Source:
Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden, volume 1, pages 47 to 58, by Henry Woodhead, 1863; original at the University of Michigan
The account:
In March, 1635, the States gave some general directions regarding Christina's education. They announced they had had a friendly conference with the Regents on the subject.
"And though this matter has been committed to the same High Regents, and though there is no reason to doubt that these high noblemen will attend to their charge without being reminded of it, nevertheless it is of the greatest importance to Her Majesty, to the kingdom in general, and to every subject in particular, that it should be often mentioned. We have therefore not considered it superfluous, but on the contrary our bounden duty, to add again these very humble and faithful exhortations, which we believe to be worthy of serious attention[.]
"Her Majesty being one day to govern the kingdom herself, and the duty of her subjects requiring not only their obedience, but also that they should preserve her power and royal authority, the happiness and welfare of both parties and of the whole kingdom is concerned in the exercise of reciprocal duties.
"It is necessary that, as her subjects are bound to observe towards Her Majesty an entire devotion and fidelity, even to the sacrifice of their lives and property, so in return she should feel for them the utmost solicitude and affection; she should be accustomed to regard and esteem every one according to his rank and character; to speak well of her country and of the Regents; to pay proper respect to her tutors and to the Senate; to behave affably to all her subjects; and to protect everyone in the enjoyment of his rights and liberty, according to law."
The document goes on to recommend that Christina should be instructed in the manners and languages of other countries, but should carefully preserve her own; that persons of the best character should always be kept about her; and that she should be carefully excluded from any intercourse with Papists or Calvinists.
After the King's death, in accordance with his alleged desire, it was proposed to take Christina from her mother's care, and to place her altogether under the superintendence of the Princess Catharine. It appears that, notwithstanding his affection for Maria Leonora, Gustavus had a poor opinion of her understanding. He knew she had never been very fond of Christina, and also that she was obnoxious to the nobles. Still it is difficult to believe that Gustavus intended her child to be taken from her. There is no doubt that he entertained a sincere affection for her. She brought reinforcements of men and supplies of money to him in Germany, and when he parted from her at Erfurt, shortly before the fatal battle of Lutzen, he addressed the magistrates of Erfurt as follows: —
"You know, gentlemen, that uncertainty and sublunary affairs are synonymous terms, and that war particularly, the visitation of heaven for human depravity, is precarious above all things. It is possible that something unfortunate may soon happen to this my person, and if such be the will of the Supreme Being, transfer to my dear Consort the affection and obligation which you owe to me. On these conditions I pray Providence to prosper you."
Yet it would appear that about the same time Gustavus wrote to Oxenstiern ordering him to serve, honour, and console the Queen in case of his death, but not to suffer her to take any part in the management of public affairs, or in the education of Christina.
When, however, the Queen Dowager returned to Sweden with her husband's remains in 1634, her former indifference for her child was changed to extravagant affection, and she would hardly allow her to remain out of her sight.
The situation of the council was difficult. It would have been too cruel to deprive the widow of her only consolation, so Christina was allowed for the present to remain with her mother.
Most of the Swedish accounts speak unfavourably of Maria Leonora, but it is doubtful how far their statements can be depended upon, for many of the accusations against her look like pretexts, and it is certain that she was treated with great harshness. The Senate were very jealous of her influence, and they showed the same feelings towards Catharine's husband, the Count Palatine, John Casimir. In his case, at least, they acted in contradiction to the late king's will, by removing the Count from his office of High Treasurer.
Maria Leonora's manners were gentle and feminine, and in this respect she might have had a beneficial influence upon Christina. The dislike she expressed to Sweden, though certainly very injudicious, was provoked by the treatment she received there.
Her attachment to Gustavus was unbounded; she never left his body from the time it was brought to her, until she arrived with it in Sweden. After her return the extravagance of her grief was one of the charges against her; but though her conduct may have been weak, it was not unamiable. She kept the heart of Gustavus in a gold box, according to a custom which had at one time not been very unusual, but the senate and clergy interfered, and obliged her to place the gold box in her husband's coffin.
Their disposal of the king's remains was more reasonable than hers; but the same thing can hardly be said of their pertinacity about a subject of no real importance. Poor Maria Leonora, thwarted in her harmless fancy, now instituted an order, the insignia of which was a medal in the shape of a heart, with a coffin engraved on it and the letters G. A. R. S. "Gustavus Adolphus, Rex Sueciæ." She no doubt recollected the time when he had visited her incognito under the name of Captain Gars.
It is certain that Christina led a very dull life with her mother. The rooms were hung with black, hardly any light was admitted, and even the cheerfulness of a good fire was not allowed. Christina's studies became a relief rather than a labour to her, and she always returned unwillingly from her tutor's lecture rooms to those dismal apartments. Her tutors took advantage of this feeling, and it is said that her studies were often prolonged to twelve hours a day. If it is remembered that at this time she was only nine years old, we shall not be surprised to hear some years later that her mind had lost its balance, and that her judgment was not equal to her learning. It must be confessed that her own temperament was a principal cause of this excessive study; she had a perfect contempt for dolls and playthings, she was not amused with her mother's jesters and dwarfs, but her relaxation was to talk with foreigners about their country, and particularly about their libraries.
