Kristina's open letter in favour of Johan Adler Salvius' widow Margareta Pedersdotter Salvia (née Skuthe) and her grandchildren concerning some estates in Karelia, dated September 20/30 (Old Style), 1652

Sources:

Riksarkivet, pages 216 to 217 in A 3; Biographica; Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria

https://sok.riksarkivet.se/nad?Sokord=Salvius&EndastDigitaliserat=false&BegransaPaTitelEllerNamn=false&AvanceradSok=False&typAvLista=Standard&page=29&postid=Arkis+A30A0E3A-5B98-11D7-81DB-00D0B73E008B&tab=post

Riksarkivet, images 94 to 95/pages 1636 to 1638 in September-Oktober 1652; Riksregistraturet

https://sok.riksarkivet.se/nad?postid=Arkis+8cb4d14a-9b89-11d5-a701-0002440207bb&s=Balder

The letter (copy):

Wij Christina Medh Gudz Nåde Sweriges Göthes och Wendes Drotningh, Storfurstinna till finlandh, Hertiginna Uthi Estlandh Carelen Brehmen Verdhen Stettin Pomern Caßuben och Wenden Furstinna till Rügen; Fru öfwer Jngermanlandh och Wismar, Göre Witterliget, at emedan Wår och Richsens fordom tro man, Rådh och Cantzelij Rådh framledne H:r Johan Adler Salvius, Frijherre till Örneholm, Herre till Adlers burgh, Hartzfeldt Wildenbruch och tullinge, Är icke länge sedan medh döden afgången och Han igenom Sådant sitt oförmodeliga dödz fall fast ringa haf:r åthnutit det frijHerskap som wij Honom på Nestförledne Åhr månde Medh benåda, Huarföre såsom Wälbem:te nu mehra Sal: Hoos Gudh H:r Johan Adhler Salvius, Haf:r Giort oß Wår Högstährade Sal. Kiäre Herfader Glorwördigst j Åminnelse : / och Sweriges Crono uthi en långlig tijdh och månge samfelte Åhr bort åth Gode trogne och Merkelige store tiänster och sig der medh Nogsampt meriterat af Wår Serdeles Gunst och Nåde för sig och dhe Sine: Altså på dhet Hans effterlåtne Enkiefru, oß Älskelige Wälborne Fru Margreta Adler Så Wäll som Hennes Barnebarn, Så Qwin som ManKön, Samme Sal. H:r Johan Adler Salvij Mödesamma långlige och Sweriges Rijkes Nÿtige tiänster och [Wår] Honom dher emot j denne Maton Wederfahrne Benådningh måge niuta till Godo: Dÿ Hafwe Wij Wehlat Extendera och förlengia den Samma på Wälbem:te Hans effterlåtna Enkiefru och Alle Hennes Barnabarn af begge Köhnen, j Så måtto, Nembl. at wij Här med och i Krafft Af dhetta wårt Öpne bref Vnne skiänke och Gifwe Merbe:te Fru margareta Adler och bem:te Hennes Barnabarn, Qwin och ManKön och dheras Ächta bröstArfwingar och Så Arfwinge effter Arfwinge alle dhe Sahl: H:r Johan Adler Salvio til frijHerskapet Donerade och bebrefwade Godz j Rautus Pogost och KexHolms Södre Lähn Såsom dhe uti den der å uthur Wårt Cammer Collegio Gifne Underskrefne Uträchning stå Specificerade, och Eliest Sal. H: Johan Adler för dhetta Äre inRÿmde Wordne, med alla tilber:de Godz Hörige Ägor och legenheter, j Åcker, och Eng, skogh Mark fiske och fiske Watn, Strömar, Qwarn, och Qwarnestellen, torp och torpestellen, och alle andre tilägor j Wåto och torro, Nerbij och Fiäran, intet undantagandes af Alt dhet som dher till lÿder af Ålder legat hafwer, eller Här effter med lagh och domb tilfalla och Winnas Kan, at niuta bruka och behålla under Adelig Frälses frijhet, Rättighet och frelsemanna tiänst till Ewerdelig Ego; Förbiude fördenskuhl Här medh Alle som oß med Hörsamhet och lÿdno förplichtade Ähre, och för Wår skuldh Wele och skohle Giöra och Låta, att tilfogha mehrbem:te Fru margareta Adler Hennes barnebarn eller dheras Ächta bröstarfwingar Här emoth Hinder mehn eller förfångh j Någon måtto Nu eller i tilKommande tijder; Till ÿttermehra Wiso Hafwe Wij dhetta medh egen Handh Underskrefwet och Wårt Secret Wetterlige UnderHängiande beKräfftat. Gifwit på Wårt Slot Stokholm d. 20 dagh Uthi Septembris Månat, Åhr effter Christi bördh ettusendh SexHundrade på dhet Femptijonde och Andra.

Christina

With modernised spelling:

Vi Kristina, med Guds nåde Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Drottning, Storfurstinna till Finland, Hertiginna uti Estland, Karelen, Bremen-Verden, Stettin-Pommern, Kassuben och Venden, Furstinna till Rügen, Fru över Ingermanland och Wismar, göre veterligt att emedan Vår och Riksens fordom tro man, råd och kansliråd, framlidne herr Johan Adler Salvius, friherre till Örneholm, herre till Adlersburg, Hartzefeldt, Wildenbruch och Tullinge, är icke länge sedan med döden avgången och han igenom sådant sitt oförmodliga dödsfall fast ringa haver åtnjutit det friherrskap som Vi honom på nästförlidna år månde med benåda, varföre såsom välbemälte numera salige hos Gud herr Johan Adler Salvius haver gjort Oss, Vår högstärade salige käre herrfader (glorvördigst i åminnelse) och Sveriges Krono uti en långlig tid och många samfällde år bortåt goda, trogna och märkliga stora tjänster och sig därmed nogsamt meriterat av Vår särdeles gunst och nåde för sig och de sina, alltså på det hans efterlåtna änkefru, Oss älskliga, välborna fru Margareta Adler, såväl som hennes barnbarn, så kvinn- som mankön, samma salige herr Johan Adler Salvii mödosamma, långliga och Sveriges Rikes nyttiga tjänster och [Vår] honom däremot i denna måtton vederfarna benådning måge njuta tillgodo.

Ty have Vi velat extendera och förlänga densamma på välbemälte hans efterlåtna änkefru och alla hennes barnbarn av bägge könen i så måtto, nämligen att Vi härmed och i kraft av detta Vårt öppna brev unne, skänke och give merbemälte fru Margareta Adler och bemälte hennes barnbarn (kvinn- och mankön) och deras äkta bröstarvingar, och så arvinge efter arvinge, alla de salige herr Johan Adler Salvio till friherrskapet donerade och bebrevade gods i Rautus Pogost och Kexholms södra län såsom de uti den därå utur Vårt Kammarcollegio givna underskrivna uträkning stå specificerade och eljest salige herr Johan Adler förr detta äro inrymde vordna, med alla tillberörda gods höriga ägor och lägenheter i åker och äng, skog, mark, fisk och fiskevatten, strömmar, kvarn och kvarnställen, torp och torpställen och alla andra tillägor i våtto och torro, närbi och fjärran, intet undantagandes av allt det som därtill lyder, av ålder legat haver, eller härefter med lag och dom tillfalla och vinnas kan att njuta, bruka och behålla under adlig frälsesfrihet, rättighet och frälsemannatjänst till evärdelig ägo.

Förbjude fördenskull härmed alla som Oss med hörsamhet och lydno förpliktade äro och för Vår skull vilja och skola göra och låta att tillfoga merbemälte fru Margareta Adler, hennes barnbarn eller deras äkta bröstarvingar häremot hinder, men eller förfång i någon måtto nu eller i tillkommande tider. Till yttermera visso have Vi detta med egen hand underskrivit och Vårt sekret veterliga underhängande bekräftat. Givet på Vårt slott Stockholm, den 20 dag uti septembris månad, år efter Kristi börd ettusend sexhundrade på det femtionde och andra.

Kristina.

Another copy of the letter (Riksregistraturet):

Wij Christina etc. Giöre Witterligitt, att emedan Wår och Rijkzens Troo Man Rådh och Cantzelij Rådh Framlidne Hr Jahan Adler Salvius, Frijherre till Örneholm Herre till Adhlers borg etc. etc. är icke Längesedan medh döden af gången, Och Han igönom och Hom igönom [sic] sådant sitt oförmodelige dödzfall fast ringa Hafwer åthnutit deth Frijherskap som Wij Honom på nestförledne åhr medh benåda månde: Hwarföre sosom Welbem:te Numehra Sal: Hoos Gudh. Hr Johan Adhler Salvius, Hafwer giordt Oß Wår Högstähradhe Sal: K Herfadher /: Glorwördigast i Åminnelße :/ och Sweriges Chrono Vthi een Långlig tijdh och månge samfälta åhr bortåth godhe trogne och merkelige store tiänster och sig der medh nogsampt meriterat, af Wår serdeles gunst och Nåde, för sig och dhe sine, Alttså på deth Hans effterlåtna Enkia Frv Oß Elskelig Welborne Frv Margreta Adhler så Well som Hennes barnebarn, så Qwin- som manKiön S. Hr Jahan Adler Salvij, mödesamma, Långliga, och Sweriges Rijkes nÿttiga tiänster, och Wår Honom der emot i denne motton Wederfarne benådning måge niuta till goda, Wij hafwe nog Welat extendera och förlengia den samma på Wellb:te Hans effterlåtna Enkia Frv och alla Hennes barnabarn af begge Kiönen i så motto Nembl: Att Wij Her med och i Krafft, af detta Wårt öpne bref, Vnne, skienka och gifwa mehrbe:te Frv Margareta Adhler och be:te Hennes barnabarn Qwin- och ManKiön och dheras Echta brÿst-Erfwingar, och så arfwinge effter arfwinge, alla dhe Sal: Hr Johan Adler Salvio Till Frijherreskapet Donerade och bebrefwade godz i Rautus Pogos[t] och Kexholms Södre Lähn, sosom dhe Vthj den der å Vthur Wårt CammerCollegio gifne Vnderskrefne Vthrechning stå Specificeradhe, och elliest Sal: Hr Jahan Adhler för detta ähre inrÿmbde Wordne, med alla till berörde godz Hörige ägor och lägenheeter i Åker, Eng, skogh, Mark [...] strömar etc. etc. etc. och alle andre tillägor i Wåte och torro, Närbij och fierran, inthett Vndantagandes af altt dett som der till Lÿder, af Ålder legatt hafwer, eller Her effter med Lagh och dom tillfalla och Winnas Kan, att niuta bruka och beholla Vnder Adelig frelßes Frijheet rettigheet och frelßemanna tiänst till Ewerdelig Ego, förbiude fördenskull Her medh alle, som Oß med Hörsamheet Och Lÿdno förplichtadhe ähre och för Wår skull Weele och skole giöra och låta, att tillfoga mehrbe:te Frv Margareta Adhler, Hennes barns barn eller dheras Echta bröstErfwingar, Här emott Hinder mehn eller förfång i någon motto nu eller i tillKommande tijder. Till ÿttermehra Wißo etc.

