Georg Nordensvan on Kristina's visit to Paris in September 1656, year 1924

Source:

Drottning Kristinas pariserfärd, article written by Georg Nordensvan for Ord och Bild, trettiotredje årgången: 1924, part 2, pages 109 to 111, 1924; issues donated to Projekt Runeberg from a library in Växjö and from the University Library in Linköping

https://runeberg.org/ordochbild/1924/0129.html

—

Above: Georg Nordensvan.

Posted on September 8, 2026, the 370th anniversary of Kristina's arrival in Paris.

The article:

Drottning Kristinas pariserfärd

Av Georg Nordensvan

FRANSMÄNNEN kalla den genuine parisaren »parisien de Paris» — vi svenskar beteckna den franska typens stockholmska motsvarighet med det mera vulgära ordet rännstensunge, ett ord som F. U. WRANGEL med förkärlek använder om sig själv.

Han har sina barndomsminnen från Stockholms Faubourg St. Germain, excellensernas kvarter vid Stora Trädgårdsgatan, som den då hette. Via Karl den trettondes torg och Blasieholmen sträckte sig hans intresse småningom ut över hela staden. Visserligen hörde han ej till de stillasittande, som förlade sitt sommarnöje i torget och sin brunnsresa till vattenbutiken i västra allén, tvärt om reste han gärna allt ifrån sin ungdom och träffades på 1870-talet i Düsseldorf, Paris och Venedig, men han kom alltid hem igen till sin huvudstad. Hans intressen, studier och författarskap rörde sig först och sist omkring stockholmiana, mera dock kring Holmia antiqua än hodierna, kring Stockholms historia och minnesmärken. Det är en meningslös ödets nyck som flyttat denne i ovanlig grad intresserade och sakkunnige specialist utanför det område, där han var i ordets fulla bemärkelse hemma.

Han var dock ej uteslutande stockholmsforskare, han var därjämte genealog och personhistoriker. Han utgav Personhistorisk tidskrift och Svenska adelns ättartavlor m. m., och sedan han slagit ner sina bopålar i Paris har han huvudsakligen idkat historiskt författarskap och med förkärlek skildrat svenska personligheter på främmande mark.

Han citerade en gång — i sin intressevärda bok »Paris förr och nu», som han utgav 1909 under författarmärket W. Legran — Johan Oxenstiernas hyllning till Frankrike som »utlänningarnas fosterland», det lyckliga land, där hövligheten är naturaliserad, hedern blomstrar, rättvisa skipas, där konst, sång och skämt försköna tillvaron, där olyckan ej tages på allvar, långvarig kärlek ej är på modet och ett mod aldrig är långvarigt. Det var för 300 år sedan en vittberest svensk gjorde dessa iakttagelser.

Ett kapitel i den nämnda boken behandlar »Svensk storfrämmande i Paris på 1600-talet»: Axel Oxenstiernas besök vid Ludvig XIII:s hov 1635 i ändamål att underhandla med Richelieu, Karl X Gustavs studieresa till Paris som ung pfalzgreve 1638 och exdrottning Kristinas första besök hos den unge Ludvig XIV och hos Mazarin, Frankrikes regent 1656. De studier, han där framlägger, har han sedan ytterligare utarbetat i två böcker Axel Oxenstiernas resa till och i Frankrike — utgiven 1914 — och Drottning Kristinas resa från Rom till franska hovet 1656, som nyligen utkommit.

Till boken om Kristina — som givit den omedelbara anledningen till dessa rader — har forskaren samlat hittills oanvänt källmaterial i 33 olika arkiv i Frankrike, 11 i Italien och 2 i Spanien. Att skriva böcker är ej alltid ett latmansgöra. Han har följt drottning Kristinas spår på hennes väg från Marseille norrut genom ett 20-tal små och större städer fram till Paris, och han genomgår mottagningsprogrammet i alla dessa städer med en noggrannhet, som onekligen frestar läsaren att hoppa över ett och annat stycke i texten. Ceremonielet befinnes nämligen vara tröttsamt enahanda — presentationer, deputationer och orationer utan all ända. Men då det höga föremålet ej tröttnade på att i långrandiga bombastiska haranger bli kallad den tionde musan och kyrkans yngsta dotter, som nu övergått till den sanna tron — »till kristendomen», yttrade en av talarna — så bör även läsaren kunna smälta vältaligheten, som i själva verket är i hög grad betecknande för tiden och smaken.

Det faller av sig självt, att denna drottning utan land var föremål för en mängd skvaller och lögnhistorier. Samtida brev- och memoarskrivare omtalade henne gärna som en äventyrerska och intrigör. Högdragen och absolut likgiltig för vad plebs tänkte och tyckte, utmanade hon obesvärat lögnsmideriet och sensationslystnaden. Under sin resa till Paris blev hon naturligtvis föremål för nyfikenhet från höga och låga, hon väckte förvåning och även intresse hos dem som fingo se henne på nära håll, och reseskildraren är ej den ende som blivit en smula intagen i den resande amazonen.

Hon visar sig i denna skildring från sin älskvärdaste sida. Hon var endast 30 år gammal [sic], hennes uppsyn var »ljus och angenäm», mademoiselle de Montpensier fann, att hon såg ut »som en liten vacker gosse». Hon uppträdde med okonstlad värdighet och besvarade förbindligt de mångordiga tirader, hon måste åhöra. De förnäma herrarna och damerna vid drottning Annas hov i Compiègne, som naturligtvis representerade tidens högst stående människoart, tyckas ha mött henne med en viss överlägsenhet. Men hon var dem vuxen. Till en början befanns det, att hon kände till allas släktförhållanden och kärleksintriger, och detta visar ju att hon var en bildad dam, men hon kände även gott till Frankrike, och hon förvånade genom sina kunskaper i en mängd olika ämnen, som hovmänniskorna hade föga begrepp om. Hon försatte dem i en underordnad ställning, som gjorde dem försagda. En rapportör skrev, att hon rörde sig så ledigt och hemvant att det föreföll som vore hon härskarinna på platsen och omgiven av sitt eget hov och inte av Frankrikes.

När man här läser om Kristina, flyga tankarna ofta nog till Gustav III. Det saknas ej likhet de båda emellan. Båda ägde stor begåvning och båda voro fulla av motsägelser. Båda ingåvo beundran och hat, lovsjöngos och smädades. Båda voro oroliga naturer, rastlöst ivriga, upptagna av ständigt nya planer, uppslag, beräkningar. Övermodiga, fåfänga och inbilska voro de. Kristina var lik Gustav III också i sin nöjeslystnad och sin smak för ceremonier — fast hon själv kunde sätta sig över reglerna för ett korrekt uppförande höll hon strängt på etiketten. Men det var endast vid undantagstillfällen hon nedlät sig till att lägga an på att vinna, fängsla, avväpna genom personlig älskvärdighet. Gustav III var mera kvinnligt behagsjuk än Kristina och vida mera skådespelare.

