Sources:
Christina, Queen of Sweden, pages 244 to 247, by Francis William Bain, 1890; original at the University of Connecticut Library
6. Christina's illness soon slowed down the travelling party, but not in Brokind, at Research; I. Faults and fabrications; VIA CHRISTINA — Het boek/The book, by Frans Godfroy at historischeroutes.nl
Kristina's letter to the Prince de Condé is here:
Her letter to the Académie Française, dated June 10/20 (New Style), 1654, is here:
Her letter of June 17/27 (New Style), 1654, to Pierre Gassendi is here:
The account:
Her first anxiety after becoming a private person was to get out of Sweden as fast as she could; she would not even stay the night at Upsala, though it was raining hard. To Count Brahé, who begged her not to be in such a hurry, she replied, "How do you suppose I can stay in a place over which I was but now sovereign, to see another wielding my power?" There were, besides, good reasons for making haste. The peasants were openly talking of compelling her to stay in the country and spend her revenues in Sweden; and what was worse, rumours were beginning to spread of her design to become a Catholic. Delay might have fatal effects: accordingly, she remained only five days at Stockholm. To lull suspicion[,] she gave out that she was going to drink the waters at Spa, and would soon return. She had before this packed up and sent to Gothenburg the bulk of her furniture, statues, pictures, medals, and personal possessions. Charles Gustavus presented her with 50,000 crowns for her journey and a fine diamond and pearl pin as a souvenir. Before starting she wrote to her hero, Condé, assuring him of her continued admiration, and declaring that her resignation of the crown should never be lowered by any vain regrets. She also, as if to initiate her new career, wrote to the French Academy, thanking them for the praise with which they had received her portrait, which they had asked for, and telling them of her intention to devote herself to the belles lettres. Partly, too, to assure herself of what she was not wholly convinced, she had medals struck; one showing Pegasus on a high rock with the inscription, "sedes hæc solio potior"; another, displaying a crown, with the motto, "et sine te"; a third showed a labyrinth, with the words "fata viam invenient". The world was, indeed, all before her; it required courage to take the fatal step.
She set out from Stockholm at nightfall, escorted by many of the principal persons in the kingdom, and observed by a large crowd, amidst the salutes of cannon from the fort and the men-of-war. Travelling all night and the whole of the next day, she arrived in the evening at Nyköping, where she bade farewell to Maria Eleanora, and continued her journey without resting till she came to Norköping. She remained there a day, not having slept since she left Stockholm. A little farther on she was seized with pleurisy, and had to stop for a week at a private house. Here, although twelve ships of the line had been ordered to Calmar to escort her, she wrote to Charles X. to say she would not go by sea, but by land to Denmark. Passing through Halmstadt she wrote to Gassendi, fixing on him an annual salary, together with a present of a chain of gold. She now disguised herself as a man, giving herself out to be the son of Count Dohna, for the sake of security on her travels. At the last moment, before crossing the frontier, Baron Linde once more made her the offer of Charles' hand; she answered calmly, that if she had been inclined to marry, she would have done so with better grace while she was still on the throne, adding that the king was prudent enough not to need counsel of her.
Above: Kristina.
Note: The research of Dutch historian Frans Godfroy (2022) has found that it is true that Kristina stopped a few days into the departure journey after coming down with a lung infection. Her contemporary biographer, chronicler and friend, Count Galleazzo Gualdo Priorato, wrote in his 1656 account of her long journey from Stockholm to Rome that she stayed for eight days at the home of the nobleman Natt och Dag, "eight Swedish miles south of Jönköping" (in Småland), but with no further specifications.
Godfroy, wanting to know what member of the family this was and the location of his house, found that the Natt och Dag family actually lived at Brokind in Östergötland, which is thirteen miles (or 140 kilometers) northeast of Jönköping rather than eight Swedish miles (about 85 km) south. He also notes that Swedish historians have been unable to find any houses owned by the family in Småland in around 1654, but other authors have been able to solve the issue.
Garstein (1992) and Lanoye (2001) both do not mention Kristina's illness, with the former writing that she travelled "at great speed" in a southwesterly direction across Sweden towards Halmstad, close to the Danish border; while Lanoye writes that Kristina "hastily" crossed the south of Sweden and entered the province of Halland. Although she and her suite covered "considerable distances" with every day of their travel, it usually went rather slowly because of the delay her illness caused. Godfroy believes that in reality, instead of Priorato's eight days, the delay lasted four or five days.
The father and son Weibull (1894 and 1966 respectively) both mention the said delay, but they believe that Kristina spent her convalescence at the Natt och Dag family residence in Brokind, but that location does not match with anywhere in her itinerary or with the route Priorato describes. "One might imagine she took a detour for granted because she became ill during the journey and needed a bed", Godfroy says. But he immediately afterwards adds that it is not very plausible since she had just had a rest day at the royal castle at Linköping, which was two and a half miles to the north and that she might have been better off staying or returning there.
Further research by Godfroy et al. focusing on any members of the Natt och Dag family living in Småland and about eight miles south of Jönköping was able to successfully discover one, namely Carl Persson Natt och Dag (1628-1694/1695). He was a member of the Riksdag, and as of 1654 he was living in the manor house Toftaholm, which belonged to his mother [Christina Sofia Stenbock (1603-1661)]. There is no direct evidence that Kristina stayed there, "but Toftaholm was at least the indicated location". However, this discovery was slightly complicated by the fact that at this time Carl was in Uppsala for the Riksdag and was obviously therefore unable to receive Kristina in person, but it is possible that his wife [Benedikta Posse (died 1678)] had "observed the honours".
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