignores several problems.

Barbro Sigfridsdotter held a farm at Påvalsby (Finland) in her own name. In 1599 she transferred it to Sven, when he was about 37. Sven later said the farm came to him from his parents.

http://rossi.se/phpGedView/individual.php?pid=I4775&ged=Gustaf_...

Hildebrand takes this to mean the farm belonged to Måns Helgesson, but he overlooked or ignored the problem that Måns’ name never appears in connection with the farm, and his name doesn’t appear on Finnish tax rolls. Further, Hildebrand apparently didn’t know the farm had been held earlier by Sigfrid Olsson, who was probably Barbro's father.

Sources

• Eketrä nr 137 at adelsvapen.com, visited June 15, 2013.
• Johan III:s oäkta son at aforum.genealogi.se, visited June 15, 2013.
• Bengt Hildebrand, Månsson Rospigg (Eketrä) in Svenskt biografiskt lexikon at riksarkivet.se, visited June 15, 2013.
• Karl Axel Karlsson Leijonhufvud till Ekeberg, Svensk adelskalender (1900), 142.
• Query, October 8, 2010: about a house in Stockholm given to Sven Mansson Eketrä by Karl IX.
• Adel. ätten Eketrä, N:o 137 in Svenska adelns ättar-taflor / Afdelning 1 (1858-1864), p. 725 at runeberg.org, visited June 15, 2013.
• Adl. ätten Eketrä, N:o 137 in Sveriges ridderskaps- och adels kalender, 1923, p. 297-298. At Project Runeberg (visited September 5, 2013).
• Sven Månsson Eketrä (Notes tab) at rossi.se, visited June 15, 2013.
• Johan Eketrä (Notes tab) at rossi.se, visited June 15, 2013.