Om Gustav III:s utseende skrev Gjörwell, att hans porträttörer ha svårt att träffa likheten, då hans ansikte så ofta förändrar karaktären. Om Kristina yttrar en fransk ambassadör, att ett enda porträtt ej är tillräckligt för att ge en föreställning om hennes utseende — hennes ansikte förändras efter hennes själs rörelser, så att man knappast känner igen henne.

I ett avseende var hon absolut olik Gustav III: i sin fullkomliga saknad av fosterlandskärlek. —

I boken om Kristinas resa finner man även underhållande skildringar av hennes liv i Rom under hennes första vistelse där, då hon ännu var ny på platsen, residerade i palazzo Farnese, diskuterade filosofi och vetenskaper med kardinaler och lärde, omgav sig med ett hov av tvetydiga figurer och med ett eget garde, som ej heller gjorde sig väl känt, och hade dåliga affärer, så att hon måste sälja eller pantsätta sina dyrbarheter och vigga av själva hans helighet. Det var påven som bekostade hennes resa till dess hon landsteg i Frankrike för att sedan fortsätta som franske konungens gäst. Resan gick sjöledes från Civita Vecchia på fyra påvliga galärer, som roddes av en mängd galärslavar, sammankedjade och eländiga att åse. Några stycken dogo på vägen. För övrigt fylldes de fyra farkosterna av ett brokigt sällskap — vid pass 300 andliga, munkar och pilgrimer, som passat på detta tillfälle att få göra resan över de farliga djupen. Drottningens personliga svit bestod av endast 66 personer av olika nationalitet — det var ett anspråkslöst antal på denna tid. Axel Oxenstierna hade vid sin resa till Frankrike 200 personer i sitt följe. Men när Ludvig XIV med sitt hov begav sig till sin här i Flandern, säges hans sällskap ha uppgått till 15,000 personer.

Hur det gick till att resa på denna tid skildras i ett par lärorika, roande och avskräckande kapitel i de båda reseböckerna.

Axel Oxenstierna liksom Kristina gjorde resan till Paris för att förhandla politik med var sin kardinal, Richelieu och Mazarin, som båda styrde Frankrike med oinskränkt makt. Kristina — yttrar författaren — var underlägsen Mazarin i det avseendet, att hon var ärlig. I ett brev till sin förtrogne i Rom kardinal Azzolino skildrade hon Mazarin som »en försiktig, skicklig och listig man», som »utger sig för att vara en hederlig karl och lyckas ibland att ge sig sken därav». Om Richelieu hade Axel Oxenstierna efter underhandlingarna de båda statsmännen emellan skrivit till sin broder: »Dock hoppas jag, att medan han sålunda vill fiska uti grumligt vatten, skall han själv råka däri över öronen, så att han ej lätt skall återigen komma därutur.»

Det var en ärlig mans fromma önskan. Den gick naturligtvis ej i uppfyllelse. Även i våra yttersta tiders statsstyrekonst ger fiske i grumligt vatten de mest lysande och ärofulla resultat.

[F. U. WRANGEL: Drottning Kristinas resa från Rom till franska hovet 1656. Stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & Söner.]

English translation (my own):

Queen Kristina's journey to Paris

By Georg Nordensvan

THE FRENCH call the genuine Parisian "parisien de Paris" — we Swedes designate the Stockholm equivalent of the French type with the more vulgar word rännstensunge [street urchin], a word that F. U. WRANGEL fondly uses about himself.

He has childhood memories of Stockholm's Faubourg St. Germain, the district of the excellencies on Stora Trädgårdsgatan, as it was then called. Via Karl den trettondes torg and Blasieholmen, his interest gradually extended to the entire city. Admittedly, he was not one of the sedentary people who placed their summer fun in the square and their well-trip to the water shop in the western avenue, on the contrary, he liked to travel from his youth and in the 1870s met in Düsseldorf, Paris and Venice, but he always came home again to his capital city. His interests, studies and writing revolved first and foremost around Stockholmiana, more around Holmia antiqua than hodierna, around Stockholm's history and monuments. It is a meaningless twist of fate that has moved this unusually interested and expert specialist outside the area where he was, in the full sense of the word, at home.

However, he was not exclusively a Stockholm researcher; he was also a genealogist and personal historian. He published Personhistorisk tidskrift and Svenska adelns ättartavlor, etc., and since he settled in Paris he has mainly pursued historical writing and has a fondness for depicting Swedish personalities on foreign soil.

He once quoted — in his interesting book "Paris förr och nu", which he published in 1909 under the pen name W. Legran — Johan Oxenstierna's tribute to France as "the homeland of foreigners", the happy country where politeness is naturalised, honour flourishes, justice is done, where art, song and jokes beautify life, where misfortune is not taken seriously, long-lasting love is not in fashion, and courage is never long-lasting. It was 300 years ago that a well-travelled Swede made these observations.

A chapter in the aforementioned book deals with "Svensk storfrämmande i Paris på 1600-talet": Axel Oxenstierna's visit to Louis XIII's court in 1635 for the purpose of negotiating with Richelieu, Karl X Gustav's study journey to Paris as a young Count Palatine in 1638 and ex-Queen Kristina's first visit to the young Louis XIV and to Mazarin, the Regent of France in 1656. The studies he presents there have since been further elaborated in two books: Axel Oxenstiernas resa till och i Frankrike — published in 1914 — and Drottning Kristinas resa från Rom till franska hovet 1656, which have recently been published.

For the book about Kristina — which has provided the immediate reason for these lines — the researcher has collected previously unused source material in 33 different archives in France, 11 in Italy, and 2 in Spain. Writing books is not always a lazy job. He has followed Queen Kristina's footsteps, on her way from Marseille north through some 20 small and large cities to Paris; and he goes through the reception program in all these cities with a thoroughness that undoubtedly tempts the reader to skip a paragraph or two in the text. The ceremonial is found to be tiresomely monotonous — presentations, deputations and orations without end. But since the lofty object did not tire of being called in long-winded, bombastic harangues the tenth Muse and the youngest daughter of the Church, who had now converted to the true faith — "to Christianity", one of the orators said — the reader should also be able to digest the eloquence, which is in fact highly indicative of the time and taste.

It goes without saying that this queen without a country was the subject of a multitude of gossip and mendacious stories. Contemporary letter writers and memoirists liked to refer to her as an adventuress and intriguer. Arrogant and absolutely indifferent to what the plebs thought and felt, she effortlessly challenged the fabrication of lies and the desire for sensationalism. During her trip to Paris, she naturally became the object of curiosity from high and low; she aroused surprise and even interest in those who got to see her up close; and the travel writer is not the only one who has become a little taken with the travelling Amazon.

She appears in this description from her most amiable side. She was only 30 years old [sic], her appearance was "bright and pleasant"; Mademoiselle de Montpensier found that she looked "like a pretty little boy". She behaved with artless dignity and answered obligingly the long-winded tirades she had to listen to. The noble lords and ladies at Queen Anne's court in Compiègne, who naturally represented the highest standing of the people of the time, seem to have met her with a certain superiority. But she was more mature than them. At first it was found that she knew everyone's family relations and love intrigues, and this shows that she was an educated lady; but she also knew France well, and she surprised with her knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, of which the courtiers had little idea. She placed them in a subordinate position, which made them timid. One reporter wrote that she moved so freely and at home that it seemed as if she were the mistress of the place and surrounded by her own court and not by France's.