The mother and daughter quarrelled about trifles. Christina had all her life a particular aversion to wine or beer. Maria Leonora said water was unwholesome, and allowed none to be given her. The child was obstinate, and sometimes passed whole days without drinking. She attributed her subsequent ill-health partly to this cause; but never seemed disposed to lay the blame to her own temper. One day, exploring her mother's dressing-room, she discovered a tempting supply of fresh water. Maria Leonora thought that the morning dew was good for the complexion, and a large bottle was always filled with it for the purpose of washing her face.
Christina soon found that it was good to drink, and from this time the morning dew constantly disappeared. The queen scolded her servants, but still the bottle diminished. Was one of her maidens so rash and so vain as to risk dismissal for the chance of improving her beauty with the queen's cosmetic?
At last the mystery was explained; the Princess was caught with the bottle in her hands, in the very act of drinking.
Maria Leonora, wounded in two tender points at once, her vanity and her love of authority, administered a whipping on the spot, which Christina recorded years afterwards in her memoirs, and of which she evidently had a very unpleasant recollection.
Meanwhile disputes were arising daily between the Queen Dowager and the Regents, of which the cause was generally money. She asked for extra grants, for pensions for her ladies, for extra allowances for her table. Nearly all these demands were refused by the Regents, who reminded her of the pecuniary difficulties and embarrassments caused by the war. A more serious charge against Maria Leonora was, that she habitually spoke with dislike of Sweden and the Swedes, and that she had adopted the exaggerated notions of the princely dignity which were now becoming prevalent.
The Council frequently discussed the question, whether they should, in accordance with the will of Gustavus, entrust Christina to the Princess Catharine. Every time, however, that the subject was hinted to the Queen Dowager she burst into such floods of tears that they were at a loss how to act.
While matters were in this state, Oxenstiern returned from Germany in 1636, and Maria Leonora chose this unpropitious moment to renew her applications for more money, and added the haughty demand, that Christina should be waited upon by two of the Council at her meals; a desire the more unreasonable, because she was understood to be subject to the Council until her majority.
Matters were now brought to a crisis. Oxenstiern went to the point at once, and put the question in the council — whether Christina was properly brought up by her mother, and if not, whether she ought to remain with her.
Twelve Councillors were present at the debate, and they agreed unanimously that Christina should be taken from her mother.
Axel Banér said: "My love and allegiance to Christina and to my country oblige me to offend the Queen Dowager. The separation is unnecessary, but it should be brought about prudently."
Ake Natt och Dagg said, "It is necessary for our Fatherland that the young Queen should be educated in royal virtues: this cannot be done while she is with the Queen Dowager, therefore they must be separated."
Klas Fleming said: "I give my opinion unwillingly, but for two years we have waited and hoped for improvement, instead of which things get worse. It is better to stem the brook than the flood. I remember how the King, of glorious memory, often, both openly in the council as well as in private, desired us not to give the Queen Dowager any part in the Government. The general welfare is the supreme law. I vote for the separation."
Gyllenhielm was more attached to the Queen Dowager than any other member of the Council, and his speech on the occasion showed more good intention than good taste. He said: "I hoped the matter would have been settled without being put to the vote, I am so bound to both sides that I know not what to say. We often see parents, out of love to their children, send them away for their benefit", and rather clumsily added, "as even monkeys do with their young."
It can hardly have been soothing to the Queen Dowager's feelings to be compared by her friend and advocate to a she-monkey, nor does it appear where this old Polonius of the Swedish Court gained the information in natural history which he displayed so unseasonably. He ended by giving his vote for the separation, but begged that some expressions might be modified, which stated that the Queen Mother taught Christina bad habits, and dislike for her own country.
The Chancellor answered that the real reasons of so important a measure ought to be given, for the justification of the Council in future times.
The gallant old Jacob de la Gardie said: "It touches my heart to vote against the Queen Mother in this matter: we have left the young Queen with her, in the hope of some improvement, but things get worse and worse. Christina is brought up, if not in actual bad habits, at least not in such a way or among such men as she ought to be. Neither fear of God nor love of her country is instilled into her mind, nor is she taught the duties of government. She must therefore be separated from her mother.
"If the young Queen should die, evil-speakers will certainly lay such a misfortune to our charge, but we must leave the result in God's hand, with the hope and prayer that all will be for the best. As to the manner, we must first try the most conciliatory means, but if they fail, we must do what we are bound by our oath and our duty to do."
The Queen Dowager had no choice but to submit, and Christina returned to her aunt, much to her own satisfaction.
Above: Kristina.
_-_Nationalmuseum_-_39839.tif.jpg)
Above: Maria Eleonora.
Note: "If it is remembered that at this time she was only nine years old, we shall not be surprised to hear some years later that her mind had lost its balance, and that her judgment was not equal to her learning." = Looking at this statement with the consideration and perspective of the theory that Kristina was autistic, a corroboration might be found in that the stresses she had to deal with years later as a young adult during the last years of her reign, — such as public unrest, her own poor physical health, her knowing that there was strong opposition to the abdication which she already regarded as an eventual inevitability, and still having to rule the country through it all, — might have taken such a toll on her that they sometimes exceeded her mental or emotional energy to cope with them and that her "eccentric" behaviour, activities and social approach and different way of thinking might have partly been conscious ways to escape and distract herself from it (added to the fact that these were natural parts of any neurodivergence she might have had); which, to (neurotypical) people both literally and figuratively on the outside looking in, — and at that time when there was no concept of autism or neurodivergence, — might have made it seem like Kristina was sometimes lacking in good judgement or even sanity.
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