Anna Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734–1801) was a Swedish fortune-teller during the reign of Gustav III of Sweden. She was commonly known as "Mamsell Arfvidsson" (Mademoiselle Arfvidsson).

[edit] Biography

Ulrica Arfvidsson was the daughter of a caretaker of the royal palace, Erik Lindberg and Anna Katarina Burgin. After the death of her father, her mother remarried a chef of the royal household, Arfvid Arfvidsson, in 1740, and Ulrica grew up comfortably in an environment where she heard many rumours and gossip of the higher circles in society. She became well-informed about things which many people outside of the court would like to know. Ulrica is described as an intelligent woman with a sharp talent, well-developed intuition, and always very up-to-date about everything in society.

Not much is known of her earlier life. It seems she had run away from home (since she was sought via a newspaper advertisement), but in 1780, she had become known as a fortune-teller, and her clientèle quickly came from all walks of society. She is mentioned in many memoirs, such as diary notes of the 1780s and 1790s, and her methods were described as using coffee and cards for her readings. She was most likely active as a professional medium before 1780. The Gustavian age was a great age for fortune tellers and mediums.

She lived on Lästmakargatan not far from Johannis Church and hidden away in an alley where mainly poor people ("blind and crippled women" ^[1] lived, in order for her customers to come to her discreetly. She was said to have two maids as assistants; one of them, Adrecka Dordi, was of African origin, which was seen as exotic. She stayed with Ulrica until at least 1800, and is sometimes described as a "Baptized Turcess from Morocco".

Mamsell Arfvidsson enjoyed great popularity within the aristocracy and it was said that she was never wrong, and that her predictions became more and more accurate every year. Speculation about her background pointed her out both as an eloped noblewoman and as with from Finland. In 1783, she received a visit from Carl August Ehrensvärd and the General-Admiral Trolle in disguise. She looked into the coffee, revealed their identities and stated that Ehresnvärd would replace Trolle in his postilion. This was not likely, as Ehrensvärd was not appointed as the replacement of Trolle. But in 1784, Trolle died during the king's visit to Italy, and the king had left a letter saying that Ehrensvärd would be his replacement if Trolle should die.

In 1786, (other sources say^{[citation needed]} it was in December 1788), she received an anonymous visit from the king, who pretended to be someone else. She pretended not to know him and predicted a lot of things for him and his escort count Jacob De la Gardie. She warned him about the man in a mask with a sword; in 1792, the king was assassinated at a masqued ball by Jacob Johan Anckarström who shot the king from behind. She told the king: "Beware of the man with a sword you will meet this evening, for he aspires to take your life."^[2]

When the king and the count had paid her and left for the royal palace, they saw no one suspicious; the count told the king not to care about what she had said but he answered: "But she have told me some many other things, that has already come true!" ^[2] After this, they entered the palace, and in the stairs, they met a man with a sword coming out of the apartment of his sister-in-law Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte duchess of Södermanland, consort of the kings brother, the future Charles XIII of Sweden, who was suspected of conspiring against him; The man was Adolph Ludvig Ribbing, one of the men who took part in the murder of the king in 1792. The king later asked Arfvidsson for advice during the war of 1788-1790.

Her unofficial power was even greater; she had a very wide net of informers giving her information from all over society, from the royal household to private homes; she was said to be an informer to the police, and she was asked about for political advice by several officials and members of the royal family, especially by duke Charles, the future king Charles XIII of Sweden. After the murder of Gustav III, the chief of the police, Henrik Liljensparre, interviewed her about the tension and the thoughts in the circles of high class opposition, and she is said to have been of some assistance in the investigation.

After the assassination in 1792, she became less asked about, some say people were scared away because of her prediction of the murder of the king, and she died of poverty.

Ulrica Arfvidsson is perhaps the most famous fortune-teller in Swedish history. Another famed occultist in about the same circumstances was Elin Håkansson, who had the ear of both Charles XI of Sweden and Charles XII of Sweden in the 17th century Stockholm.

[edit] Ulrica Arfvidsson in Culture

Ulrica Arfvidsson is a character in Daniel Auber's opera Gustave III and Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. She is also mentioned in the famed novel "Drottningens juvelsmycke" ("The Queens Jewel") by Carl Jonas Love Almquist.

[edit] See also

• Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou

[edit] References

1. ^ Source of reference
2. ^ ^{a b} * Erland Ros: Biography Digitalized version of Strövtåg i S:t Johannes församling (Trips through the congregation of Saint John) (Swedish)

• Erland Ros: Biography Digitalized version of Strövtåg i S:t Johannes församling (Trips through the congregation of Saint John) (Swedish)
• Wilhelmina Stålberg and P. G. Berg [1]: digitalized version of Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor (Notes on Swedish women) (Swedish)
• Peter Englund: Förflutenhetens landskap (The country of past times) (Swedish)
• Nils Bohman: Svenska män och kvinnor. 1, A-B (Swedish men and women. Book 1, from A to B, Reference-book) (Swedish)
• http://www.archive.org/stream/svenskafolketsun07grimuoft/svenskafolketsun07grimuoft_djvu.txt (Swedish)
• Carl Rimberg: Svenska Folkets underbara öden. Gustav III:s och Gustav IV Adolfs tid (The wonderous destinys of the Swedish people. The age of Gustav III and Gustav IV Adolf) (Swedish)