When one reads about Kristina here, thoughts often fly to Gustav III. There is no lack of similarity between the two. Both possessed great talent, and both were full of contradictions. Both aroused admiration and hatred, were praised and reviled. Both were anxious natures, restlessly eager, constantly occupied with new plans, ideas, calculations. They were arrogant, vain and conceited. Kristina was also like Gustav III in her lust for pleasure and her taste for ceremony — although she herself could set herself above the rules of correct conduct, she strictly adhered to etiquette. But it was only on exceptional occasions that she condescended to set about winning, captivating, disarming through personal amiability. Gustav III was more femininely eager to please than Kristina and far more of an actor.

Regarding Gustav III's appearance, Gjörwell wrote that his portraitists had difficulty in achieving a likeness, as his face so often changed his character. Regarding Kristina, a French ambassador stated that a single portrait was not sufficient to give an idea of her appearance — her face changed according to the movements of her soul, so that one could hardly recognise her.

In one respect she was absolutely unlike Gustav III: in her complete lack of patriotism. —

In the book about Kristina's journey, one also finds entertaining descriptions of her life in Rome during her first stay there, when she was still new to the place, residing in the Palazzo Farnese, discussing philosophy and sciences with cardinals and learned men, surrounding herself with a court of ambiguous figures, and with her own guard, who also did not make themselves known; and she had bad affairs, so that she had to sell or pawn her valuables and borrow from His Holiness himself. It was the Pope who paid for her journey until she landed in France and then continued as the guest of the French King. The journey was by sea from Civitavecchia on four papal galleys, rowed by a multitude of galley slaves, chained together and miserable to look at. A few died on the way. Moreover, the four vessels were filled with a motley company — around 300 clergymen, monks and pilgrims, who took this opportunity to make the journey across the dangerous depths. The Queen's personal suite consisted of only 66 people of different nationalities — a modest number at that time. Axel Oxenstierna had 200 people in his suite on his journey to France. But when Louis XIV and his court set out for his army in Flanders, his party is said to have amounted to 15,000 people.

How it was to travel at this time is described in a couple of instructive, entertaining and discouraging chapters in both travel books.

Axel Oxenstierna, like Kristina, made the trip to Paris to negotiate politics with their respective cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin, who both ruled France with unlimited power. Kristina — the author states — was inferior to Mazarin in the respect that she was honest. In a letter to her confidant in Rome, Cardinal Azzolino, she described Mazarin as "a cautious, skillful and cunning man", who "pretends to be an honest man and sometimes manages to give the appearance of it". About Richelieu, Axel Oxenstierna had written to his brother after the negotiations between the two statesmen: "However, I hope that while he thus wants to fish in murky water, he himself will fall into it over his ears, so that he will not easily get out of it again."

It was the pious wish of an honest man. It was, of course, not fulfilled. Even in the statecraft of our extreme times, fishing in murky water yields the most brilliant and glorious results.

[F. U. WRANGEL: Drottning Kristinas resa från Rom till franska hovet 1656. Stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & Söner.]

Anna Brownell Jameson's biography of Kristina, part 13

Source:

Memoirs of celebrated female sovereigns, volume 1, pages 71 to 79, by Anna Brownell Jameson, 1831; original at the University of Toronto

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcelebra02jameuoft/page/70/mode/2up

The biography:

In August 1656, on pretence of escaping from the malaria, she left Rome, and proceeded to Paris, whither she had been invited by the French court: to defray the expenses of this journey, she was under the necessity of pawning her jewels for 12,000 ducats, so low was she reduced in purse and credit. The King of France sent the Duke of Guise, to receive her, and commanded that everywhere the same honours should be paid as to a crowned head; so that her progress through the French provinces, from Marseilles to Paris, resembled a triumphant procession, rather than a journey.

Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who met her at Fontainebleau, has left us, in her entertaining, gossiping memoirs, an account of her interview, and of the person, dress, and manners of Christina, at this time: she was now in her thirtieth year. "I had heard", says Mademoiselle, "so much of her bizarreries, that I was afraid lest, on seeing her for the first time, I should have laughed in her face; but though she astonished me beyond measure, it was not in a manner to provoke a smile. She was of a small, slight figure, a little deformed, with light eyes, an aquiline nose, a large mouth, fine teeth, and a very expressive countenance: her dress was a short grey petticoat, laced with gold and silver; a flame-coloured doublet, also laced with gold; a lace cravat, and a black hat, with a plume of feathers." Her manners were coarse and masculine; she swore commonly, laughed loud, astonished Mademoiselle de Montpensier by throwing her legs over the arm of her chair, and was sometimes seized with strange fits of absence, from which she would recover as from a dream. While they were looking at some fireworks, one or two of the rockets fell near them. The princess started and shrunk back; on which Christina laughed without ceremony, saying, that for her part, she knew not what fear was; and that there was nothing she so much longed for as to be present at a battle; that she should not die content unless this wish was gratified. She professed an unbounded contempt for her own sex; and her conversation, though full of vivacity, was so eccentric and audacious, that it put even men out of countenance. On the 8th of September she made her public entry into Paris; she was received on this occasion with all the honours due to her as a sovereign, and all the chivalrous gallantry which was then the fashion in the French court, and was supposed to be due to her, as a queen and a woman. She was preceded by a body of a thousand cavalry, and was herself mounted on a superb white charger, in her usual masculine attire, and with pistols at her saddle-bow: by her side rode the Duc de Guise; and fifty picked men of the royal body-guard, and fifty of the king's pages were in attendance on her person. There was also an immense number of the nobility mounted or in carriages; while an innumerable multitude of people, collected together by their own curiosity, as well as by the king's proclamation, rent the air with shouts, and regarded her extraordinary appearances and Amazonian dress and deportment with an astonishment not unmingled with admiration. Christina, who, with all her philosophy, appears to have been childishly susceptible to external excitement, looked round her with extreme self-complacency. It was the last time that she was destined to wear her regal honours publicly. At the gate of Paris she was met by the Mareschal d'Hôpital, who conducted her first to the church of Notre Dame, where a solemn Te Deum was performed; thence to the Louvre, where she was lodged and entertained with truly royal magnificence. The same day she was visited by Henrietta Maria of England, the nobility, the principal clergy, and a deputation from the French academy. After remaining at Paris three days, during which time she was absolutely besieged by addresses, visits, public speeches, and honours, and flatteries in every form, she set off for Compiegne, where the court then resided. On the road she dined and slept at Chantilly, where she was met by Cardinal Mazarin. Here the young king and his brother mingled incognito with the crowd who surrounded her, and were introduced by the Cardinal as two gentlemen of rank: but the penetration of Christina was not at fault; she immediately recognised them, and addressed the king as "*Mon frère", but without otherwise designating his quality. It is remarked, as an instance of her singular power of fascinating those whom she wished to please, that Louis, who was only nineteen, at that time timid in all female society, and as shy as excessive pride and a consciousness of his own neglected education could make him, was won by this philosophical Amazon. She placed him at his ease by the frankness of her own manner, and by some well-timed compliments; and from the first moment, they conversed together with mutual pleasure. After this interview, the king galloped back to Compiegne.

