Editing Carl Michael Bellman (section)

=== Early life ===
[[File:Daurerska huset 1861.jpg|thumb|left|Bellman's birthplace, the Stora Daurerska house in [[Södermalm]], Stockholm. [[Carl Svante Hallbeck]], 1861]]
Carl Michael Bellman was born on 4 February 1740 in the Stora Daurerska house, which was one of the finest in the [[Södermalm]] district of [[Stockholm]]. The house was the property of his maternal grandmother, Catharina von Santen, who had brought up his father, orphaned as a small child. Carl Michael's parents were Johan Arndt Bellman, a civil servant, and Catharina Hermonia, daughter of the priest of the local [[Maria Magdalena Church|Maria parish]]. Her family was wholly Swedish, whereas Johan's family had German origins: they had come from [[Bremen]] in about 1660.<ref name=BellmanSoc /> When Carl Michael was four the family moved to a smaller, single storey dwelling called the Lilla Daurerska house. He briefly went to a local school, but was educated mainly by private tutors. He was the eldest of 15 children who lived long enough for their births to be registered<!--; six more children died young, according to CMB's autobiography-->. His parents had intended him to become a priest, but he fell ill with a fever, and on recovering found he could express any thought in rhyming verse. His parents appointed a tutor called Ennes who Bellman called "a genius". Bellman was taught French, German, Italian, English, and Latin. He read [[Horace]] and [[Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux|Boileau]]; Ennes taught him to write poetry and to translate French and German hymns. He was familiar with stories from the Bible including the [[Apocrypha]], many of which found their way into the songs he composed in later life. However, expenses including the Swedish tradition of hospitality left the family with no money to start him off in life with a journey to the south of Europe, such as to Spain to visit his uncle, Jacob Martin Bellman, who was the Swedish Consul in [[Cádiz]]. Carl Michael translated a French book by Du Four and dedicated it to his uncle, but the hint was ignored. Deep in debt, at the end of 1757 the family sent Carl Michael to Sweden's central bank [[Sveriges Riksbank|Riksbanken]] as an unpaid trainee. He had no aptitude for numbers, instead discovering the taverns and brothels which were to figure so largely in his songs.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=43–46}}

[[File:233-Bellman-Svenska teatern 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Bellman by [[Elias Martin]], 18th century]]
As the banking career was not working out – and as trainees were (after a period with a relaxed regime) again required to sit an exam, for which Bellman was ill-equipped – he took a break in 1758, going to [[Uppsala University]], where [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] was professor of botany. The idea of attending lectures was no more congenial than banking, and he stayed only one term; one of his songs (FS 28) records that "He contemplated [[Uppsala]]—the beer stung his mouth—love distracted his wits..." However, he met young men (such as [[Carl Bonde (1741–1791)|Carl Bonde]]) from wealthy and noble families, went drinking with them, and started to entertain them with his songs.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=47–51}} Bellman returned to the bank job, and seems quickly to have fallen into financial difficulty: "a jungle of debts, sureties and bondsmen began to proliferate around him."{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=53}} The character of bailiff Blomberg appears in his songs (e.g. FS 14), constantly trying to track down debtors and seize all their property. The law allowed the bankrupt only one way to escape from debtors' prison: to leave Sweden. In 1763, Bellman ran away to Norway. From the safety of [[Halden]] (then called Fredrikshald) he writes to the Council applying first for a passport, and then for a safe-conduct, both of which were granted. Meanwhile, his father had first mortgaged the Lilla Daurerska house, and then sold it: the family's finances were no better than his own. Even worse, by April 1764 the Bank had become tired of the riotous behaviour of its young men: its investigations showed that Bellman had been the ringleader, leading them (the Bank wrote) into "gambling, masquerades, picnics and suchlike". Bellman resigned, his safe banking career at an end.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=55–56}}