Drottning Christina och kardinal Decio Azzolino: Kärleksbrev från det sista decenniet, article written by Marie-Louise Rodén in Personhistorisk tidskrift, volume 82, 1986
God Jul, Buon Natale, Joyeux Noël, Gleðileg Jól, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
The letter:
Mi giunge il vostro caro biglietto in tempo ch'io stavo pensando a Voi assai particolarmente. Cara la commedia non hà potuto piacermi perche mi hà tolto d'esser con Voi com'io soglio. ... Intanto Cara vi ringrazio mille volte della consolazione hora datami e vi abbraccio con tutto l'animo.
French translation (my own):
Votre cher petit lettre m'arrive à un moment où je pensais à Vous tout particulièrement. Ma chérie, je ne pouvais pas aimer la comédie, car elle m'a éloigné d'être avec Vous comme je seux être. ... En attendant, ma chérie, je Vous remercie mille fois de la consolation qui Vous me donnez maintenant, et je Vous embrasse de tout mon cœur.
Swedish translation (by Rodén):
Jag fick ditt kära lilla brev just då jag tänkte på Dig alldeles särskilt. Käraste, jag njöt inte alls av komedien [igår kväll] eftersom den berövade mig tillfället att vara tillsammans med Dig, som jag brukar vara. ... Till sist, käraste, tackar jag Dig tusen gången för trösten Du har givit mig och jag omfamnar Dig med hela min själ.
English translation (my own):
I received Your dear little letter just when I was thinking of You in a very special way. My dear, I did not enjoy the comedy at all last night because it deprived me of the opportunity to be with You, as I usually am. ... Finally, my dear, I thank You a thousand times for the consolation You have given me and I embrace You with all my soul.
Above: Kristina.
Above: Cardinal Decio Azzolino.
Note: This letter reminds me of my own "S. M." and I miss him talking to me this way.
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ReplyDeleteI'm still reading the posts. Thanks for sharing your great work on Christina of Sweden! Her life is fascinating. I was looking for information about Decio Azzolino. It is very clear that Christina had strong feelings towards him but I never had the opportunity to "hear" Decio's voice. This letter is very interesting, because it reflects how deep was his feelings towards Christina. In another of his letters, Azzolino refers to a particular "sin" and apologizes to Christina. I understand that he hurt Christina deeply. I was wondering, what sin was he referring to? What kind of bond do you think Decio and Christina had? Was he in love with her or playing with Christina's love?
ReplyDeleteThank you ^^ I was really surprised and happy to learn of these letters to. The "sin" Azzolino refers to is that he had such a passionate relationship with Kristina despite himself being a cardinal, and it caused him to become more distant emotionally for a while in the mid-late 1660s, but he ultimately came back and it's not really clear if they had a physical relationship or how much it was if they did. But Azzolino really did love Kristina. They were devoted to each other and she even made him her heir in her will. During her final illness he kept vigil at her bedside and was inconsolable when she finally passed. He couldn't even bear to attend her funeral, he was really depressed and he ended up passing away from illness himself barely two months after her. Sorry for the late reply but I didn't see this until now.
DeleteThanks for replying. Now, I understand things more clearly. I'm reading a book called "Kristina Svedska" by Oscar Von Wertheimer. It has a chapter dedicated to Azzolino and Christina. The author agrees that a sexual relationship between Decio and Kristina would be impossible, but he affirms that they have a deep love for each other. From reading your posts, it's clear that Kristina was deeply in love with Decio. Von Wertherimer shows how Decio always placed a limit upon Kristina's feelings. Decio always insisted on being friends, but Kristina is very stubborn and passionate.