The next day, Christina proceeded on her journey, accompanied by Cardinal Mazarin, and a few leagues from Compiegne, was met by the queen-mother, Anne of Austria; the king, the princes and the chief persons of the royal household. The interview took place at the house of the Mareschal de la Motte-Houdancourt. Christina was attended by the Duc de Guise, and the celebrated Duc de Rochefoucauld. She had no suite, except two or three persons, hardly above the rank of menial servants. "Herself alone", says Madame de Motteville, "composed her whole court." The same lady, who was an eye-witness of this interview, which she describes in her memoirs with many picturesque circumstances, confesses, that at the first glance the queen of Sweden not only surprised, but almost terrified her. In truth, we can easily imagine that Christina, with her various eccentricities of dress and manner, and her total disregard to decorum, must have appeared in the eyes of a lady of the bedchamber, in a magnificent and ceremonious court, as nothing less than portentous. On this occasion, she had on a black wig, considerably disordered by the wind, and all awry on her head; her complexion appeared course and sunburnt; she had no gloves, and her hands were so dirty, that the original colour could not be distinguished; she wore a shirt and a vest, after the masculine fashion, put on very negligently; and a short grey petticoat, embroidered with gold and silver; she held a riding-whip in her hand. Whatever might have been the amazement of Anne of Austria and her court at this strange apparition, for which no previous description could have prepared them, courtly etiquette forbade the slightest expression of it. The king himself, the most fastidious of men, took one of those unlady-like hands, and led Christina forward into a saloon, where a splendid collation was served. The two queens, with the king and Monsieur, sat down to table, and the court stood round gazing on the stranger with unrepressed curiosity. Madame de Motteville observes, that after the first half-hour her sentiments changed, and the same person, whom but a short time before she could have mistaken for "une Egyptienne dévergondée", she could not help considering with interest, and even with admiration.

The next day when she appeared with her wig newly frizzled and powdered, her hands washed, and her dress adjusted with some regard to feminine propriety, she made a more favourable impression. Anne of Austria, on retiring to her chamber, confessed to her ladies that though she was at first alarmed and disgusted, she could not resist the vivacity of Christina's manners, and the odd fascination which hung about her.

"'Twas thus Christina every heart alarmed,

Awed without virtue, without beauty charmed;

Strange fancies still, and stranger flights she had,

Was just not ugly, and was just not mad."

During her stay at the French Court, she had sufficient tact to avoid appearing pedantic; she talked well upon every subject, and rallied those around her with much liveliness. She contrived at the same time to keep presumption at a distance; and uncrowned, and unattended as she was, and in spite of a wry wig and dirty hands, "elle faisait la maitresse partout", and put all etiquette out of countenance. After staying a week at Compiegne, she returned to Paris, where she remained till the beginning of November, and then set out for Rome. Her departure formed a curious contrast with her reception: she travelled in a hired carriage with a few attendants, and her expenses through France were defrayed by the King. It is said that she was suspected of a wish to captivate Louis, with a view of marrying him; a design so preposterous, that we cannot believe that she entertained it for a moment. But the suspicion was enough to make the Queen Regent and the Cardinal hasten her departure.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Anna Brownell Jameson.

Excerpt from Jakob Kasimir de la Gardie's postscript to his letter to his brother Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, dated November 3/13 (Old Style), 1656

Source:

Valda bref till M. G. de la Gardie från fränder och vänner 1656—1678, article written by Georg Wittrock for Historisk tidskrift, trettiotredje årgången: 1913, page 300, published by the Swedish Historical Union through Torvald Höjer, 1914; original at Cornell University

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924112476092&seq=312

The postscript excerpt:

... Le comte Tott a faict vn voiage vers la rene Cristine, huilkett dock skall hollas secret. Huadh retta comissionen er, kan iagh inte vetta; så snartt iagh någe[t] vist lehrer förnimma, skal iagh gifua mon frer[e] part. Han [sic] har tagi[t] pretext att resa pour son particulier divertisement ått Frankrike. Dhe sista thiendher man har om D. Chirstin, så har hon vahri[t] i Turin. Somma menar hon vill ått Pommeren, och som (!) att hon reser ått Italien tilbackas.

With modernised spelling:

... Le comte Tott a fait un voyage vers la reine Christine, vilket dock skall hållas sekret. Vad rätta kommissionen är, kan jag inte veta; så snart jag någo[t] visst lär förnimma, skall jag giva mon frère part. Hon har tagi[t] pretext att resa pour son particulier divertissement åt Frankrike. De sista tiender man har om drottning Kerstin, så har hon vari[t] i Turin. Somma menar hon vill åt Pommern, och som[ma] att hon reser åt Italien tillbakas.

French translation (my own):

... Le comte Tott a fait un voyage vers la reine Christine, voyage qui doit toutefois demeurer secret. Je ne saurais connaître la nature exacte de sa commission; dès que j'aurai appris quelque chose de certain à ce sujet, j'en ferai part à mon frère. Elle a pris pour prétexte de ce voyage en France son particulier divertissement. Aux dernières nouvelles, la reine Christine se trouvait à Turin. D'aucuns prétendent qu'elle souhaite se rendre en Poméranie, tandis que d'autres affirment qu'elle est en route pour l'Italie.

English translation (my own):

... Count Tott has made a voyage to Queen Kristina, which, however, must be kept secret. What the actual commission is, I cannot know; as soon as I learn something certain, I will give my brother news of it. She has taken the pretext of travelling to France for her own private divertisement. The last news we have of Queen Kristina is that she has been in Turin. Some say she wants to go to Pomerania, and some say that she is travelling back to Italy.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Claes Tott.

Above: Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie.

Ludvig Holberg's biography of Kristina, part 7

Source:

Adskillige Heltinders og navnkundige Damers sammenlignede Historier, volume 2, pages 218 to 226, by Ludvig Holberg, 1745; original at The British Library

https://books.google.com/books?id=CR8Zz17Em00C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Kristina's letter written in or after June 1654 to the Prince de Condé is here:

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2020/07/kristinas-letter-to-prince-de-conde.html

Her letter of October 26/November 5 (New Style), 1655 to Pope Alexander VII is here:

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2019/11/kristinas-letter-to-pope-alexander-vii.html

The biography:

Dronning Christina haver, siden hun forlod Riget, havt mange selsomme Avantures: Thi saasom hendes Characteer var at agere en tragœdisk Heroinde, saa er hendes øvrige Liv ikke andet end et Skuespill fuldt af Romanske og affecterede Actioner: Den første Skueplads, hvor hun siden hendes Bortgang først begyndte at forestille en Scene, var udi Nederlandene. Prindsen af Condé var den Helt, som hun der søgte, og til hvilken hun tilkiende gav sin Afstaaelse fra Regieringen ved et Brev af saadant Indhold:

"Jeg skulde have giort ilde i at forlade en Throne, som jeg hidindtil haver besiddet, uden at erkyndige eder om saadan Resolution. Til saadant haver mig drevet den Estime og Affection, som jeg haver baaret til eder, iligemaade det Venskab, som I have ladet see mod mig, den Tiid jeg sadd ved Roret. Nu, saasom jeg haver forandret min Stand, kommer jeg for at bevidne for eder, at u-anseet den Forandring, som Skiebnen haver giort i begges vores Lykke, at jeg stedse vil conservere den samme Estime, som jeg altid haver haft for eders Meriter, og holder jeg de gode Tanker, som I bærer for mig, at være mig lige saa stor Ære, som at være en regierende Dronning."