With modernised spelling:

Vi Kristina, etc., göre veterligt att emedan Vår och Riksens tro man, råd och kansliråd, framlidne herr Johan Adler Salvius, friherre till Örneholm, herre till Adlersborg, etc., etc., är icke länge sedan med döden avgången och han igenom sådant sitt oförmodliga dödsfall fast ringa haver åtnjutit det friherrskap som Vi honom på nästförlidna år med benåda månde, varföre såsom välbemälte numera salige hos Gud herr Johan Adler Salvius haver gjort Oss, Vår högstärade salige käre herrfader (glorvördigast i åminnelde) och Sveriges Krono uti en långlig tid och många samfällde år bortåt goda, trogna och märkliga stora tjänster och sig därmed nogsamt meriterat av Vår särdeles gunst och nåde för sig och de sine, alltså på det hans efterlåtna änkefru, Oss älskliga, välborna fru Margareta Adler, såväl som hennes barnbarn, så kvinn- som mankön, salige herr Johan Adler Salvii mödosamma, långliga och Sveriges Rikes nyttiga tjänster och Vår honom däremot i denna måtton vederfarna benådning måge njuta tillgodo.

Vi have nog velat extendera och förlänga densamma på välbemälte hans efterlåtna änkefru och alla hennes barnbarn av bägge könen i så måtto, nämligen att Vi härmed och i kraft av detta Vårt öppna brev unne, skänke och give merbemälte fru Margareta Adler och bemälte hennes barnbarn, kvinn- och mankön, och deras äkta brystärvingar, och så arvinge efter arvinge, alla de salige herr Johan Adler Salvio till friherrskapet donerade och bebrevade gods i Rautus Pogost och Kexholms södre län, såsom de uti den därå utur vårt Kammarcollegio givna underskrivna uträkning stå specificerade och eljest salige herr Johan Adler förr detta äro inrymde vordna, med alla tillberörda gods höriga ägor och lägenheter i åker, äng, skog, mark, [...], strömmar, etc., etc., etc., och alla andra tillägor i våtto och torro, närbi och fjärran, intet undantagandes av allt det som därtill lyder, av ålder legat haver eller härefter med lag och dom tillfalla och vinnas kan, att njuta, bruka och behålla under adlig frälsesfrihet, rättighet och frälsemannatjänst till evärdelig ägo.

Förbjude fördenskull härmed alla som Oss med hörsamhet och lydno förpliktade äro och för Vår skull vilja och skola göra och låta att tillfoga merbemälte fru Margareta Adler, hennes barns barn eller deras äkta bröstärvingar häremot hinder, men eller förfång i någon motto nu eller i tillkommande tider. Till yttermera visso, etc.

French translation (my own):

Nous Christine, par la grâce de Dieu, reine des Suédois, des Goths et des Vandales, grande princesse de Finlande, duchesse d'Estonie, de Carélie, de Brême-Verden, de Stetin-Poméranie, de Cachoubie et de Vandalie, princesse de Rugie, dame d'Ingrie et de Wismar, faisons savoir que, considérant que Notre ancien féal homme et celui du Royaume, conseiller et conseiller de la chancellerie, feu le seigneur Jean Adler Salvius, baron d'Örneholm, seigneur d'Adlersbourg, Hartzefeldt, Wildenbruch et Tullinge, est décédé il n'y a pas très longtemps, et que lui, par une mort si imprévue, a bénéficié de la baronnie, bien que petite, que Nous lui avons conférée l'année dernière, c'est pourquoi ledit et maintenant béni de Dieu seigneur Jean Adler Salvius a rendu pendant longtemps et pendant de nombreuses années accumulées de bons, fidèles, remarquables et grands services à Nous, à Notre très honoré feu et cher Père (très glorieux de mémoire) et à la Couronne de Suède et par là suffisamment mérité, par notre faveur et grâce particulières, pour lui-même et sa famille, afin que sa veuve, notre bien-aimée et bien née dame Marguerite Adler, ainsi que ses petits-enfants, femmes et hommes, puissent dans cette mesure bénéficier de ce pardon accordé par Nous en échange des services laborieux, durables et utiles du même feu seigneur Jean Adler Salvius au Royaume de Suède.

Nous avons donc souhaité étendre et prolonger la même chose à sa veuve et à tous ses petits-enfants de l'un et de l'autre sexe dans cette mesure, à savoir que par la présente et en vertu de cette Notre lettre ouverte, Nous accordons, accordons et donnons à ladite dame Marguerite Adler et à ses petits-enfants (femelles et mâles) et à leurs héritiers légitimes, puis héritier après héritier, tous les domaines donnés et cédés par le feu seigneur Jean Adler Salvius à la baronnie de Rautus Pogost et du comté sud de Kexholm tels que spécifiés dans le calcul signé donné par Notre Collège de la Chambre et autrement détenus par le feu seigneur Jean Adler ci-dessus, avec toutes les propriétés de ces domaines dans les champs et prairies, forêts, terres, poissons et eaux de pêche, ruisseaux, moulins et emplacements de moulins, métairies et emplacements de métairies et toutes les autres propriétés humides et sèches, proches et lointaines, sans exception de tout ce qui s'y rapporte, qui a été hérité d'antan, ou qui peut ultérieurement s'accumuler et être acquis par la loi et le jugement, à apprécier, à utiliser et à conserver sous la noble liberté du roturier, le droit et le service du roturier pour une possession éternelle.

Nous interdisons donc à tous ceux qui Nous sont liés par obéissance et qui, par égard pour Nous, agiront et permettront, de nuire à ladite dame Marguerite Adler, à ses petits-enfants ou à leurs héritiers légitimes, de causer, maintenant ou à l'avenir, quelque obstacle ou préjudice que ce soit. En foi de quoi, Nous avons signé ce document de Notre propre main et l'avons confirmé par Notre sceau apposé ci-dessous. Donné à Notre château de Stockholm, le 20e jour du mois de septembre, en l'an 1652 après la naissance du Christ.

Christine.

English translation (my own):

We Kristina, by the grace of God Queen of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, Duchess of Estonia, Karelia, Bremen-Verden, Stettin-Pomerania, Kashubia and Vandalia, Princess of Rugia, Lady of Ingria and Wismar, make known that whereas Our and the Realm's former faithful man, councilman and councilman of the chancellery, the late Lord Johan Adler Salvius, Baron of Örneholm, Lord of Adlersburg, Hartzefeldt, Wildenbruch and Tullinge, passed away not very long ago, and he, through such an unforeseen death, enjoyed the barony, although small, that We bestowed upon him in this past year, wherefore the said and now blessed with God Lord Johan Adler Salvius rendered for a long time and for many accumulated years good, faithful, remarkable and great services to Us, to Our most highly honoured late and dear Lord Father (most glorious in memory) and to the Crown of Sweden and thereby sufficiently merited, by Our especial favour and grace, for himself and his family, therefore, so that his widow, Our well-beloved and well-born Lady Margareta Adler, as well as her grandchildren, both female and male, may in this measure enjoy this pardon granted by Us in return for the same late Lord Johan Adler Salvius' laborious, long-lasting and useful services to the Kingdom of Sweden.

We have therefore wished to extend and prolong the same to his said widow and all her grandchildren of both sexes in this measure, namely that We hereby and by the power of this Our open letter do grant, bestow and give to the said Lady Margareta Adler and her said grandchildren (female and male) and their legitimate heirs, and then heir after heir, all the estates donated and deeded by the late Lord Johan Adler Salvius to the barony in Rautus Pogost and Kexholm's southern county as are specified in the signed calculation given there by Our College of the Chamber and otherwise held by the late Lord Johan Adler herebefore, with all the said estates' properties in fields and meadows, forests, land, fish and fishing waters, streams, mills and mill sites, crofts and croft sites and all other properties wet and dry, near and far, without exception of all that pertains thereto, which has been inherited of yore days, or which may hereafter accrue and be acquired by law and judgement, to be enjoyed, used and retained under noble commoner freedom, right and commoner service for eternal possession.

