Source:
Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden, volume 1, pages 95 to 96, by Henry Woodhead, 1863; original at the University of Michigan
The account:
Maria Leonora was greatly exasperated when the Council would not let her resume the charge of her daughter, after the death of the Princess Catharine. She retired to the castle of Gripsholm in Sudermania, from whence she corresponded with the King of Denmark, and planned her escape from Sweden. One summer night, in 1640, a boat took her to the other side of the lake; a carriage was waiting there, which took her to Nyköping, from whence she embarked in a Danish frigate.
This act of the Queen Dowager's, injudicious at any time, was especially so when the Government had just paid off her debts; equally injudicious was the speech she made to the Swedish Consul at Elsinore, "that she would rather live on bread and water elsewhere than be treated royally in Sweden."
Her enemies made the most of this fault. The Senate stopped her pension, the clergy struck her name out of the public prayers, and she was even accused by some, among whom was the French minister, Count d'Avaux, of entertaining a passion for the King of Denmark, although at this time he was sixty-six years of age.
Above: Maria Eleonora.
Above: Kristina.
Above: King Christian IV of Denmark.
Note: Elsinore = Helsingør.
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