Det øvrige er af samme Surdey: Og kand man ikke uden Væmmelse høre saadan Snak, at en Dronning bevidner sig at have forladt Zepter og Krone af Affection for en fremmed Prinds, helst saasom Prindsen aldeles ingen Tieneste kunde have af hendes Afstaaelse, med mindre hun tillige med havde erklæret ham sin Successor. Hun lod sig ellers offentligen merke med at have foretaget sin Reyse alleene for at see bemeldte landflygtige Prinds, og at det giorde hende ondt, at der udi Bryssel intet Palais var saa stort, at hun der tillige med ham kunde logere. Prindsen lod sig strax indfinde for at aflegge sin Compliment. Men Omgiengelsen faldt ud til en Koldsindighed paa begge Sider, thi, saasom hun udi Ceremonialerne ikke tracterede Prindsen paa samme Fod, som Ertz-Hertugen, der var Gouverneur i de Spanske Nederlande, blev han fortrydelig derover, og vilde ikke exponere sig til nogen offentlig Visite; men alleene lod sig indfinde som en Particulier blant andre. Ja, da Dronningen siden, da hun blev ham vaer, vilde distingvere ham frem for andre, sagde han: "Madame tout ou rien", det er: "Enten alt eller intet", og derpaa gik bort; saa at derfore, om denne gode Dronning havde forladt Zepter og Krone eendeel for at see Prindsen af Condé, kunde saasom Compliment ikke andet end bringe hende af Hûmeur.

Men den store Motiv, som hun foregav til denne forunderlige Resolution, var den Attrae, som hun havde til Religionens Forandring, eller rettere, den Begierlighed hun havde til at bortdrive sin øvrige Tiid udi Frankrig og Italien, hvor hun ikke med Fornøyelse kunde leve, uden ved at antage Landets Troe. Jeg haver tilforn viset, at intet trykkede hende mindre end Religionen, og at derfore Pavens Troe kunde ikke være den Magnet, som trak hende til Italien. Men det maatte nu saa hede, en Masqve maatte paatages, og en Comœdie med største Gravitet og Andagt spilles. Saasnart hun var kommen i Nederlandene, forsvor hun hemmeligen sin Fæderne Troe til Bryssel, og siden offentligen til Inspruck, hvor Pave Alexander skikkede hende en vidtløftig Troens Bekiendelse, som hun paa Knæe oplæsede i Stadens Kirke, og det med saadan Andagt, at en Historieskriver vidner, at den Pavelige Bibliothecarius Lucas Holsteinius, som var overværende, neppe kunde bare sig for Graad, hvoraf man kand dømme, at samme lærde Bibliothecarius haver bedre kiendt Bøger end Mennesker; thi ingen, som kiendte Christina, kunde henføre hendes Omvendelse til anden end føromtalte Aarsag, iligemaade til den Begierlighed hun havde til at distingvere sig ved selsomme, usædvanlige og u-ordentlige Bedrifter; thi dertil sigtede alle hendes Idrætter. Chevreau anfører en Historie, som bestyrker dette: Dronning Christina, siger han, forsvoer den Lutherske Religion om Formiddagen, og, da man om Eftermiddagen regalerede hende udi Inspruck med en Comœdie, sagde hun til nogle fornemme Herrer, som did vare skikkede for at divertere hende: "Det er billigt, at I under mig at see et Skuespill, efterat jeg tilforn haver regaleret eder med et andet af samme Natur": "Je [sic] est bien juste que vous me donnies la Comœdie, apres vous avoir donné la farce."

Hun skrev derpaa et heel andægtigt Brev til Paven, sigende, at hun agtede Zepter og Krone mindre end den Ære at adlyde hans Hellighed; Om Paven troede noget deraf, kand med Sikkerhed ikke siges: Man seer alleene, at han lod som han ingen Tvivl bar om hendes Omvendelses Alvorlighed; thi da hun derpaa reysede til Rom, blev hun statteligen af hans Hellighed imodtagen. Christina fandt og sin Regning ved at holde stivt ved den Romerske Troe, helst saasom de Svenske Vexler siden begyndte at slaae feyl, og hun derfore maatte blive de Romerske Pavers Kostgienger: Iligemaade efterdi hende gaves fuldkommen Frihed til at søle sig udi alle Italienske Vellyster, som Orthodoxien paa de Steder udsletter.

Hun begav sig derefter til Frankrige for at omgaaes med lærde Folk i samme Rige. Om hun profiterede noget af deres Omgiengelse, skal jeg ey kunde sige. Det er troeligere, at hun af deslige Folks Hyklerie er bleven meere bestyrked udi hendes Forfængelighed. Een af de Franske Oratores flatterede hende da med disse Ord:

"Sveciam Christinam te fecit

Roma Christinam,

Utinam Gallia Christianissimam."

Om den gode Orator derved bildte sig ind, at den unge Konge af Frankrig torde faae i sinde at ægte hende, kiendte han samme Konge ikke ret, hvilken i den Alder saae heller efter en kiøn end en middelaldrig latinsk Dronning. Om hendes Ankomst til Frankrig og hendes Opførsel sammesteds haves tilforladelig Underretning udi Mad. [de] Mottevilles Memoires, hvoraf jeg noget her vil anføre. Da hendes Ankomst rygtedes udi Paris, begave sig meer end 20000 Borgere til Conflans for at imodtage hende. Gouverneuren af Paris med anden Øvrighed complimenterede hende ved St. Antonii Port. Hun blev ført igiennem Staden mellem en utroelig Mængde af Folk til Hoved-Kirken, hvor Te Deum blev siunget, og blev da en Skuepenge slagen, hvor hun forestilles til Hest med disse Ord: «Regina Svecorum in Urbem regie excepta.» Hertugen af Guise, som Kongen skikkede ud mod hende, havde giort hendes Portrait saaledes: Denne Prinzesse, siger han, er ikke høy af Positur, men haver en net Taille, smukke Hænder, noget høye Skuldre, hvilken Feyl hun dog skiuler ved hendes selsomme Klædedragt. Hendes Ansigt er stort; hun haver en krum Næse, glimrende Øyen og en smuk Hud, endskiøndt derpaa sees nogle Arr af Smaakopper. Hun bærer undertiden en Hat og Mands Skoe, haver Mands Røst og Maneer, affecterende en Amazoninde. Hun er ellers høflig, taler 8 Sprog, særdeles det Franske, ligesom hun kunde være fød udi Paris: Hun veed alting, indtil vore mindste Hof-Intriguer etc.