We therefore forbid all who are bound to Us by obedience and who for Our sake will and shall do and allow things to inflict on the said Lady Margareta Adler, her grandchildren or their legitimate heirs any obstacle, harm or prejudice in any way now or in future times. For further assurance, We have signed this with Our own hand and confirmed it with Our seal hanging hereunder. Given at Our castle Stockholm, on the 20th day of the month of September, in the 1652nd year after the birth of Christ.

Kristina.

Above: Kristina.

Notes: Wildenbruch is the old German name for Swobnica, a village in what is now the Gmina Banie district of Gryfino County in Poland's West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Kexholm County was a county of the Swedish Empire from 1634 to 1721, when the southern part was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Nystad. The capital city, Kexholm, is now Priozersk. Its name in Finnish is Käkisalmi, and in Karelian it is Kägöisalmi.

Rautus is the Swedish name for Sosnovo, a logging depot in what is now the Priozersky District of Russia's Leningradsky Oblast. Its name in Finnish is Rautu. Pogost (погост) is an old Russian word for an administrative-territorial unit and therein contained large villages, the system of which existed up through the 18th century.

Kristina's letter to Johan Adler Salvius' widow Margareta Pedersdotter Salvia (née Skuthe), dated January 5/15 (Old Style), 1654

Source:

Riksarkivet, pages 214 to 215 in A 3; Biographica; Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria

https://sok.riksarkivet.se/nad?Sokord=Salvius&EndastDigitaliserat=false&BegransaPaTitelEllerNamn=false&AvanceradSok=False&typAvLista=Standard&page=29&postid=Arkis+A30A0E3A-5B98-11D7-81DB-00D0B73E008B&tab=post

The letter (copy):

Christina. medh Gudz nåde Sweriges, Göthes och Wendes Drotning, Storfurstinna till FinLandh, Hertiginna uthj Estlandh, Carelen Brehmen Vehrden. Stetin Pommern, Caßuben och Wenden, Furstinna Till Rügen, Fru Öfwer Jngermanlandh, Och Wißmar.

Wår ÿnnest och Nådige benägenhet medh Gudh alzmechtig till förendhe. Wij Hafwe beKommit Wälb: Fru Margareta Salvia ett Edert breef Hvaruthinnan så som och J Någre för dätta inlagdhe Supplicationer; Wij se och förnime Eder Något Gåå til sinnes, Wår disposition medh dhe Godzen i Tÿsklandh, Wildenbruch och Hansefeldt, som Wij Wår Troo Tiänare och General Factor, Petter Bidal uthi betalning. assignerat Hafwe. Så ehuru Wäll Wij besinne så edher som eder Sahl. Mans Oß och Cronan Giorde gode och Trogne Tiänster Wäll meritera att J för Någon annan i detta fallet borde præfereras Liqwäll så som Wij för vtan dhe Wichtige skähl och orsaker som oß hafwer bewijst Honom Petter Bidal bem:te Godz att assignera och Hafwa Warit omtänkte Eder på något Annat förmoda att i det icke finna så sälsampt besinnandhes des för vthan den Nådh edher och Wederfahrin att J effter eder Sahl. Manß dodh. fingo Niuta och Behålla det FrijHerskap här i Swerige. som Wj Honom donerade och troligare fast bättre tilhanda: och Hafwe J icke månge Exempell aff sådant Än Androm Wederfahrit Wij Wise och icke på Något annat sätt Wijdh dhenne tijden Honom Bidal att Contentera den dee Hafwer [sic] Någre åhr bort åth giort Oß och Cronan Merkelige tiänster med store och åtskilige förstärckningar som enteligen fordrade att Wij utan lång uppehåldning Honom måtte Betahla dher medh till att maintenera Widare Wår Och Cronones Credit effter Wij Hans Tiänst än ÿtterligare Nödwendigt behöfwe Wår Gunst och Nåde är fördenskull emot Eder ingalunda desto mindre uthan måge i Eder derpå trÿggeligen förlåta att Wij äro och Wehle Wara så Här effter som Här till Edher och de Edrige beWågne uthi Alt Hvadh J wårt bijståndh Gunst och Nåde Kunne behöfwa; J böre och icke tänkia Annat än att Wij i så måtto Wehle anse de gode och trogne tiänster Eder Sahl. Man oß och Cronan för detta giort Hafwer såsom Wij och emädan Han lefde icke Allenast Hans meriter Höllo i stort Werde, uthan och igönom Åtskillige avancementer giort det att dhe så Wida Äre Kunbahre Wordne. Såsom Wij igiönom abalienationen af offtabem:te Godz eij annat Hafwa sökt än Wår och Cronones Tiänst och Heder, att maintenera fo[r]dra och befrämia det Hwar Wäll affectioneradh Vndersåtare icke Allenast bör Got finna Uthan och der till Gerna Contribuera alt Huadh Möijeligt är. Så Wehle Wij och Hoppas att J Huilckens Godhe Affection emot Oß och Cronan Wij stedze Hafwa ehrfaret, skulle Häller see att dhe Godzen dher till Ähro Anwände, Än att de medh tijden skulle andra particulier persohner tilfalla. Hwadh de försterckninger WedKomer som både Eder Sahl. Man för sin dödh och J Sedermehra Oß och Cronan Giort Hafwe. så må i Wara försäkrade att Wij Äre i Alla måtto beKÿmrade om Eder Satisfaction Wehle och medh första der om Gifwa Ordre till Wåre Rikz och Cammer Rådh och der i Kunne Wetta Något förslag på Godz medh Huilcka J Kunne Wara belåten uthi betalning Wele Wij på det sättet Eder Gierna Contentera låta, Såsom och der så behöfwas Donations Conditionen af frijHerskapet förbättra enär Hoos oß der om blif. anhållit. förblifwandes dher uthan Eder och de Edrige medh sÿnnerlig Gunst och Nåde stedse beWågne och Wij befalle Eder gudh Alz mechtig Nådel. af Ubsala d. 5 Januarij A:o 1654.

Christina.

With modernised spelling:

Kristina, med Guds nåde Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Drottning, Storfurstinna till Finland, Hertiginna uti Estland, Karelen, Bremen-Verden, Stettin-Pommern, Kassuben och Venden, Furstinna till Rügen, Fru över Ingermanland och Wismar.

Vår ynnest och nådiga benägenhet med Gud Allsmäktig tillförne. Vi have bekommit, välborna fru Margareta Salvia, ett Edert brev, varutinnan, såsom ock i några förr detta inlagda supplikationer, Vi se och förnimme Eder något gå till sinnes Vår disposition med de godsen i Tyskland, Wildenbruch och Hansfelde, som Vi Vår tro tjänare och generalfaktor, Peter Bidal, uti betalning assignerat have.

Så, ehuruväl Vi besinne så Eder som Eder salige mans Oss och Kronan gjorda goda och trogna tjänster väl meritera att I för någon annan i detta fallet borde prefereras likväl, såsom Vi, förutan de viktiga skäl och orsaker som Oss haver bevist honom Peter Bidal bemälte gods att assignera och hava varit omtänkte Eder på något annat, förmode att I det icke finna så sällsamt, besinnandes dessförutan den nåd Eder ock vederfaren att I efter Eder salige mans död fingo njuta och behålla det friherrskap här i Sverige som Vi honom donerade och troligare fast bättre till handa; och hava I icke många exempel av sådant än androm vederfarit.

Vi vise och icke på något annat sätt vid denna tiden honom Bidal att kontentera den de [hava] några år bortåt gjort Oss och Kronan märkliga tjänster med stora och åtskilliga förstärkningar som äntligen fordrade att Vi utan lång uppehållning honom måtte betala därmed till att maintenera vidare Vår och Kronones kredit efter Vi hans tjänst än ytterligare nödvändigt behöve, Vår gunst och nåde är fördenskull emot Eder ingalunda desto mindre, utan måge I Eder därpå tryggeligen förlåta att Vi äro och vele vara så härefter som härtill Eder och de Edriga bevågna uti allt vad I Vårt bistånd, gunst och nåde kunna behöva.

I böra ock icke tänka annat än att Vi i så måtto vele anse de goda och trogna tjänster Eder salige man Oss och Kronan förr detta gjort haver, såsom Vi ock emedan han levde icke allenast hans meriter höllo i stort värde, utan ock igenom åtskilliga avancemanger gjort det att de så vida äro kunbara vordna. Såsom Vi igenom abalienationen av oftabemälte gods ej annat have sökt än Vår och Kronones tjänst och heder, att maintenera, fordra och befrämja det var väl affektionerad undersåtare icke allenast bör gott finna, utan ock därtill gärna kontribuera allt vad möjligt är, så vele Vi ock hoppas att I, vilkens goda affektion emot Oss och Kronan Vi städse have erfarit skulle hällre se att de godsen därtill äre använde, än att de med tiden skulle andra partikulära personer tillfalla.

Vad de förstärkningar vidkommer som både Eder salige man förr sin död och I sedermera Oss och Kronan gjort hava, så må I vara försäkrade att Vi äro i alla måtto bekymrade om Eder satisfaktion. Vele ock med första därom giva order till Våra Riks- och Kammarråd; och där I kunne veta något förslag på gods med vilka I kunne vara belåten uti betalning, vele Vi på det sättet Eder gärna kontentera låta, såsom ock där så behöves donationskonditionen av friherrskapet förbättra enär hos Oss därom bliver anhållet, förblivandes därutan Eder och de Edriga med synnerlig gunst och nåde städse bevågna; och Vi befalle Eder Gud Allsmäktig nådeligen. Av Uppsala, den 5 januari anno 1654.

Kristina.

