Source:
Svenskt biografiskt lexikon: ny följd, tionde bandet: Silfversparre-Österling, pages 56 to 57, 1907
The article:
SPARRE, Ebba.
Drottning Christina var en alltför egoistisk natur och alltför öfvertygad om sin egen öfverlägsenhet för att hysa vänskap i mera egentlig mening; också, ehuru hon hade flera gunstlingar af det andra könet, vet man icke att hon inom sitt eget haft mer än en enda vän, som äfven besvarade hennes vänskap. Denna enda var Ebba Sparre, född 1626, således samma år som drottningen, och dotter af riksrådet Lars Eriksson Sparre till Kafvellecht, Dåderö, Bergqvara, Ulfåsa och Hökerum med hans första hustru Märta Banér. Hon kom helt ung till drottningens hof, och den vackra Ebba, »la belle comtesse», såsom drottningen kallade henne, kom snart hos henne i synnerlig ynnest. Kort efter det hon fyllt sitt 20:de år var hon förlofvad med sin kusin, grefve Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, den sedermera så ryktbare statsmannen och kanslipresidenten; men då vid denna tid misshällighet uppstod mellan drottningen och Oxenstiernorna, var drottningen emot detta giftermål, och då Bengt Oxenstierna 1650 reste till Nürnberg såsom svenskt ombud vid exekutionstraktaten derstädes, synes hans vackra fästmö snart nog hafva tröstat sig öfver skilsmessan, ty inom ett år derefter, den 29 dec. 1651, förlofvade sig friherrinnan Ebba Sparre — hon hade i mars 1647 blifvit, jemte sina farbröder, sina syskon och syskonbarn, af drottningen upphöjd i friherrligt stånd — med grefve Jakob Casimir De la Gardie, en yngre broder till drottningens gunstling Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, och denna trolofning firades med mycken högtidlighet å Stockholms slott i drottningens och en mängd inbjudna gästers närvaro. Drottningen hade emellertid länge satt sig emot äfven detta giftermål, emedan hon i allmänhet betraktade äktenskapet såsom ett ok, hvilket hon ock sjelf aldrig ville underkasta sig, och dessutom redan nu var betänkt på sin tronafsägelse, hvarefter hon gerna ville hos sig behålla sin älskade hoffröken. Bröllopet blef emellertid redan den 11 januari 1652 firadt med stor ståt å Stockholms slott, der drottningen vid detta tillfälle lät uppföra ett »värdskap«, som föreställde, huru drottningen och hennes hof, klädda såsom herdar och herdinnor, mottaga ett besök af gudarna, då Ulfeld var Jupiter, Piementelli Mars och polske kanslern var Bacchus. Omkring en vecka derefter höll grefve Magnus Gabriel till de nygiftas ära en präktig ringränning, der Claes Tott och grefve Jakob Casimir sjelf vunno prisen.
Gift med drottningens ena gunstling och broder till den andre vann nu grefve Jakob Casimir hastigt befordringar. Redan vid 22 års ålder — han var tre år yngre än sin hustru — hade han blifvit öfverste för Dal-regementet, blef efter sitt giftermål chef för lifgardet efter sin broder Magnus Gabriel och öfverkammarherre 1652, riksråd 1653 och slutligen general öfver hela svenska infanteriet, men stupade vid Köpenhamns belägring den 7 okt. 1658. Mellan honom och hans äldre broder var förhållandet stundom mindre godt, och den vackra Ebba synes haft någon del deri, möjligen i följd af någon täflan mellan henne och grefve Magnus om främsta platsen i drottningens ynnest. Mellan båda brödernes moder Ebba Brahe och hennes sonhustru var förhållandet ej heller fullt vänskapligt. Ebba Brahe höll mest af den äldre sonen och tog alltid hans försvar mot brodern. »Jakob Casimir», yttrade hon, »har ett godt hjerta, men är enfaldig och dyster till sinnes, så att han af Ebba Sparre lätt kan retas.»
I Ebbas tillgifvenhet för drottning Christina skedde ingen rubbning. Skiljsmessan mellan dem var djupt smärtsam för båda, och då Christina rest, sörjde Ebba henne bittert samt underhöll sedan med henne en flitig brefvexling ända till sin död den 19 mars 1662.
English translation (my own):
SPARRE, Ebba.
Queen Kristina was of too selfish a nature, and too convinced of her own superiority, to entertain friendship in a more proper sense; also, although she had several favourites of the opposite sex, it is not known that she had more than a single friend within her own who also reciprocated her friendship. This friend was Ebba Sparre, born in 1626, thus the same year as the Queen, and daughter of the councilman Lars Eriksson Sparre of Kavellecht, Dåderö, Bergkvara, Ulvåsa and Hökerum with his first wife, Märta Banér. She came to the Queen's court very young, and the beautiful Ebba, "la belle comtesse", as the Queen called her, soon came to her in special favour.
Shortly after she turned 20, she was engaged to her cousin, Count Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, the later notorious statesman and chancellor president; but when at this time disagreements arose between the queen and the Oxenstierna, the queen was against this marriage, and when Bengt Oxenstierna traveled to Nuremberg in 1650 as a Swedish representative for the execution treaty there, it seems that his beautiful fiancée soon enough took comfort in the separation, because within a year after that, on December 29 1651, baroness Ebba Sparre — she had in March 1647 become, along with her uncles, siblings and nephews, elevated to baroness by the queen — became engaged to Count Jakob Kasimir de la Gardie, a younger brother of the queen's favorite Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, and this betrothal was celebrated with great solemnity at Stockholm Castle in the presence of the Queen and a host of invited guests.
However, the Queen had for a long time been opposed to this marriage as well, because she generally regarded marriage as a yoke which she herself never wanted to submit to, and moreover, she was already thinking about her abdication, after which she would gladly keep her beloved court lady with her.
However, the wedding was already celebrated with great pomp on January 11, 1652 at Stockholm Castle, where the Queen had a "Wirtschaft" held on this occasion, which represented how the Queen and her court, dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses, received a visit from the gods, where Ulfeldt was Jupiter, Pimentel Mars and the Polish Chancellor was Bacchus. About a week later, Count Magnus Gabriel held a magnificent ring race in honor of the newlyweds, where Claes Tott and Count Jakob Kasimir themselves won the prize.
Married to one of the Queen's favourites, and brother to the other, Count Jakob Kasimir now quickly won promotions. Already at the age of 22 — he was three years younger than his wife — he had become colonel of the Dala regiment, after his marriage he became head of the bodyguard for his brother Magnus Gabriel and first chamberlain in 1652, councilman in 1653, and finally general of the entire Swedish infantry, but he fell at the siege of Copenhagen on October 7, 1658.
The relationship between him and his older brother was sometimes less than good, and the beautiful Ebba seems to have had some part in it, possibly as a result of some dispute between her and Count Magnus for the foremost place in the Queen's favour. Between the mother of both brothers, Ebba Brahe, and her daughter-in-law, the relationship was not entirely friendly either. Ebba Brahe loved the older son the most and always took his defense against his brother. "Jakob Kasimir", she said, "has a good heart, but is simple-minded and gloomy in mind, so that he can be easily irritated by Ebba Sparre."
There was no disturbance in Ebba's affection for Queen Kristina. The separation between them was deeply painful for both, and when Kristina left, Ebba mourned her bitterly and then maintained a frequent exchange of letters with her until her death on March 19, 1662.
Above: Ebba Sparre.
Above: Kristina.
Note: Ebba and Jakob Kasimir were married in 1653, not 1652.
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