Folk støtte sig i Begyndelsen over hendes selsomme Dragt; men man vænnede sig til siden dertil. Man forundrede sig over hendes Geist, og over den store Kundskab hun havde om Frankriig, saasom hun kiendte ikke alleene alle fornemme Familier, men endogsaa alle lærde Mænd. Med et Ord: Hun kunde sige de Franske det, som de selv ikke vidste udi deres eget Land. Efterat hun havde beseet alting udi Paris, begav hun sig til Compiegne, hvor Hoffet var, af hvilket hun herligen blev imodtagen. Udi en Samtale, som der holdtes om Undersaatternes Troeskab mod Kongen, da een af de Nærværende sagde, at saadant fandtes hos alle honnete Folk, svarede hun: At det var sandt udi alle andre Lande, men at hun havde merket, at Utroeskab blev ikke regnet for den største Feyl udi Frankriig. Men, saa meget behagelig, som hun kunde giøre sig ved sin Esprit, saa meget foragtelig giorde hun sig ved hendes Opførsel: Hun lignede i ingen Ting et Fruentimmer, og tog ikke den fornødne Modestie udi agt: Paa den Italienske Comœdie brød hun undertiden udi en høy latter, og undertiden ved dybe Sukke og Berømmelser gav tilkiende, at Scenerne behagede hende. Hun pleyede at synge i Selskab, og undertiden var som henrykked udi Tanker. Hun var sig selv u-liig, høflig, but, fritalend[e] saavel udi Religions Sager som udi Ting, hvori hendes Kiøn udfordrer Taushed. Hun løftede Beenene høyt op paa Stolen, hvor hun sadd, endogsaa i Hoffets Nærværelse. Hun bandede ofte, og med et Ord, i-agttog intet af de Anstændigheder, som recommenderer høye Stands Personer: Hun syntes at have Afskye for all[t] Fruentimmer Selskab, og blev det der for des meere lagt hende til Last, da hun udi St. Germain lod see saa stor Begiærlighed efter at see en bekiendt Skiøge ved Navn Ninon, og var samme Ninon det eeneste Fruentimmer i Frankrig, for hvilket hun lod see megen Estime [sic].

Dette foraarsagede, at, da hun anden gang kom til Frankrig, nemlig 1657, man tracterede hende med Koldsindighed. Medens hun i samme Aar var til Fontainebleau, begik hun en meget hæslig Gierning, i det at hun dømte en af hendes Betientere, nemlig Monaldeschi, fra Livet, og ved sin Liv-Capitaine lod ham myrde. Medens Executionen skeede, diverterede hun sig, og var gandske lystig udi hendes Cabinet. Hvad samme Monaldeschis Brøde var, kand ingen sige. Der meenes, at han røbede nogle af hendes hemmelige Historier. Det heele Land havde Afskye for denne Gierning: og Hoffet besværgede sig derover, saasom det var formasteligt mod Regieringen; dog blev det derved: saa at man alleene lod sig nøye med at vise Koldsindighed mod hende. Hun lod, siger Mad. [de] Motteville, i det øvrige see slet Opførsel. Hun løb masqvered paa alle Balls, foer ofte paa Comœdien gandske alleene med Mands-Personer, og udi de første Carosser, som hende mødte: saa at de Franske skiemmede sig over den Berømmelse, som de tilforn havde lagt paa hende: Og var man villig til at forsyne hende med Reyse-Penge, for at blive hende des snarere qvit.

With modernised spelling:

Dronning Kristina haver, siden hun forlod riget, haft mange sælsomme avantures; thi, såsom hendes karakter var at agere en tragedisk heroinde, så er hendes øvrige liv ikke andet end et skuespil fuldt af romanske og affekterede aktioner. Den første skueplads, hvor hun siden hendes bortgang først begyndte at forestille en scene, var udi Nederlandene. Prinsen af Condé var den helt, som hun der søgte, og til hvilken hun tilkendegav sin afståelse fra regeringen ved et brev af sådant indhold:

"Jeg skulle have gjort ilde i at forlade en trone, som jeg hidindtil haver besiddet, uden at erkyndige Eder om sådan resolution. Til sådant haver mig drevet den estime og affektion, som jeg haver båret til Eder, i lige måde det venskab, som I have ladet se mod mig, den tid jeg sad ved roret. Nu, såsom jeg haver forandret min stand, kommer jeg for at bevidne for Eder, at uanset den forandring, som skæbnen haver gjort i begges vores lykke, at jeg stedse vil konservere den samme estime, som jeg altid haver haft for Eders meriter, og holder jeg de gode tanker, som I bærer for mig, at være mig lige så stor ære, som at være en regerende dronning."

Det øvrige er af samme surdej; og kan man ikke uden væmmelse høre sådan snak, at en dronning bevidner sig at have forladt scepter og krone af affektion for en fremmed prins, helst såsom prinsen aldeles ingen tjeneste kunne have af hendes afståelse, medmindre hun tillige med havde erklæret ham sin successor. Hun lod sig ellers offentligen mærke med at have foretaget sin rejse alene for at se bemeldte landflygtige prins, og at det gjorde hende ondt, at der udi Bryssel intet palæ var så stort, at hun der tillige med ham kunne logere.

Prinsen lod sig straks indfinde for at aflægge sin kompliment. Men omgængelsen faldt ud til en koldsindighed på begge sider, thi, såsom hun udi ceremonialerne ikke trakterede prinsen på samme fod, som ertzhertugen, der var guvernør i de Spanske Nederlande, blev han fortrydelig derover og ville ikke eksponere sig til nogen offentlig visit; men alene lod sig indfinde som en partikulær blandt andre. Ja, da dronningen siden, da hun blev ham var, ville distingvere ham fremfor andre, sagde han: "Madame, tout ou rien" — det er: "Enten alt eller intet", og derpå gik bort; så at derfore, om denne gode dronning havde forladt scepter og krone endel for at se prinsen af Condé, kunne såsom kompliment ikke andet end bringe hende af humør.

Men den store motiv, som hun foregav til denne forunderlige resolution, var den attrå, som hun havde til religionens forandring, eller rettere, den begærlighed hun havde til at bortdrive sin øvrige tid udi Frankrig og Italien, hvor hun ikke med fornøjelse kunne leve, uden ved at antage landets tro.

Jeg haver tilforn viset, at intet trykkede hende mindre end religionen, og at derfore pavens tro kunne ikke være den magnet, som trak hende til Italien. Men det måtte nu så hedde, en maske måtte påtages, og en komedie med største gravitet og andagt spilles.