French translation (my own):

Christine, par la grâce de Dieu, Reine des Suédois, des Goths et des Vandales, Grande Princesse de Finlande, Duchesse d'Estonie, de Carélie, de Brême-Verden, de Stettin-Poméranie, de Cachoubie et de Vandalie, Princesse de Rugie, Dame d'Ingrie et de Wismar.

Notre faveur et Notre disposition gracieuse auprès de Dieu Tout-Puissant. Nous avons reçu, Madame la bien née Marguerite Salvia, une lettre de votre part, dans laquelle, ainsi que dans certaines supplications soumises auparavant, Nous voyons et apprenons que vous êtes quelque peu préoccupée par Notre disposition des domaines en Allemagne, Wildenbruch et Hansfelde, que Nous avons assigné en paiement à Notre fidèle serviteur et facteur général, Pierre Bidal.

Ainsi, bien que Nous considérions que les bons et fidèles services que vous et votre feu mari Nous avez rendus ainsi qu'à la Couronne méritent que vous soyez quand même préférés à quelqu'un d'autre dans cette affaire, car, outre les raisons et causes importantes qui Nous ont été prouvées par Pierre Bidal de céder les susdits domaines et d'avoir pensé à autre chose, Nous supposons que vous ne trouvez pas cela si étrange, considérant d'ailleurs que, dans la grâce que vous éprouvez aussi qu'après le décès de votre feu mari, vous avez pu jouir et conserver ici en Suède la baronnie que Nous lui avons offerte et plus fidèlement et mieux; et vous n'avez pas connu beaucoup d'exemples de telles choses auparavant.

Nous montrons, et d'aucune autre manière à l'heure actuelle, à Bidal qu'il se contente des faveurs particulières que vous Nous aviez faites, à Nous et à la Couronne, il y a quelques années, par de grands et divers renforts qui ont finalement exigé que, sans trop tarder, Nous devions le payer ainsi pour maintenir davantage Notre crédit et celui de la Couronne. Comme Nous avons besoin de son service plus que nécessaire, Notre faveur et Notre grâce ne sont donc en rien moindres envers vous, mais puissiez-vous alors vous assurer en toute sécurité que Nous sommes et serons désormais aussi bien disposées envers vous dans tout ce dont vous pourriez avoir besoin de Notre assistance, faveur et grâce.

Vous ne devriez aussi penser qu'à ce que Nous apprécions grandement les bons et fidèles services que votre feu mari a rendus pour Nous et pour la Couronne auparavant, tout comme Nous aussi, de son vivant, avons non seulement tenu en grande valeur ses mérites, mais aussi, grâce à diverses avancées, ils ont fait en sorte qu'ils soient aussi connus que possible. Parce que Nous, à travers l'aliénation de la propriété souvent mentionnée, n'avons recherché que Notre service et Notre honneur et ceux de la Couronne pour la maintenir, l'exiger et la promouvoir, tout sujet bien affectueux devrait non seulement le trouver bon, mais aussi apporter volontairement tout ce qui est possible. C'est pourquoi Nous voulons également espérer que vous, dont Nous avons toujours éprouvé la bonne affection envers Nous et la Couronne, préférerez que ces domaines soient destinés à cela plutôt qu'à ce qu'ils reviennent un jour à d'autres personnes privées.

Quant aux renforts que votre feu mari avant sa mort et vous-même avez apportés par la suite à Nous et à la Couronne, vous pouvez être assurée que Nous sommes dans toutes les mesures soucieuses de votre satisfaction. Nous voulons aussi, à la première occasion, donner des ordres à Nos Conseils du Royaume et de Chambre; et si vous pouviez connaître une proposition de succession dont vous pourriez être satisfait en paiement, Nous vous laisserions volontiers vous contenter de cette manière, ainsi que si les conditions de donation de la baronnie doivent être améliorées si Nous y sommes priées, restant toujours bien disposée envers vous avec une faveur et une grâce particulières; et Nous vous recommandons gracieusement à Dieu Tout-Puissant. D'Upsal, le 5 janvier 1654.

Christine.

English translation (my own):

Kristina, by the grace of God, Queen of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, Duchess of Estonia, Karelia, Bremen-Verden, Stettin-Pomerania, Kashubia and Vandalia, Princess of Rugia, Lady of Ingria and Wismar.

Our favour and gracious disposition with God Almighty. We have received, well-born Lady Margareta Salvia, a letter from you, in which, as well as in some supplications submitted before this, We see and learn that you are somewhat worried about Our disposition of the estates in Germany, Wildenbruch and Hansfelde, which We have assigned in payment to Our faithful servant and general factor, Pierre Bidal.

So, although We consider that you and your late husband's good and faithful services to Us and the Crown merit that you should still be preferred to someone else in this case, as, apart from the important reasons and causes that have been proved to Us by Pierre Bidal to assign the aforementioned estates and to have thought of something else, We suppose that you do not find it so strange, considering besides that, in the grace which you also experience that after the death of your late husband, you have been able to enjoy and keep the baronetcy here in Sweden that We donated to him and more faithfully and better; and you have not experienced many examples of such things before.

We show, and in no other way at this time, Bidal to content the particular favours you had done Us and the Crown a few years ago with great and various reinforcements which finally demanded that, without long delay, We had to pay him thereby to further maintain our and the Crown's credit. As We need his service more than necessary, Our favour and grace are therefore towards you in no way lesser, but may you then safely assure yourself that We are and will be hereafter as heretofore well-inclined to you in all that you may need Our assistance, favour and grace in.

You should also think nothing more than that We greatly value the good and faithful services your late husband has done for Us and the Crown before this, just as We also, while he was alive, not only held his merits in great value, but also through various advancements made it so that they are as known as possible. Because We, through the abalienation of the often aforementioned property, have sought nothing but Our and and the Crown's service and honour to maintain, demand and promote it, every well-affectionate subject should not only find it good, but also willingly contribute everything possible to it, so We also want to hope that you, whose good affection towards Us and the Crown We have always experienced, would rather see that those estates were be for that than that they should in time fall to other private persons.

As for the reinforcements that both your late husband before his death and you subsequently have made to Us and the Crown, you may be assured that We are in every measure concerned for your satisfaction. We also want at the first opportunity to give orders to Our Councils of the Realm and Chamber; and if you could know of any proposal for estates with which you could be satisfied in payment, We would gladly let you be contented in that way, as also if the donation condition of the baronetcy needs to be improved if we are requested to do so, remaining always well-inclined to you with particular favour and grace; and We graciously commend you to God Almighty. From Uppsala, January 5, 1654.

Kristina.

Above: Kristina.

Notes: Wildenbruch is the old German name for Swobnica, a village in what is now the Gmina Banie district of Gryfino County in Poland's West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Hansfelde is the old German name for Tychowo, a village in what is now the Gmina Stargard district of Stargard County in Poland's West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Anna Brownell Jameson's biography of Kristina, part 4

Source:

Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 38 to 44, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcelebra02jameuoft/page/38/mode/2up

The biography:

Peace being concluded, the states-general entreated Christina to acquiesce in the wishes of her people, and secure the tranquility of the country, by giving them a king. They proposed as a proper object of her choice her cousin, Charles Gustavus, a prince of great bravery and accomplishments, who had been born and educated in Sweden. His mother, the Princess Catherine, having been governess to Christina, had not neglected the opportunity thus afforded her, of cultivating in the mind of her pupil a predilection for her son; he had been the playfellow of the young queen in her childhood, and she had then in sport promised to marry him, and was accustomed to call him her "little husband". He was the only one among her suitors for whom she seems to have entertained a real and personal regard. Prince Charles pressed his own suit gallantly, but though favoured by her in every other respect, she never, from the time she was able to feel and reflect as a woman, committed herself by a single word on which he could build a hope as a lover. When, in 1647 [sic], the Prince was appointed general-in-chief of the Swedish forces in Germany, (an office which shows at once the high trust which Christina reposed in him, and the wish to remove him for a while from her presence,) he had a parting interview with the queen, and took advantage of the moment to draw from her, if possible, some expression of tenderness; he reminded her of her childish preference, her infant promise to him; and he entreated her not to allow him to depart without knowing what hopes he might venture to entertain. The queen, in reply, desired him to rest no hopes whatsoever on the early preference she had confessed for him, nor on any promise made at a time when she could not properly be responsible for any engagement. She insisted that every thing which had ever passed between them should be forgotten, or considered as null and void. At the same time she intimated gently, that she would declare her final intentions when she had completed her twenty-fifth year, (she was now in her twenty-first,) and had celebrated her coronation; and she promised him, that if then she did not marry him, she would not marry at all, and would take such measures as should secure his succession to the throne; to this Charles replied, in a very lover-like style, "that if she refused to accept him as a husband, he would reject the crown she offered him, on any other terms". Christina gaily reproached him with being so "romanesque" in his ideas, but as he eagerly continued the same protestations, she stopped him, with something of her usual haughtiness, reminding him, that if he should even die before the period she had mentioned, it was sufficient honour for him that he had been thought worthy of pretending to the hand of so great a queen; — and with these words she dismissed him (The Count de la Gardie and her preceptor Matthias were both present during this singular conference; and Charles Gustavus left a memorandum of what passed, in his own hand-writing, which was copied by Puffendorf.).

To the repeated remonstrances of the senate and clergy, Christina replied in the same ambiguous manner; and to those of her courtiers and confidants, (the French minister Chanut being among the number,) who ventured to express their surprise at her conduct, she replied in terms which showed how deep-rooted was her disgust at the idea of giving herself a master, or even a partner in power. When they pressed upon her the expediency of marrying, in order to ensure an heir to the crown, she answered, "Il pourrait aussi facilement naître de moi un Néron qu'un Auguste". Unreasonable as this conduct may seem, Christina in this one instance maintained her consistency; and there was something in her resolute frankness more honest and respectable than the continued trifling and absurd coquetry of Queen Elizabeth.

