Ingelise Nielsen: The paper in Leonora Christina's 'Jammers Minde' [Misery Recollected].

One of the strongest women in Danish history was Countess Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark and wife of Prime Minister Corfitz Ulfeldt. In 1663 she was arrested on charges of treason and spent 22 years imprisoned in The Blue Tower at Copenhagen Castle.

Leonora Christina herself vividly described her years of imprisonment in her book, "Jammers Minde" (Misery Recollected). Since the original handwritten document surfaced in Copenhagen in 1868, it has been the object of repeated discussion as to how it came into being. Was part or the whole of the book written while Leonora Christina was incarcerated in the The Blue Tower, or was it written or revised at Maribo Abbey where she lived during her later years until her death in 1698?

In connection with a critical scientific publication of "Jammers Minde" in 1998, a historical study of the watermarks in the paper of the original document was made. It transpires that at least five of the eight types of paper originate from paper mills in the Angoumois areas of south-western France. It was also possible to identify some of the paper manufacturers from countermarks in the paper. It has hitherto not been possible to identify the origin of the paper type on which the final part of the document is written.

In 2009 a new historical study was undertaken, focusing on the extent to which the types of paper used in "Jammers Minde" are used in other archive material from Copenhagen Castle dated from 1663 to 1685, i.e. the period during which Leonora Christina was imprisoned there.