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