Source:
Some Historic Women; or, Biographical Studies of Women Who Have Made History, pages 273 to 278, by William Henry Davenport Adams, 1890-1899; original at the University of Toronto - Robarts Library
Above: Kristina.
The biography:
CHRISTINA,
QUEEN OF SWEDEN.
—
I.
AT Stockholm, on the 8th of December, 1626, was born Christina, third daughter of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, by his wife, Maria Leonora, of Brandenburg.
Their first-born had lived only for a few hours, and their second daughter had died before she was a twelvemonth old. The Swedish astrologers then predicted that the next child would be a son, and when Christina made her appearance, she was so dark-skinned and plain-featured that for a moment, it was supposed the prediction had been fulfilled. The mistake was speedily discovered, but no one cared to make it known to the King, who was exulting over the birth of an heir to his throne. When his sister, the Princess Catherine, ventured to show him the infant, he betrayed no sign of disappointment, but kissed it and said, — "Let us thank God, sister; I hope this girl will prove as good as a boy." His sister reminded him that he was still young, and might yet become the father of a male child. "Sister, I am content", he said, "and I pray God to preserve this babe." Observing her winsome ways, he added, "This will be a lively girl, she puts tricks upon us so soon."
Her mother behaved with less composure, taking a dislike to the child, which she showed by many slights. Christina, in her "Autobiography", pretends [claimed] that her attendants frequently let her fall on purpose, from an idea that the Queen would not be displeased if she were quietly put out of the way. This, of course, is an exaggeration; but, owing to an accident of this kind, Christina suffered from a distortion of the right shoulder, though the defect was easily concealed by an arrangement of her dress.
On his return from a campaign in Poland, in which he had been seriously wounded, Gustavus obtained from the States a recognition of Christina's succession to the throne. The great Captain was passionately fond of his little dark-complexioned daughter, and took her with him on his royal progresses. Once, at the fortress of Calmar, the commandant hesitated to give the usual salute, lest the child should be frightened. The King, however, ordered him to fire, remarking that "she was a soldier's daughter, and must get accustomed to it." And it soon appeared that she enjoyed the din, clapping her hands, and making signs for it to be repeated. Camp-life and the society of warriors and grey-bearded senators was not, however, a good training for so young a child, and at this time no doubt were sown in her disposition the seeds of those eccentric qualities which bore in later life such irregular fruit. The King insisted that she should receive in every respect the education suitable for a prince, and that the only womanly virtues cultivated should be those of purity and modesty. She grew up as might have been expected, with a distaste for the society, the accomplishments, and the occupations of her sex, and probably the regret that weighed most upon her throughout her chequered career was, that she had not been born a man.
When in her fourth year [sic] she shed tears for several days at parting with the King (1630), who crossed into Germany to fight the battles of the Protestant States, and after two years of brilliant success fell, victorious, on the field of Lutzen. At this time she was under the immediate charge of her aunt Catherine, wife of the Palatine John Casimir; her governor was the senator Axel Banér, and her tutor was the scholar and moderate theologian, John Matthiæ, Bishop of Strengnäs. Over all these a direct supervision was exercised by the Chancellor, Oxenstiern, the greatest statesman Sweden has produced. During the campaign of 1631 [sic], Gustavus wrote in pathetic terms to his minister and friend, entrusting to his fidelity the future Queen of Sweden and her mother: — "Though our cause is just and good", he wrote, "yet, owing to our sins, the aim of war is uncertain, nor can we reckon on the duration of life. Therefore I exhort and entrust you, by the love of Christ, that if all does not go on well, you will not lose courage. I conjure you to remember me, and the welfare of my family, and to act towards me and mine as you would that God should act towards you and yours, and as I will act towards you and yours if it please God that I survive you, and your family should need my help. If any accident befall me, my family are to be pitied; for the mother is without capacity, and the daughter an infant. Unfortunate if they govern, and in danger if others govern them."
On the death of Gustavus Adolphus, Vladislaus, King of Poland, asserted a claim to the Swedish crown, and endeavoured to form a party among the great Swedish nobles. But in this he failed, nor would the people listen to his pretensions. When the States assembled in February, 1633, Oxenstiern [sic] at once proposed that the rights of Christina should be acknowledged. A bluff peasant-deputy inquired, "Who is this daughter of King Gustavus? We do not know her, we have never seen her." "You shall see her immediately", replied Oxenstiern [sic], and leaving the hall, he returned in a minute or two, leading the child-Queen by the hand. "Ay, ay", said the deputy, surveying her carefully, "these be the eyes, this is the nose, this is the forehead of our hero-King. She is his daughter beyond dispute, and she shall be our Queen." It was thereafter decided that, during her minority, the government should be carried on by a regency composed of the five great officers of State; the Chancellor, Axel Oxenstiern; the Grand Seneschal, Gabriel Gustave Oxenstiern; the Grand Constable, Jacob de la Gardie; the High Admiral, Baron Gyldenhulm [sic], and the High Treasurer, Gabriel Oxenstiern. These were all men of ability and character, but genius and experience necessarily gave the greatest weight and the foremost place to the Chancellor Oxenstiern, who represented his country in all negotiations with foreign powers, and decided all questions of war and peace.
In March, 1635, the States issued some general instructions relative to their young Queen's education, ordering that she should be brought acquainted with the manners and languages of other countries, that none but persons of the highest character should be in attendance upon her, and that she should be allowed no intercourse with Papists or Calvinists.