Så snart hun var kommen i Nederlandene, forsvor hun hemmeligen sin fædernetro til Bryssel, og siden offentligen til Innsbruck, hvor pave Alexander skikkede hende en vidtløftig troens bekændelse, som hun på knæ oplæsede i stadens kirke, og det med sådan andagt, at en historieskriver vidner, at den pavelige bibliothecarius Lucas Holstenius, som var overværende, næppe kunne bare sig for gråd, hvoraf man kan dømme, at samme lærde bibliothecarius haver bedre kendt bøger end mennesker; thi ingen, som kendte Kristina, kunne henføre hendes omvendelse til anden end føromtalte årsag, i lige måde til den begærlighed hun havde til at distingvere sig ved sælsomme, usædvanlige og uordentlige bedrifter; thi dertil sigtede alle hendes idrætter. Chevreau anfører en historie, som bestyrker dette:

Dronning Kristina, siger han, forsvor den lutherske religion om formiddagen, og, da man om eftermiddagen regalerede hende udi Innsbruck med en komedie, sagde hun til nogle fornemme herrer, som did vare skikkede for at divertere hende: "Det er billigt, at I under mig at se et skuespil, efterat jeg tilforn haver regaleret Eder med et andet af samme natur" — "[Il] est bien juste que vous me donniez la comédie, après vous avoir donné la farce."

Hun skrev derpå et hel andægtigt brev til paven, sigende, at hun agtede scepter og krone mindre end den ære at adlyde Hans Hellighed; om paven troede noget deraf, kan med sikkerhed ikke siges. Man ser alene, at han lod som han ingen tvivl bar om hendes omvendelses alvorlighed; thi da hun derpå rejsede til Rom, blev hun stateligen af Hans Hellighed imodtagen.

Kristina fandt og sin regning ved at holde stift ved den romerske tro, helst såsom de svenske veksler siden begyndte at slå fejl, og hun derfore måtte blive de romerske pavers kostgænger; i lige måde efterdi hende gaves fuldkommen frihed til at søle sig udi alle italienske vellyster, som ortodoksien på de steder udsletter.

Hun begav sig derefter til Frankrige for at omgås med lærde folk i samme rige. Om hun profiterede noget af deres omgængelse, skal jeg ej kunne sige. Det er troligere, at hun af deslige folks hykleri er bleven mere bestyrket udi hendes forfængelighed. Én af de franske oratores flatterede hende da med disse ord:

"Sueciam Christinam te fecit

Roma Christinam,

Utinam Gallia christianissimam."

Om den gode orator derved bildte sig ind, at den unge konge af Frankrig torde få i sinde at ægte hende, kendte han samme konge ikke ret, hvilken i den alder så hellere efter en køn end en middelaldrig latinsk dronning. Om hendes ankomst til Frankrig og hendes opførsel sammesteds haves tilforladelig underretning udi madame [de] Mottevilles Mémoires, hvoraf jeg noget her vil anføre.

Da hendes ankomst rygtedes udi Paris, begave sig mere end 20,000 borgere til Conflans for at imodtage hende. Guvernøren af Paris med anden øvrighed komplimenterede hende ved St. Anthonii port. Hun blev ført igennem staden mellem en utrolig mængde af folk til hovedkirken, hvor Te Deum blev sunget, og blev da en skuepenge slagen, hvor hun forestilles til hest med disse ord: «Regina Suecorum in Urbem regie excepta.»

Hertugen af Guise, som kongen skikkede ud mod hende, havde gjort hendes portræt således:

Denne prinsesse, siger han, er ikke høj af positur, men haver en net talje, smukke hænder, noget høje skuldre, hvilken fejl hun dog skjuler ved hendes sælsomme klædedragt. Hendes ansigt er stort; hun haver en krum næse, glimrende øjen og en smuk hud, endskønt derpå ses nogle arr af småkopper. Hun bærer undertiden en hat og mandssko, haver mands røst og manér, affekterende en amazoninde. Hun er ellers høflig, taler 8 sprog, særdeles det franske, ligesom hun kunne være født udi Paris. Hun ved alting, indtil vore mindste hofintriger, etc.

Folk stødte sig i begyndelsen over hendes sælsomme dragt; men man vænnede sig til siden dertil. Man forundrede sig over hendes gejst, og over den store kundskab hun havde om Frankrig, såsom hun kendte ikke alene alle fornemme familier, men endogså alle lærde mænd. Med et ord: hun kunne sige de franske det, som de selv ikke vidste udi deres eget land.

Efterat hun havde beset alting udi Paris, begav hun sig til Compiègne, hvor hoffet var, af hvilket hun herligen blev imodtagen. Udi en samtale, som der holdtes om undersåtternes troskab mod kongen, da én af de nærværende sagde, at sådant fandtes hos alle honnette folk, svarede hun, at det var sandt udi alle andre lande, men at hun havde mærket, at utroskab blev ikke regnet for den største fejl udi Frankrig.

Men, så meget behagelig, som hun kunne gøre sig ved sin esprit, så meget foragtelig gjorde hun sig ved hendes opførsel. Hun lignede i ingenting et fruentimmer, og tog ikke den fornødne modesti udi agt. På den italienske komedie brød hun undertiden udi en høj latter, og undertiden ved dybe sukke og berømmelser gav tilkende, at scenerne behagede hende. Hun plejede at synge i selskab, og undertiden var som henrykket udi tanker.

Hun var sig selv ulig, høflig, but, fritalend[e] såvel udi religionssager som udi ting, hvori hendes køn udfordrer tavshed. Hun løftede benene højt op på stolen, hvor hun sad, endogså i hoffets nærværelse. Hun bandede ofte, og med et ord, iagttog intet af de anstændigheder, som rekommanderer høje standspersoner. Hun syntes at have afsky for al[t] fruentimmerselskab, og blev det derfor des mere lagt hende til last, da hun udi Saint-Germain lod se så stor begærlighed efter at se en bekendt skøge ved navn Ninon, og var samme Ninon det éneste fruentimmer i Frankrig, for hvilket hun lod se megen estime [sic].

Dette forårsagede, at, da hun anden gang kom til Frankrig, nemlig 1657, man trakterede hende med koldsindighed. Medens hun i samme år var til Fontainebleau, begik hun en meget hæslig gerning, i det at hun dømte en af hendes betjentere, nemlig Monaldeschi, fra livet, og ved sin livkaptajn lod ham myrde. Medens eksekutionen skete, diverterede hun sig, og var ganske lystig udi hendes kabinet. Hvad samme Monaldeschis brøde var, kan ingen sige. Der menes, at han røbede nogle af hendes hemmelige historier.

Det hele land havde afsky for denne gerning, og hoffet besværgede sig derover, såsom det var formasteligt mod regeringen; dog blev det derved, så at man alene lod sig nøje med at vise koldsindighed mod hende. Hun lod, siger madame [de] Motteville, i det øvrige se slet opførsel. Hun løb maskeret på alle bals, for ofte på komedien ganske alene med mandspersoner, og udi de første karrosser, som hende mødte; så at de franske skæmmede sig over den berømmelse, som de tilforn havde lagt på hende; og var man villig til at forsyne hende med rejsepenge, for at blive hende des snarere kvit.

