Mémoires concernant Christine, volume 2, page 39, Johan Arckenholtz, 1751
The letter:
Mon Cousin. J'ai voulu vous assurer, avant mon arrivée, de la joïe que j'aurois de vous recevoir en bonne santé après un si long éxil. J'espère de retrouver en vous cette amitié que vous avez toûjours euë pour ma personne, & que le tems n'y aura pas apporté aucun préjudice. L'estime, que j'ai toûjours euë pour votre personne, s'est notablement accruë par l'action généreuse que vous avez faite après la mort du Roi, où Vous vous êtes rendu seul le libérateur de la Suède. Je vous en rends des graces infinies & vous prie d'être persuadé, que je resterai toute ma vie votre obligée. Continuez de servir notre Patrie & soïez persuadé, que je vous serai plus obligée que de ce que vous aurez la bonté de faire pour mes intérêts: me promettant de votre amitié toute l'assistance que la justice de mes prétentions en peut espérer. Je vous prie cependant d'être persuadé, que votre mérite, & les services que vous avez rendus de tout tems à la Couronne m'obligent à vous promettre la continuation d'une amitié qui me rend à jamais
Mon Cousin
Votre bonne & véritable Amie
CHRISTINE ALESSANDRA.
Hambourg ce 5.
Mon Cousin
Votre bonne & véritable Amie
CHRISTINE ALESSANDRA.
Hambourg ce 5.
Septemb. 1660.
English translation (my own):
My Cousin,
I wanted to assure you, before my arrival, of the joy I would have in receiving you in good health after such a long exile. I hope to find in you that friendship which you have always had for me, and that time will not have brought any harm to it. The esteem which I have always had for your person was notably increased by the generous action which you carried out after the death of the King, where you became, alone, the liberator of Sweden. I give you infinite thanks and beg you to be persuaded that I will remain under your obligation all my life. Continue to serve our country and be persuaded that I will be more obliged to you than what you will be kind enough to do for my interests, promising me from your friendship all the assistance that the justice of my pretensions can hope for. I beg you, in the meantime, to be persuaded that your merit, and the services which you have always rendered to the Crown oblige me to promise you the continuation of a friendship which renders me forever,
I wanted to assure you, before my arrival, of the joy I would have in receiving you in good health after such a long exile. I hope to find in you that friendship which you have always had for me, and that time will not have brought any harm to it. The esteem which I have always had for your person was notably increased by the generous action which you carried out after the death of the King, where you became, alone, the liberator of Sweden. I give you infinite thanks and beg you to be persuaded that I will remain under your obligation all my life. Continue to serve our country and be persuaded that I will be more obliged to you than what you will be kind enough to do for my interests, promising me from your friendship all the assistance that the justice of my pretensions can hope for. I beg you, in the meantime, to be persuaded that your merit, and the services which you have always rendered to the Crown oblige me to promise you the continuation of a friendship which renders me forever,
my Cousin,
Your good and true friend
Kristina Alessandra.
Hamburg, September 5, 1660.
Above: Kristina.
Above: Per Brahe.
Your good and true friend
Kristina Alessandra.
Hamburg, September 5, 1660.
Above: Kristina.
Above: Per Brahe.
Note: In accordance with the nobility's ideals in the early modern era, kings and queens considered themselves siblings; when talking to someone of a lower rank than their own, they would refer to that person as "my cousin", regardless of whether or not they were related.
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