Christina kept her word with Prince Charles, and one of her first cares was to have him acknowledged by the states as her successor to the crown; the high sense of honour, the spirit, resolution, and dexterity with which she accomplished her purpose, would have been admirable, but for the usual mixture of impatience, selfishness and arrogance which she displayed on the occasion. The senate, before they would consent to ratify the nomination, required absolutely some pledge relative to her marriage, which she as peremptorily refused. The Bishop Matthias (her old preceptor) ventured to hint, that the constitution of the kingdom "obliged her to marry;" it was like putting the spark to the gunpowder. "Who", she exclaimed, "who upon earth shall oblige me to do so, if I do not of my own free will? Until you consent to my wishes in this matter, do not think to draw from me one word on the subject of marriage. I do not deny that I may one day marry; the good of my kingdom is a powerful motive; but I will not be bound, — nor heaven, nor earth, shall force my will!" "All Europe", said the bishop, "have for years regarded the Prince as your Majesty's destined husband. What will be said and thought when this extraordinary arrangement becomes public?" To which the queen replied, "What care I? when people are tired of talking about me and my affairs, they will find some other subject of conversation." The council entreated time, she insisted that the affair should be settled immediately, still holding out some hope that she would subsequently yield to their wishes, and repeating frequently that if ever she married she would give her hand to Prince Charles, "foi d'honnête femme!" — "I believe", said the Constable Torstenson, "that the prince will never marry at all, unless accepted by your Majesty." "Yes", replied the Queen sarcastically, "la couronne est une jolie fille!" intimating probably a suspicion that the affections of the prince were fixed upon her crown, not upon herself. This idea, whether infused into her mind by Magnus de la Gardie, or a discovery for which she was indebted to her own quick and jealous penetration, had shocked her personal pride, without rendering her less anxious to secure the throne to Prince Charles. She had not only bound herself by a solemn promise to him, she also feared that the states would declare the crown elective in favour of some other candidate, and thus strike at the very foundation of the regal power. For these reasons, although her resolution was already formed, she eluded all expression of her real intentions, and by a conduct at once resolute and artful, she at length carried her point; the act declaring Charles Crown-Prince of Sweden, that is, heir-apparent to the throne, was agreed to by the Diet, and signed in March 1650 [sic].

When the deed of succession was brought to the Chancellor Oxenstiern for his signature, the old man wept, and protested against it; he regarded it as the preliminary step to Christina's ultimate purpose, of which his sagacity foresaw the consequences.

The conduct of Charles was throughout a masterpiece of policy: concealing a most aspiring and ambitious character under a calm and submissive exterior, he appeared merely to resign himself to the will of Christina, and conscious how far he still depended on her caprice, he was careful not to awaken that jealousy of power which she carried to a childish excess; on giving up his military command, he lived in retirement, never took the slightest interest in any affairs of the government, nor appeared at court unless expressly invited. By this discretion he maintained himself in the good graces of the queen, till it was no longer necessary to wear the mask; and the supposition that she afterwards repented of her act in his favour, and wished to substitute Count Tott, though very consistent with her capricious character, seems to rest on no authority.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Karl Gustav.

Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.

Anna Brownell Jameson's biography of Kristina, part 3

Source:

Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 34 to 38, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcelebra02jameuoft/page/34/mode/2up

The biography:

In the mean time the war with Denmark proceeded, and the Swedish troops had gained signal advantages under Torstenson. But notwithstanding Christina's hereditary predilection for war, her admiration of Condé, who was her hero par excellence, and her oft-repeated wish that she might one day head her own armies, she had sufficient sense to perceive that peace had become necessary to her kingdom, and that, in order to establish her authority at home, it was necessary to have tranquility abroad; she entrusted to Oxenstiern the care of concluding a treaty with Denmark. It was signed in 1645, on terms so advantages to Sweden, and so satisfactory to Christina, that on the Chancellor's return, she presented him with a large estate, created him a count, and, on investing him with the title, pronounced his eulogium in the assembled senate, after the manner of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

In the course of the same year, as Christina herself informs us, she was "seized with a sickness almost to death, through fatigue and application to business;" nor can we wonder at this, when we are assured that for many months she never slept more than three to five hours out of the twenty-four.

Christina was content to share with her Chancellor Oxenstiern the merit of concluding the treaty with Denmark; — it was not so with the grand general pacification of Europe, which put an end to the Thirty Years' War, and which is called in history the Peace of Westphalia. The ministers of the various European powers met at Munster, and afterwards at Osnaburg, and the negotiations lasted more than six years. Christina was represented in this congress by John Oxenstiern, the son of the chancellor, and Adler Salvius; and her correspondence with these two ministers affords the strongest proof of her talents, her political sagacity, her impatience of temper, and her determination of purpose. Young as she was, and naturally frank and magnanimous, Christina seems thus early to have learned and adopted one paltry art of government, that of sowing secret dissension among her ministers, in order to retrain the principal power in her own hands. In this manner she opposed Salvius to Oxenstiern, whom she suspected of wilfully retarding the negotiations, as his father, the chancellor, was known to differ from her, relative to the expediency of the peace. The reasons he opposed to this, her favourite object, were probably worthy of so great and profound a statesman, and, had the war continued, it might have added to the possessions of Sweden, and have placed her in a yet more commanding situation with regard to the rest of Europe. But a single defeat in a pitched battle must have lost her all the advantages hitherto gained; and Christina, who had heard of nothing but war since she was an infant, began to be weary of the sound. She was, perhaps, too precipitate in hurrying on the conclusion of the treaty; but a negotiation of six years would have wearied the patience of one far less impatience. Whatever might have been her motives, history cannot deny her the true glory, so becoming to her sex and to her age, of having contributed mainly to this great peace, which, after many delays and difficulties, and calling forth all the talent and diplomatic subtlety of the greatest statesmen in Europe, was at length signed in 1649 [sic]. At the time that England was convulsed by civil wars, and France distracted by factions, as sanguinary as they were inglorious; that Germany lay desolate, and Spain was humbled, — a young queen of three-and-twenty dictated from her little kingdom terms to all Europe, and, stretching forth her sceptre, commanded peace. There is another circumstance connected with this famous treaty, which is worth remembering. The Thirty Years' War had been caused principally by the influence of a woman, — an amiable and a conscientious woman (Elizabeth of Bohemia, (eldest daughter of James I.) who advised her husband Frederick, the Elector Palatine, to accept the contested crown of Bohemia: this led to the war.); who, could she have foreseen the consequences of her fatal advice, — could she have looked into futurity, and beheld the torrents of human blood poured forth like water, — the millions of lives sacrificed, — the burnings and massacres of Tilly and his fierce soldiery, — the desolation of her people, — the flames of her own palace, (that palace into which she had been led in triumph a beloved and honoured bride!) and herself wandering a beggar from city to city, — she must have died with horror on the spot. Two women healed, or, at least, ended the miseries of which she had been the unconscious, but most fatal and wretched instrument. It is generally allowed that the peace of Westphalia had never been concluded but for Christina of Sweden, and Amelia the Landgravine of Hesse; another extraordinary women, at a period when female influence seemed openly to rule the destinies of Europe.

The news of the ratification of the peace was brought to Stockholm on the 31st of October 1648, and was celebrated by Christina with public rejoicings. She did not, however, easily forgive the Chancellor Oxenstiern for having contradicted her in this affair; and the whole of that powerful family, notwithstanding the eminent services they had rendered their country, were for some time treated with a coolness as capricious and ungrateful as it was undeserved.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.

Anna Brownell Jameson's biography of Kristina, part 2

Source:

Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 25 to 34, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcelebra02jameuoft/page/24/mode/2up

The biography:

In 1644, being then eighteen, she was declared of age, according to the laws of Sweden; the regency was dissolved, and she assumed the reins of government with all the ceremonies used on such occasions.

We can hardly imagine a position more magnificent and interesting than that of Christina when she assumed the government of her kingdom; and the portrait which may be drawn of her at this period of her life, presents a picture so different from that degradation of character and situation she afterwards exhibited, that in justice to her, — in justice to human nature, we must dwell upon it for a moment.

Sweden, which had been for several ages only an obscure corner of Europe, had gradually risen in the scale of nations, from the time that Gustavus Vasa, the great-grandfather of Christina, had delivered his country from the usurpation of the Danes. It had attained the highest degree of glory and importance by the military exploits and political influence of her father, the great Gustavus. After his death, the generals Baner, Wrangel, and Torstenson, maintained the glory of the Swedish arms in Germany; and during the minority of his daughter, the wise and firm administration of the council of regency, and particularly of the Chancellor Oxenstiern, had maintained the internal tranquillity and prosperity of the kingdom. Under these auspicious circumstances, Christina, who had been born to the throne, — cradled, as she says, amid laurels and trophies of victory, — assumed a sceptre which was her's [sic] by the double right of her hereditary claims and the free consent of the states-general. She was in the bloom of youth, full of health, vigour, and activity; the natural cheerfulness of her spirits had been preserved by constant exercise of body and mind; and although she was proud, passionate, and capricious, she was also gay [cheerful], frank, and generous. She entertained at this time a lofty and even sublime idea of the high destiny to which she was called, and of the multiplied duties and tremendous responsibility it imposed on her. All her resolutions and intentions appear to have been right and just; and to put these intentions into practice, she had youthful enthusiasm, surpassing talents, a strong constitution, and the prospect of a long life and reign before her. Though learned beyond most of her sex, the vanity of learning had not yet seized her, and literature was to her, what it ought always to have been — an amusement, not a pursuit. She understood most of the languages of Europe; Latin, French, German, Italian, she wrote and spoke as fluently as her native tongue; her proficiency in Greek has already been mentioned. At this time she seems to have preferred the French language, and it was spoken almost habitually in her court. She would have no prime minister, and from the very commencement of her reign, (dating it from the dissolution of the regency,) she received and read all the dispatches, dictated the replies to her secretaries, which she afterwards looked over and corrected herself; and while the regal power had all the gloss of novelty, she certainly wore it with dignity and grace. Her indefatigable attention to the business of the state excited the astonishment of the foreign ministers, and the admiration of her people; she constantly attended all the deliberations of her council, and by the force of her character and her resolute temper, she exercised the most unbounded influence over the senate, who yielded to her more than they would have yielded to a monarch of their own sex. It is asserted that she was at this time more despotic than any Swedish sovereign from the time of Eric XIV. to the change of the constitution under Gustavus III.