"Though her education", they said, "had been committed to their Highnesses the Regents, and though we have no reason to doubt that these high noblemen will attend to their charge without any reminder from us, yet it is of the greatest moment to her Majesty, to the kingdom in general, and to any subject in particular that the matter should frequently be mentioned. We therefore do not consider it superfluous, but on the contrary our bounden duty, to add again these very humble and faithful exhortations, which we conceive to be worthy of serious attention.
"As her Majesty will one day be called to govern the kingdom personally, and as the duty of her subjects is not only to give obedience, but also to preserve her power and royal authority, the happiness and welfare of both parties, that is, of the whole Kingdom, is concerned in the due discharge of reciprocal duties.
"It is necessary that as her subjects are bound to serve her Majesty with entire devotion and fidelity, even to the sacrifice of their lives and property, so she in return should feel for them the greatest 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 the Senate; to behave affably to all her subjects, and to protect every one in the enjoyment of his rights and liberties, according to law."
One must admit that the Senate had by no means a bad idea of the principles on which the education of a young sovereign should be conducted. If such principles had been more generally observed by the tutors of Kings, the annals of Monarchy would not record so many dreary failures.
To a considerable extent the child-Queen was necessarily under the regimen of her mother, a woman of limited intelligence and narrow views, who, from at first regarding her daughter with indifference, if not with positive dislike, had swerved round to the most exuberant affection. But there was little sympathy between mother and daughter. The ex-Queen devoted herself to the memory of her great husband, and draped all her apartments with black, so that the oppressive funereal gloom drove the child to take refuge in the lecture rooms of her tutors, and kept her at her studies for ten to twelve hours a day, with unquestionable injury to the balance of her faculties. Christina loathed wine and beer, Maria Leonora pronounced water unwholesome, and when the child refused the stimulating beverages, kept her without the much more innocent one. So it happened, on a certain day, that in the course of an exploration of her mother's dressing-room, she come upon a large carafe full of morning-dew which the Queen used, not for drinking, but for ablution. Christina's thirst was immediately satisfied, and morning after morning [sic] she resorted to this welcome supply, much to the Queen's annoyance, who railed at her servants for not duly replenishing her carafe. In vain they protested it was daily filled. How could the Queen believe them when the bottle, half-empty, stared her in the face? At last Christina was caught in the very act — flagrante delicto — and received from her mother's hands a smart castigation; which, in later life, she recorded in her "Memoirs" with an obvious feeling of indignation.
The Queen-Dowager was extravagant, vain, feeble, and possessed with an overweening idea of sovereign authority. These foibles brought her into frequent collision with the Regents, who, in 1636, on the ground that she was improperly training the young Queen, removed Christina from her, placing her again under the charge of her aunt.
Christina, a girl of ten, now began to study the works of Sallust, Terence, Cicero, and Livy. She exhibited a remarkable perception of their different qualities of style, and acquired so sound a knowledge of their language, that she wrote in Latin with facility and good taste. She also learned French, which was then almost unknown in Sweden. Oxenstiern instructed her in political affairs, and found in her an apt pupil, as she found in him a wise and prudent teacher. Theology was included in her educational course. At this time she was very exact in the discharge of her religious duties, and seems to have been inspired with a true sentiment of devotion. Nor were her tutors unmindful of her physical health, while justly eager for the cultivation of her mind and the development of her spiritual life. She rode daily, and with astonishing fearlessness and skill. When she joined in the chase[,] she distanced all but the most experienced huntsmen. And she attained to such a mastery of the fowling-piece that while at full gallop she could shoot a hare (it is said) with a single ball. So that she grew up robust, and lithe, and active, as well as thoughtful and accomplished.
A great misfortune befell her in the last days of 1638 in the death of her aunt, for it left her without anyone of her own sex to whom she could turn for counsel, or in whom she could place her confidence. About the same time the Chancellor Oxenstiern, surprised at her capacity and her interest in political problems, began her initiation in public affairs. The good sense she displayed, and her lively attention, led to a resolution on the part of the Council of State a twelvemonth later, that she should attend all important meetings of the Council, so that she might learn the full measure of the responsibilities of government, and not devolve all its onus hereafter on her ministers, as was the evil custom of the German princes. Thus her daily life came to be filled up with regular duties of a nature to develop the stronger and harsher features of her character; and as she was constantly thrown into intercourse with able men, she cared less and less for the society of her own sex. While she gained by this means in intellectual alertness, in decision, and force of will, she lost in grace and refinement, and in those sweet and tender gifts which we sum up in the one word "womanliness"; and though we may admire a Queen who converses on equal terms with a statesman and scholars, one is conscious of a certain dislike for a woman who swears like a trooper, and struts and straddles like a grenadier. Christina professed to be a great admirer of Elizabeth of England, but Elizabeth never forgot that she was a woman and liked to be complimented as a woman; whereas Christina was wrath that she was not a man, and endeavoured to make the world believe that she ought to have been one. She wore a man's collar, and a black handkerchief round her throat, like a soldier; she bowed and saluted as men did, and imitated them even with such grotesque particularity as to twirl the ends of an imaginary moustache. It was her great misfortune that she despised her sex and its traditions, and delighted to emphasize its supposed weakness and incompetency. "It is almost impossible", she says, "that a woman should perform the duties required of the occupant of a throne. The ignorance of women, their feebleness of mind, body, and intelligence, render them incapable of reigning." Yet history had abundantly disproved the truth of this wholesale assumption; and she herself, in a certain degree, was an example of that higher capacity in woman[,] the existence of which she was so unwilling to acknowledge.
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