Filippa Fleming

Filippa Eriksdotter Fleming (died 1578) was a Finnish noble and landowner.

Family

She was born to Erik Fleming and Hebbla Siggesdotter, was the sister of Joakim Fleming and Klas Fleming, and niece of Valborg Fleming. She was the heir of a large number of estates in both Sweden proper as well as Swedish Finland, among them Yläne manor in Pöytis in Finland, which were her prime residence.

Will

Fleming is known for her will, in which she bequeathed Yläne manor to John III of Sweden, her estates in Sweden proper to her niece Anna Fleming, and her remaining estates to her betrothed, Knut Jönsson Kurck.

Both the fact that she issued a will and that it was accepted was exceptional: being an unmarried female rather than a widow, she had no formal right to make a will at all, and additionally, it was in any case breaking the law by excluding her brother from his inheritance.

References

• Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)
• Frälsesläkter i Finland intill stora ofreden /
• Frälsesläkter i Finland intill stora ofreden
• Anu Lahtinen: Arkea ja juhlaa Flemingien mailla
• Conciliatory, negotiating, insubordinate women. Female agency in the Fleming family, 1470–1620

Further reading

• Lahtinen, Anu (2018). "The Will of Filippa Fleming 1578 Family Relations and Swedish Inheritance Law". In Korpiola, Mia; Lahtinen, Anu (eds.). Planning for Death: Wills and Death-Related Property Arrangements in Europe, 1200–1600. Medieval Law and Its Practice. BRILL. ISBN 9789004365704.