DeleteIn my humble opinion, Kristina felt very lonely in Italy. She had no close relationship with anyone. Ebba was in Sweden and then she died. I think that she clinged to Decio because she was feeling very lonely and anxious (for instance, her travels to Sweden or her economic problems). I think Decio was the only one who really understood her, listened to her, helped her, loved her and calmed her anxiety. Ebba Sparre used to calm her down when she was anxious or overwhelmed by her emotions. I think Kristina loved Decio as deeply as she loved Ebba, because he understood her in every single way. But in this case, Decio did reciprocate her feelings in a caring and loving way, like very dear friends. I don't think Ebba loved Kristina in the same way Kristina did. Maybe Ebba was trying to find someone she could marry (for example her cousin) and settled down. And being the lady in waiting for Kristina was a very positive achievement towards this goal. I hope one day we get to see a letter written to Kristina by Ebba, so that we can see Ebba's feelings towards her.
I read in one of your posts about Ebba's marriage to Jakob de la Gardie that Kristina was called the Boss. Wow!
Well, in that case... There's something that really caught my attention. Kristina's father, Gustav II Adolf, was in love with Ebba Brahe but his mother didn't approve her. Instead, Ebba Brahe was married to JACOB DE LA GARDIE. And then we have the story of Kristina and Ebba. Kristina fell in love with Ebba, then Kristina didn't want her to marry Bengst (Ebba's cousin and loved one) and she forced Ebba to marry JAKOB DE LA GARDIE, Ebba Brahe's son. In other words, it's like Kristina reacting to her father's love story.
It's like history repeating itself again with the same names. I mean, if Ebba Sparre was a friend to Kristina, why did Kristina oppose so fervently the marriage of Ebba with Bengst? It was as if Kristina didn't want to see Ebba, who was her very dear friend, happily married to the man she loved. Instead, Kristina forced her to marry Jakob. And it's very sad to know that her marriage with Jakob wasn't very good. I can understand the whole "cousin thing" but, wasn't Kristina engaged to her cousin too? Maybe Kristina was jealous? Or was she trying to protect Ebba from Bengst? I don't know.
I have my doubts about Ebba's feelings towards Kristina. Maybe Ebba was being kind to Kristina, because she was "the Queen". I think Kristina was an important figure and friend to her, a protector and someone who understood her and showed her love. I read in a book (I think it was by Harold Strimberg) that when Kristina was very anxious and could not control herself, she clinged to Ebba, because she comforted her. Ebba had an emotional control over Kristina (we can see it in one of Kristina's letters) but I think it was because Kristina was deeply in love with her.
Maybe Ebba really loved her, but Kristina burned all the evidence down, haha.
I agree that Kristina was lonely, at least during the first few months in Italy. Azzolino was one of the only people she was really close to in Italy and I've read that at that point she would get on people's nerves a lot and have crying outbursts when she felt slighted. During one of her first separations from Azzolino one day, she got emotional and kept taking out what was probably a little portrait of him to stare at it for a minute over and over again.
DeleteI actually translated "The Boss" from the original Swedish "den förnämste", it's just a rough translation though.
I do think Ebba loved Kristina sincerely but I've also sometimes wondered if she was just being nice or doing it to please her because she was on the lower end of the power imbalance and didn't want to upset her. But I actually have found in a letter from January 1661 during Kristina's visit to Sweden (I can't remember who wrote it rn but I'll post it here in time) where it basically says Ebba got sick (again) because she was so sad that Kristina didn't get to come visit her while she was in Stockholm. I've read that they did want to see each other again but that Ebba's family stopped them.
"During one of her first separations from Azzolino one day, she got emotional and kept taking out what was probably a little portrait of him to stare at it for a minute over and over again (...)"
DeleteI can imagine how devastated Kristina was at that time and with all the financial problems that were going on around her. She loved and deeply missed Azzolino.
"I do think Ebba loved Kristina sincerely but I've also sometimes wondered if she was just being nice or doing it to please her because she was on the lower end of the power imbalance and didn't want to upset her (... )"
I agree with you. I feel the same way about Ebba. Sometimes I ask myself, what if Ebba had wanted to go to Rome with Kristina? That would have changed everything. Maybe she wanted to be with Kristina but she couldn't decide for herself, because she was a married woman.
I have no doubt about Ebba's affection for Kristina. For example, she named one of her daughters Kristina. This shows that Kristina was in her mind despite the distance between them. But it's tricky to know exactly what Ebba really felt for Kristina: was it friendship, love, etc.?