In person she was not handsome; her figure was below the middle size, but well formed, with the exception of a slight deformity in one of her shoulders, caused by a fall in her infancy; it was, however, scarcely perceptible; and her deportment, and all her movements were remarkable for dignity, ease, and freedom. Her features were rather large and striking in proportion to her figure, and her whole countenance, unless controlled for especial purposes, was singular for its mobility and vivacity. Her eyes were of a brilliant hazel, quick and penetrating; her nose aquiline, her mouth too wide, and when at rest, not agreeable in its expression; her smile, however, was bright and pleasing, and her teeth fine, though she took little care of them. She had a profusion of light brown hair, which she seldom combed; and a man's fur cap, or a knot of ribbon, was in general her only coiffure, till later in life she exchanged these for a periwig. She was extremely negligent in her dress, and never allowed herself more than a quarter of an hour at her morning toilet. Except upon state occasions, her attire was very simple and uniform; it consisted of a suit of plain grey stuff or cloth, shorter than was usually worn, for the convenience of walking and riding, with a black scarf round her neck, and rarely a single ornament. She was temperate, and even abstemious in eating, apparently quite indifferent as to what was placed before her, and was never heard to praise or dispraise any dish at the table.

Notwithstanding her despotic temper, her general deportment was frank, good-humoured, and easy. She affected in conversation a stoicism which she was far from carrying into practice. Her singularities had not at this time degenerated into that extreme of eccentricity and coarseness which she afterwards exhibited. When inclined to play the queen, her countenance could assume an expression of exceeding haughtiness, and her eyes so much fire and vivacity, that General Wrangel, who had made all Germany tremble at his very name, was himself known to tremble (or perhaps affect to tremble) in her presence. Like our Elizabeth, she took pleasure in daunting with a look those who approached her; and her courtiers, who soon discovered her foible, knew well how to flatter her in this respect.

She had women about her, as part of her royal state, but seldom condescended to notice, far less converse with, any of them, and openly professed an unmeasured contempt for her own sex. Her only female favourite was the Countess Ebba Sparre, one of her maids of honour, who was a year or two younger than herself, and eminently beautiful and amiable. Christina used to call her "La belle comtesse", and by this title she was distinguished to the end of her life. Ebba Sparre never attempted to exercise the slightest influence over her royal mistress, and appears to have been of a gentle, unobtrusive disposition, and blameless manners.

Among the men who surrounded Christina in the beginning of her reign, the first in rank was her cousin, Charles-Gustavus, the Prince Palatine. The most celebrated was the Chancellor Oxenstiern, esteemed at the time the greatest statesman in Europe; more than a match for Richelieu in abilities, and far his superior in wisdom and integrity. But the most distinguished by the queen's favour, was the Count Magnus de la Gardie, whom she married to her cousin, the Princess Mary Euphrosyne, and loaded with honours. He was her grand-chamberlain, and afterwards ambassador to France. M. Chanut, the French minister, a man of considerable ability, possessed much of her confidence; and Adler Salvius, whom she raised from an obscure station to be a senator and a noble, was high in her favour, and entrusted with her most secret negotiations.

Her cousin, Charles-Gustavus, had a high command in the army, where he studied the art of war under Torstenson and Wrangel; and when he visited the court was always treated by the queen with the honour due to his birth and rank. Although he was the heir-presumptive to the crown, and was much beloved by the military, she never indulged the slightest jealousy against him; and though he was a suitor for her hand, she kept him steadily at a distance, nor did he ever dare to presume on that partiality in his favour which the whole court had early detected.

Count Peter Brahé held at this time the office of Drotset, or grand judiciary and first senator of Sweden, (a dignity resembling that of our Lord High Chancellor.) He was a man of great talents and integrity, and high in the confidence of the queen and the people.

This slight sketch will give some idea of Christina and her court during the first five or six years of her reign; nor can we wonder that the eyes of all Europe should have been fixed on this singular woman with interest, admiration, and astonishment. She was, in fact, the only sovereign of that time who was invested with anything like personal greatness. Mazarin governed France during the minority of Louis XIV.: Olivarez governed Spain in the name of Philip IV.; Cromwell ruled England in his own name. The Emperor was almost imbecile: Christina alone maintained the regal dignity in her own person. Her first actions, private and public, were wise and beneficent. She added to her fleet, and invited skilful shipwrights from Holland. She made some excellent regulations with regard to the commerce, taxes, and coin of her kingdom. In her minority she had founded the university of Abo, in Finland; she now endowed it richly, and established there a valuable library, which in a few years amounted to ten thousand volumes. She also added to the revenues and privileges of the university of Upsal, and founded an academy of literature at Stockholm.

The celebrated Hugo Grotius had been patronised by her father, Gustavus Adolphus, and during her minority had been taken into the service of Sweden, and appointed by Oxenstiern, Ambassador to France. He returned from his embassy in the first year of her reign, and she received him with all the distinction due to his uncommon merit. After he had rendered an account of the affairs entrusted to him, he entreated permission to resign his offices. To the queen he pleaded his broken health; and to Oxenstiern the deep disgust and weariness with which his long diplomatic career had inspired him. Christina gave him to understand how much his continuance in her service would gratify her; but as he persisted in his wish, she presented him with a gratuity of 12,000 crowns, and dismissed him with honour. Grotius died within a few months afterwards (In August 1645.), and Christina wrote to his widow a feeling and elegant letter, purchased the whole of his library and MSS. for a large sum of money, and presented them to the university of Upsal. The fame of this well-timed munificence was quickly spread through Europe, at a period when the name of Hugo Grotius was most illustrious in politics and literature.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.

Note: Åbo is the Swedish name for the Finnish city of Turku, in the Uusimaa region.

Anna Brownell Jameson's biography of Kristina, part 1

Source:

Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 1 to 25, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcelebra02jameuoft/page/n7/mode/2up

The biography:

CHRISTINA,

QUEEN OF SWEDEN.

ALTHOUGH the arts which she patronized threw a factitious and a temporary splendour round the character of Christina, it has proved too superficial and unfounded to dazzle or deceive posterity. The contemporaries of this queen appear at a loss what to say or think of a woman whose life "was one contradiction;" whose intellectual powers and exalted station procured her no respect; who gave away a throne from an excess of selfishness, and divested herself of power from a love of independence; whose passion for glory ended in abasement and self-degradation, and whose ambition stooped to a mean dependence upon those whom she despised. Had Christina moved in a private station, she had been merely regarded as a vain, clever, and very eccentric woman, and might have found many a parallel among her own sex; but being placed upon a throne, she appeared extraordinary, and even sometimes great; — and was certainly one of the most remarkable women who ever existed. She seems to have been endued by Nature with talents and dispositions which ought to have rendered her life happy, her reign glorious, and her memory illustrious; but ill-educated — at least ill-educated for the station for which she was destined — and destitute of virtue or common sense, her sex, her learning, and her splendid situation only served to render her more conspicuously wretched, ridiculous, and pitiable. As a woman, she passed through life without loving or being loved; and, as a queen, she sank into the grave uncrowned, unhonoured, and unlamented.

Christina of Sweden was the only daughter of the celebrated Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden, surnamed the "Lion of the North", from his conquests and military achievements; her mother was Maria-Eleonora of Brandenburgh, daughter of the Elector John Sigismond. It is asserted that Gustavus married this princess from political motives, and contrary to his own inclinations, being at that time deeply in love with a young Swedish girl named Christina, who afterwards died. It is also said that it was from affection to her memory that he bestowed the name of Christina on his daughter and heiress. It is not, however, the less certain that Eleonora of Brandenburgh succeeded in gaining the entire affections of her husband. She is described by contemporary writers as a fair-complexioned and handsome woman, with a fine figure and soft, graceful manners; endued with a disposition for the tender and romantic, and some taste for the fine arts; but deficient in judgment, and weak in character, with all that paltry jealousy of power and turn for intrigue which is one of the signs of a little mind. She was passionately attached to her husband, who loved her for her beauty and gentleness, but took care to exclude her from all political influence, both during his life, and afterwards, by his last will.

Christina was born at Stockholm, December 18, 1626. Her parents, who ardently desired a son to inherit the throne, were considerably disappointed at her birth: her father, however, soon reconciled himself to the will of Providence, and caused the same rejoicings to be made as are usual at the birth of an heir-apparent. Not so her mother. The queen had listened to the assurances of some pretended astrologers, who, after consulting the stars, had promised that she should be the mother of a son; and she was the more inconsolable because Christina, far from displaying any of the graces of her sex, was in her childhood singularly ugly. She appears to have treated her in early infancy with a degree of indifference which the young queen never forgot, and in after-times repaid by a neglect which shortened the life of her parent.