I want to share with you some of the books I'm reading about Kristina. The books are in Spanih (I live in Argentina):
ReplyDelete- Cristina de Suecia: la mujer hombre/"Christina of Sweden: The woman man" by Strimberg, Haroldo (1937)
- Cristina de Suecia by Marquis Villa-Urrutia
- Christina of Sweden by Karolyi, Stephan. This is a novel about Kristina's life. Although this is fiction, it is based on real events. It focuses on the relationship between Kristina, Ebba, Magnus de la Gardie, etc.
There's a mini series called "Drottning Kristina (1981)" but I couldn't find it anywhere.
In 2020, the Swedish TV made a documentary about their queens (drottningarna). I find a copy on the web, if you want to see it. It's in Swedish with Spanish subtitles.
Here's the link:
https://ok.ru/video/1978603080384
Thanks for reading my reply, sorry if was too extensive.
Your work is amazing!! :) I'm always waiting for your next post!
Have a nice day!
I don't really know Spanish but I am hoping to get a book from 1961 that features I think the correspondence of Antonio Pimentel, the Spanish ambassador from his time at Kristina's court. And there's some more stuff from the Spanish side in there so hopefully it might help me learn some, lol.
DeleteI don't know if it's currently available there but I did watch "Drottning Kristina" on the SVT Play website back in June or July 2023, I had to use a VPN to watch it because it's only available to watch in Sweden but I liked it and I really loved Lena Nyman's portrayal of Kristina, she really perfectly portrayed how moody and loud and blunt and forceful she could be. I'm used enough to Swedish thanks to all this Kristina research that I mostly only turn the Swedish subtitles on to be able to better hear and process and follow what's being said (I'm not fluent but I can read and write it well enough and I'm used to the pitch accent or melodic sound of the spoken language).
I actually did see that episode of "Drottningarna" back in late 2020, I might have to think about going to that Russian site but I liked the episode when I saw it.
If you're curious about the main Kristina movies if you haven't seen them, I highly recommend "Queen Christina" (1933) starring Greta Garbo, "The Abdication" (1974) starring Liv Ullman (sadly it's obscure and rarely shown) and "The Girl King" (2015) starring Malin Buska.
Wow! That sounds interesting! Pimentel was a very important figure in Kristina's life. It would be wonderful to read those letters. If you need help or are stuck with the translation, I can help you translate it into English.
DeleteI'll check out "The Abdication". Liv Ullman is a very good actress and I liked seeing her in Ingmar Bergman's films.
Yesterday I saw a "parody" of Kristina on YouTube. It is a Swedish Television (SVT) production and there is an .mp4 file on the archive.org page. I don't know Swedish, and the video doesn't have subtitles, so I didn't really understand the plot very well. I think it's about Kristina and her interest in alchemy. Kristina wants to use alchemy to "become" a man (something like that). Kristina is portrayed by a male actor.
Here are the links in case you want to see it:
Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWnNm6zBayk
Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpEAsctx8NQ
Thank you ^^ even though I don't know much Spanish I am actually able to understand some of it since so many of the words are the same in French and Italian. I usually use Google Translate and it's definitely better than it used to be, but when I do I know enough about each language I'm translating to and from that I'm usually able to correct grammatical, vocabulary or context errors and I also use dictionaries a lot to figure out archaic words or archaic definitions of words, but sometimes I do ask native speakers for help, or I can even translate small things on my own if I know the words well enough.
DeleteI actually have seen that parody, I first saw it in 2019 and I most recently watched it a couple nights ago. I understand enough Swedish now to hear most of what's being said and it's hilarious. The story basically has Kristina using alchemy to turn herself into a man because she's tired of how severe her period cramps are.
I'm actually most attached to Iceland out of all the Nordic countries, but thanks to Kristina I like Sweden a lot too. Icelandic is harder but I'm learning it too and in Kristina's day and especially before her time Swedish had a lot of grammar and words in common with it.