Her father, however, loved her with a fond affection; and it is related that when she was attacked by a dangerous illness at a time when he was distant several hundred miles from the capital, he instantly set off to see her, and travelled night and day without repose till he reached Stockholm. Her restoration to health was celebrated by a solemn and public festival; and after this period she generally accompanied her father in all his journeys. On one occasion, when they entered the fortress of Calmar, the governor did not venture to salute the King with the usual discharge of artillery, fearing lest the thunder of the cannon should terrify the young princess into convulsions: she was then about two years old. Her father hesitated; but after a moment's silence, he exclaimed — "Fire! — she is a soldier's daughter, and must learn to bear it!" The child, far from being startled or discomposed by these warlike sounds, laughed and clapped her hands, and her father gloried in her intrepidity. He conceived thus early the idea of giving his daughter the education and sentiments which belong to the other sex; and it is certain that Christina so far forgot her own, as to regret, to the last moment of her life, that she had never headed an army in the field of battle, nor seen the blood of men flow in mortal strife!

It would, perhaps, be too much to assert that she inherited these dispositions from her warlike father. Gustavus was regarded as the greatest general, and the greatest conqueror, of modern times, until the rise of Napoleon: but his pursuit of military glory, had, at least, a higher and more generous motive. He took arms for the preservation of the Protestant faith in Germany, and to maintain the independence of the lesser states and princes of the empire against the overwhelming power of the house of Austria. Of all those monarchs whose fame rests chiefly upon their military prowess, Gustavus appears to have been the most amiable and magnanimous, and his conduct the most pure from overweening pride and personal ambition. When, in 1632, he entered Saxony victorious and was received by the people as their saviour; — when they hailed him with acclamations of gratitude and admiration, a sad presentiment came over his mind, in which the chivalrous spirit of a royal hero mingled with that deep enthusiastic piety which distinguished some of the old Scottish Covenanters. On this occasion he appeared oppressed and shocked by the excess of the homage paid to him. "I am afraid", said he, "that God will punish me for the folly of this people. He who has called himself a jealous God, will show them, — ay, and me too, that I am but a weak, mortal man. Great God! bear witness that this is against my will! to thy providence I commit myself!"

Another of his speeches places him even in a more amiable light, and is worth recording, were it only to show what a hero and a conqueror thought of that glory which usually dazzles the multitude. The deputies of some German city appeared before him, to compliment him on his victories, and express their gratitude for his protection. They assured him, that but for him, the Austrians would have founded a universal monarchy on the ruin of the peace and liberties of Europe; that God had raised him up to be the deliverer of Germany, and the guardian of his own country; and that his invincible courage was a special effect of the Divine goodness. "Say, rather", said Gustavus, interrupting him, "an effect of the Divine wrath. The war which we carry on as a remedy is the most insupportable of all earthly evils; worse than any of the evils it proposes to avert. Be assured that Providence never deviates from the usual course of things, without chastising some one; and when He bestows on a monarch extraordinary talents or ambitions, it is not as a favour, but a scourge and a punishment to the nations." "A conqueror", he added, "is one who in his passion for glory deprives himself and his subjects of all repose. He rushes forward like a torrent, carrying desolation in his path, and filling the world with terror, misery, and confusion."

Such was the father of Christina. She was not more than four years old when he was called upon to take the command of the Confederated armies in Germany. The Emperor, Ferdinand II., had placed at the head of his forces two of his bravest generals, Count Tilly and the celebrated Wallenstein, and prepared to carry on the contest with vigour.

On leaving Stockholm for the theatre of war, Gustavus made the best possible arrangements for the government of his kingdom during his absence, and in case of his death. He caused the states-general and the army to acknowledge Christina as heiress to his throne; he named a council of regency to exercise the supreme power during her minority, and placed the famous Chancellor Oxenstiern at the head of affairs. In an assembly of the senate, he solemnly confided his daughter to their loyalty and protection; and having thus disposed all things for the administration of his government, he prepared to set off for the seat of war, accompanied by the queen. The young princess being brought to take leave of her father, began to recite a little speech she had been taught for the occasion; but occupied by his own reflections, he turned away absently, without listening to her: the child immediately stopped short, and pulling him by the coat, called his attention to herself; the king snatched her up in his arms, and kissed her repeatedly, mingling tears with his caresses, and when at last he resigned her to her attendants, she wept so violently for several hours as to endanger her health. To these circumstances, natural enough in themselves, the populace attached a superstitious importance, when, two years afterwards, Gustavus perished at the battle of Lutzen, in the prime of his life, and at the moment when all Europe rang with the fame of his successes. This celebrated battle was fought on the 16th of November 1633 [sic]; and though victory remained with the Swedes, they esteemed it dearly purchased by the death of a sovereign who possessed so many great and good qualities, and was among the least criminal and selfish of those monarchs who have sacrificed the welfare of their subjects to false ideas of glory.

The queen-mother returned to Sweden with the body of her husband, which she never quitted from the day of his death to that of his internment — a period of two years. His heart, which had been embalmed and enclosed in a casket of gold, decorated with jewels, was suspended to her bed, and every day "she wept over it with great lamentation, giving other tokens of extreme love and grief; which, (her daughter remarks,) were more easily excused than justified." After her return to Sweden, the senate and the clergy prevailed upon her to resign this precious casket, that it might be interred with the remains of the king; but with that fanciful turn of mind for which she was remarkable, she perpetuated, at least, the recollection of her sorrow, by instituting the order of the "Golden Heart", and distributing the badge (a heart-shaped medal) among the ladies and officers of her court.

Christina had been separated from her mother for nearly four years, and when they met for the first time after the death of Gustavus, she was about eight years old [sic]; the sight of her child, by recalling the image of a father, whom she greatly resembled, brought back the feelings of Nature to the mother's heart. "She caught me in her arms", says Christina, "half drowned me in her tears, and had nearly smothered me in her embraces." She refused to part with her daughter, and kept her with her in her retirement for nearly two years; a proof of affection which the young queen could have dispensed with. "A force de m'aimer", says Christina, with her usual naïveté, "elle me fit désespérer." The deep mourning of the queen-mother and her attendants, the melancholy and monotonous life they led, did not, however, damp the spirit or chill the mind of Christina; she confesses that the weakness of her mother so far turned to her advantage, that her excessive impatience of the dulness and restraint around her attached her to her studies; and her aversion for the gloomy apartment in which the queen-dowager mourned in state, made her employ many hours with her books and her preceptors, which, under other circumstances, had been spent in amusement.

The regency, from consideration for the feelings of the mother, left Christina for some time under her care: as she had been excluded from all share in the government, they thought some little amends were due to her; but weak in judgment, and uncertain in temper, she appears to have been ill calculated to manage the high spirit and gifted mind of her daughter. She would sometimes indulge her to excess, or weep over her in an agony of fondness; at another time, she would punish her for slight faults with capricious severity. Among the recollections of her childhood, Christina tells us that she had an extreme dislike to beer and wine, and that the queen-dowager would not suffer her to drink water; that she consequently suffered from excessive thirst for days together, and would some times steal the eau-de-rosée which stood on her mother's toilette; being detected in this very pardonable theft, her mother whipped her most severely, which had the effect of making her a confirmed water-drinker for the remainder of her life.

The number of fools and dwarfs which the queen-dowager kept about her person, according to the custom of the country, was another subject of disgust to her daughter; Christina, at a very early age, had sufficient sense and taste to abhor these courtly appendages, as the remains of barbarism and ignorance. The women who surrounded her mother were not of a high grade in point of mind or accomplishments, and it is not surprising that a girl of so much spirit, vivacity, and talent, as Christina early displayed, should fly from such society. At this time, that is, from her eighth to her tenth year, she studied regularly six hours in the morning and six hours in the evening, every day, except Saturday and Sunday; her progress, therefore, in every department of knowledge, was not so wonderful as her unwearied and voluntary application.

The members of the regency managed the public affairs with consummate prudence. It was their first care to secure the succession of the throne to Christina; for though, by the constitution of Sweden, the crown was not altogether elective, the sovereign was not legally in possession of the crown till the succession was approved by the general assembly of the states. A diet was summoned, therefore, soon after the death of Gustavus, with more than usual solemnity, and the president demanded of the four orders of the state — the nobles, the clergy, the Burghers, and the peasants, "whether they accepted the Princess Christina, the daughter of Gustavus, for their Queen?" One of the deputies of the peasantry, whose name was Lars Larsson, (or Laurence, the son of Laurence,) here rose in his place, and asked "Who is this daughter of Gustavus of whom you speak? we do not know her, we have never seen her; — set her before us!" The assembly at these words began to murmur among themselves, on which the president, or marshal of the diet, said, "I will present her to you if such is your will:" he then left the room, and returning with Christina in his arms, he placed her in the midst of them. Larsson going up to her, examined the child for some moments, and then exclaimed, "Yes — it is herself — those are the very features, the eyes, and the brow of our dead father and king, Gustavus. Let her be our queen!" At these words the whole assembly burst into acclamations, Christina was placed upon her father's throne, and the oaths of allegiance were taken with enthusiasm. Though too young to understand the nature of her situation, Christina was not too young to receive a strong impression of her own grandeur and power. She received the homage of her subjects with much infantine dignity and self-possession. "I still remember", she says, "how enchanted I was to see all these men at my feet, kissing my hand." Though she afterwards became so impatient of the trammels of court etiquette, yet as a child she was extremely fond of playing the queen, and when brought forward on state occasions, she acted her part with wonderful discretion. She was not more than seven years old when the Muscovite ambassadors were introduced to her; their grotesque manners, long beards, and singular dresses, had excited the ridicule and amazement of the whole court, and fears were entertained, lest Christina, by some act of childish folly, should give offence, or disturb the solemnity of the occasion. When her preceptor and her chamberlain endeavoured to prepare her for the interview, and exhorted her not to be afraid, she only laughed in their faces, saying resolutely, "Why should I fear? tell me only what I am to do, and I will do it." Accordingly, she ascended her throne, and not only received the ambassadors without the slightest discomposure, but replied to their speeches with a confidence and dignity which astonished the strangers, and delighted her own attendants.

Gustavus, before his departure, had appointed Axel Baner to be the governor of Christina, and John Mathias to be her preceptor: the first was a mere courtier; the latter was really a man of learning and virtue, whom Christina, in her after-life, never mentioned but with respect and affection. In the instructions which the king had left for the management of his daughter, he desired that she should be brought up with the modesty proper to her sex, but in every other respect should receive a masculine education. He was not aware that he required two things, which were, in fact, incompatible with each other; and that in surrounding his daughter almost exclusively with men, however learned and accomplished, and in cultivating only the sentiments and the acquirements proper to the other sex, he was depraving her manners, if not her mind, and striking at the very foundation of the only feminine virtue on which he insisted. Christina early displayed an "antipathy", to use her own expressions, "to all that women do and say:" but she became an excellent classical scholar, a great admirer of the Greeks and Romans, and all the heroes and poets of antiquity, particularly of Homer and Alexander the Great. At the age of fourteen she read Thucydides in the original; she rode and hunted, and managed a horse and a gun to admiration: she harangued her senate, and dictated to her ministers. Meantime the gentler graces and virtues of her own sex were neglected, and thus she forfeited all claim to the deference due to her as a woman, without having the strength, either of mind or body, which gives the dominion to man. She grew up self-willed, peremptory, arrogant, and impatient, to an inconceivable degree. Being early emancipated from the restraint and reserve in which females of every station are properly educated, she became, at length, quite incapable of submitting to any control whatever; the slightest opposition to her slightest caprice became insupportable; and not the less so, because the natural strength of her understanding allowed her to see and feel the full force of those obligations and duties which her wilful, impatient temper rendered burthensome and intolerable.

In the mean time her education processes under the guardianship of the five great officers of the crown, who honestly fulfilled their trust, according to the intentions of the late king. When she was about nine years old, they judged it necessary to remove her from her mother, (whose weakness of character and foreign prejudices had rendered her exceedingly unpopular in Sweden,) and she was placed under the immediate charge of her aunt, the Princess Catherine, wife of the Prince Palatine. But the education of the young queen was considered of too much importance to be entirely entrusted to her or to any single person. Certain instructions were drawn of by the council of regency, and approved by the diet, which were to serve as guide to the Princess Catherine, Axel Baner, Horn, and Mathias, in the direction and management of the queen. This document (which is dated March 24th, 1635,) insists chiefly on three principal points: —

First, That as her majesty, in virtue of her rank as sovereign, claims the obedience, the faithful service, and the entire and humble loyalty of her subjects; so she should be taught that these duties are reciprocal; she is to learn to love and esteem her people; to be gracious and affable in her deportment towards them; to consider their interest as inseparably her own; to speak well of her country, and to treat the senate and her guardians with particular respect.

Secondly, They desire that her majesty should be well instructed in the manners, customs, and laws, of foreign countries; but that she should be carefully brought up to prefer, and to reverence, and in all respects observe constantly the manners, customs, and laws of Sweden; that those who surrounded her should be Swedes by birth; that a certain number of young ladies of rank should be educated with her, as attendants and companions; and that in selecting these from the first families, particular attention should be had to the characters of their parents, and the manner in which they had been previously educated, in other that the young queen might not be exposed to the contagion of bad example; and the same scrupulous care was to extend to the choice of the women who waited on her person.

Thirdly, they remarked, that as she was destined to rule a great kingdom, it was important that she should be instructed in the duties of a Christian sovereign; but the science of government being one which depended on time and experience, and was scarcely to be taught by book or by rule, or inculcated in childhood; therefore they recommended that a foundation should be laid in the early study of the Scriptures, as the proper basis of all knowledge and all virtue. They also recommended a particular attention to history, as most necessary to a sovereign, and desired that she should be made a good accountant; they especially insisted that not only all pernicious books, but all trifling works and books of mere amusement should be carefully kept from her perusal; and that she should not be suffered to imbibe any ideas either of religion or policy, which should be contrary to the Lutheran Faith and to the liberties of her people.

There was much good sense in these instructions; but nothing was more easy and obvious than to draw up a plan upon such general principles; the difficulty consisted in applying them in detail; and this difficulty was increased by the extraordinary character and endowments of the pupil. The Princess Catherine was a woman of sense and spirit, and the preceptor Mathias had learning and integrity; but had the one been a saint and the other a stoic, Christina apparently would have tried the patience of both. In fact, she never seems to have been submitted to any thing like discipline of the mind or the will; her extraordinary quickness rendered all acquirements easy to which she chose to apply, and her "insurmountable" aversion to all the employments and recreations of her own sex, was indulged and encouraged. Like Tasso's Clorinda,

"Ai lavori d'Aracne, all'ago, ai fusi

Inchinar non degnò la man superba."

Dancing seems to have been the only feminine accomplishment to which she applied.

But, on the other hand, she was so indefatigable in her studies as to fatigue all her tutors; so inexhaustible in her spirits, so restless, that her women and attendants had no repose day or night. Besides her usual lessons in history, philosophy, and the classics, she acquired the German, French, Italian, and Spanish languages, merely as an amusement, and without the assistance of any master. The people who surrounded her at this time appear to have been selected with as much impartiality and judgment as was consistent with all circumstances; but if we may trust her own account, Christina suffered the usual fate of princes, that of being spoiled in her childhood by the deference paid to her rank, even by those who instructed her. She observes very cleverly, with a reference to herself, that "men flatter princes even in their cradles, and fear their memory as well as their power; they handle them timidly as they do young lions, who can only scratch now, but may hereafter tear and devour."

During the minority of Christina, the foreign affairs of Sweden were conducted by the Chancellor Oxenstiern, a statesman celebrated for his loyalty and integrity, not less than for his great political sagacity. Under his direction the war was carried on in Germany with various success. Field-marshal Horn, and Generals Baner, Torstenson, and Wrangel, successively commanded the Swedes and their allies, and were opposed by Wallenstein, Count Tilly, Piccolomini, the Arch-Duke Ferdinand, and other famous military leaders. This was the terrible war called in history "the Thirty Years' War", during which the finest parts of Germany were desolate, social order almost annihilated, and the progress of the arts and general civilization greatly retarded; as to the amount of individual misery and crime, it is beyond all computation.

The domestic affairs of Sweden were, meantime, regulated by the council of regency, and under their administration the country flourished. To the Prince Palatine, the uncle of Christina, had been entrusted the department of the finances: but the States were so jealous of his influence over his niece, and of the hopes he was known to entertain of marrying her to his only son [sic] Charles Gustavus, that they deprived him of this important charge, and bestowed it upon Gabriel Oxenstiern, cousin of the chancellor.

The late king had expressly excluded his widow, the queen-dowager, from any share in the regency; and she was so highly offended at this arrangement, in which the ministers persisted, and so incensed at being deprived of all control over her daughter, that she secretly fled to Denmark, and thence to Brandenburgh, where she continued to reside till Christina was of age to take the government into her own hands.

In 1639, when Christina was in her fourteenth year [sic], her aunt, the Princess Catherine, died, and it does not appear that she had any successor as principal governess to the young queen; within two years afterwards, Christina, by the advice of the Chancellor Oxenstiern, was admitted to preside in the senate. She was extremely assiduous in her attendance, gave her opinion on matters of consequence with equal propriety and decision, and appears to have entered upon the duties of her high station with all the real enthusiasm of a young and ardent mind. As she approached the age of womanhood, her council were anxious that she should choose a consort among the princes of Europe who contended for the honour of her hand. During the first few years of her reign, proposals, embassies, negotiations, remonstrances on this subject, occupied her ministers, but to herself appear to have been more a source of momentary amusement, or irritation, than of serious thought. The young elector Frederick William of Brandenburgh, had been already selected by her father as her future husband; and this alliance was popular among the people and the soldiery; but the Chancellor Oxenstiern and others of the ministry dreaded the interference of Germany in the affairs of Sweden, and the introduction of Germans into offices of trust and power; in other words, they feared for themselves and their own places, and this alliance was declined.

It is said that Oxenstiern had early entertained the ambitious design of marrying Christina to his favourite son Count Eric Oxenstiern, and that this was the secret motive which induced him to throw such obstacles and difficulties into the negotiation with the house of Brandenburgh, as prolonged the treaty for several years, and at length rendered it abortive.

The two sons of the King of Denmark were also suitors for her hand: but Sweden remembered too well the evils of Danish ascendancy, and the tyranny from which the first Gustavus had delivered his country, to consent to see the two crowns again united. Don John of Austria and Philip IV. of Spain, were excluded by the difference of religion, and many other considerations, and their pretensions were merely a subject of mirth to the young queen. The Emperor Ferdinand would gladly have made peace on condition of obtaining her hand for his son, the King of the Romans; he believed that the idea of becoming Empress of Germany would have flattered the haughty temper and ambitious spirit of Christina, and she was heard to acknowledge that the temptation was strong, but she would not farther commit herself. Though such an alliance would have gratified her personal pride and her love of power, it would have been displeasing to her people, and would have reduced Sweden to the state of a province of the German empire. Ladislas King of Poland, and his brother and successor, John Casimir, were not more successful. Her ministry had objections against most of these princes; Christina apparently to all. She had early conceived an aversion to marriage, and was resolved to preserve her personal freedom at all hazards, both as a woman and as a queen.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.