English translation (my own):

Queen Kristina had, since she left the kingdom, many strange adventures; for, as her character was to act a tragic heroine, so the rest of her life is nothing but a play full of romantic and affected actions. The first stage where she began to present a scene since her death was in the Netherlands. The Prince de Condé was the hero she sought there, and to whom she declared her resignation from the government by a letter of the following content:

"I would have done wrong to leave a throne which I have hitherto possessed without informing you of such a resolution. To such an end have driven me the esteem and affection which I have borne to you, equally the friendship which you have shown towards me, while I sat at the helm. Now, as I have changed my condition, I come to testify to you that, notwithstanding the change which fate has made in both our fortunes, that I will always preserve the same esteem which I have always had for your merits, and I hold the good thoughts which you bear for me to be to me as great an honour as to be a reigning queen."

The rest is of the same leaven; and one cannot hear without disgust such talk, that a queen testifies to having abandoned scepter and crown out of affection for a foreign prince, especially as the prince could have absolutely no service from her renunciation unless she had also declared him her successor. She otherwise made herself known publicly by having made her journey alone to see the said exiled prince, and that it pained her that there was no palace in Brussels large enough for her to lodge there with him.

The Prince immediately had himself summoned to pay his compliment. But the conversation turned out to be cold on both sides, for, as she did not treat the Prince on the same footing as the Archduke, who was governor of the Spanish Netherlands, he became resentful of it and would not expose himself to any public visit, but only let himself be summoned as a private person among others. Indeed, when the Queen afterwards, when she became aware of him, wanted to distinguish him above others, he said: "Madame, tout ou rien" — that is: "Either all or nothing", and then went away, so that, therefore, if this good queen had left scepter and crown at last to see the Prince de Condé, such a compliment could not but put her out of spirits.

But the great motive which she pretended for this strange resolution was the desire which she had for a change of religion, or rather, the desire which she had to spend the rest of her time in France and Italy, where she could not live with pleasure without adopting the faith of the country.

I have previously shown that nothing oppressed her less than religion, and that therefore the faith of the Pope could not be the magnet that drew her to Italy. But it had to be so now, a mask had to be put on, and a comedy had to be acted with the greatest gravity and devotion.

As soon as she had arrived in the Netherlands, she secretly renounced the faith of her fathers in Brussels, and then publicly in Innsbruck, where Pope Alexander sent her a lengthy confession of faith, which she read on her knees in the city church, and with such devotion that a historian testifies that the Papal librarian Lucas Holstenius, who was present, could hardly help but weep, from which one can judge that the same learned librarian knew books better than people, for no one who knew Kristina could attribute her conversion to any other cause than the aforementioned, equally to the desire she had to distinguish herself by strange, unusual and irregular achievements, for all her actions aimed at that. Chevreau cites a story that confirms this:

Queen Kristina, he says, abjured the Lutheran religion in the morning, and when in the afternoon she was treated to a comedy in Innsbruck, she said to some distinguished gentlemen who were there to entertain her: "It is fair that you should see a play under me, after I have previously treated you to another of the same nature" — "[Il] est bien juste que vous me donniez la comédie, après vous avoir donné la farce."

She then wrote a whole devout letter to the Pope, saying that she esteemed scepter and crown less than the honour of obeying His Holiness; whether the Pope believed any of it cannot be said with certainty. One sees only that he pretended that he had no doubt about the seriousness of her conversion, for, when she then travelled to Rome, she was received in a stately manner by His Holiness.

Kristina also found her way by adhering strictly to the Roman faith, preferably as the Swedish bills of exchange later began to fail, and she therefore had to become the boarder of the Roman Popes; in the same way, she was given complete freedom to wallow in all Italian pleasures, which orthodoxy in those places eradicates.

She then went to France to associate with learned people in the same kingdom. Whether she profited any by their interaction, I cannot say. It is more likely that she was further strengthened in her vanity by the hypocrisy of such people. One of the French orators then flattered her with these words:

"Sueciam Christinam te fecit

Roma Christinam,

Utinam Gallia christianissimam."

["Sweden made thee Kristina,

Rome made thee Kristina,

Would that France were most Christian."]

If the good orator thereby imagined that the young King of France would dare to think of marrying her, he did not know the same King well, who at that age looked rather for a fairer woman than a middle-aged Latin queen. Of her arrival in France and her conduct there is reliable information in Madame de Motteville's Mémoires, from which I will quote here.

When her arrival was announced in Paris, more than 20,000 citizens went to Conflans to receive her. The governor of Paris and other dignitaries complimented her at the Porte Saint-Antoine. She was led through the city amidst an incredible crowd to the main church, where the Te Deum was sung, and then a medal was struck, on which she is represented on horseback with these words: "Regina Suecorum in Urbem regie excepta" — "The Queen of Sweden royally welcomed into the City."

The Duke de Guise, whom the King sent to her, had made her portrait thus:

This princess, he says, is not tall in stature, but has a nice waist, beautiful hands, somewhat high shoulders, which defect she nevertheless hides by her strange dress. Her face is large; she has a crooked nose, brilliant eyes and a beautiful skin, although some scars from smallpox are visible on it. She sometimes wears a hat and men's shoes, has a man's voice and manners, affecting an Amazon. She is otherwise polite, speaks 8 languages, especially French, as if she had been born in Paris. She knows everything, down to our smallest court intrigues, etc.

People were offended at first by her strange dress, but they soon got used to it. They were amazed at her mind and at the great knowledge she had about France, as she knew not only all the noble families, but even all the learned men. In a word: she could tell the French what they themselves did not know in their own country.

After she had seen everything in Paris, she went to Compiègne, where the court was, by which she was gloriously received. In a conversation which was held about the fidelity of the subjects to the King, when one of those present said that such was found among all honest people, she replied that it was true in all other countries, but that she had noticed that infidelity was not considered the greatest fault in France.

But, as much as she could make herself agreeable by her wit, so much did she make herself contemptible by her conduct. She resembled a lady in nothing at all, and did not observe the necessary modesty. At the Italian comedy she sometimes burst into loud laughter, and sometimes by deep sighs and praises she made it known that the scenes pleased her. She used to sing in company, and sometimes was as if rapt in thought.

She was unlike herself, polite, blunt, outspoken both in religious matters and in matters on which her sex required silence. She raised her legs high on the chair where she sat, even in the presence of the court. She often swore, and in a word, observed none of the decencies that recommend persons of high station. She seemed to have abhorrence for all female company, and it was therefore all the more reproach was laid upon her when, in Saint-Germain, she showed such great desire to see a well-known harlot named Ninon, and this same Ninon was the only woman in France for whom she showed much esteem [sic].

This caused that, when she came to France the second time, namely in 1657, she was treated with coldness. While she was at Fontainebleau in the same year, she committed a very heinous deed, in that she sentenced one of her servants, namely Monaldeschi, to death, and had him murdered by the captain of her bodyguards. While the execution was taking place, she diverted herself and was quite merry in her cabinet. What Monaldeschi's crime was, no one can say. It is believed that he revealed some of her secret histories.

The whole country was disgusted with this deed, and the court complained about it, as it was presumptuous against the government; yet it remained there, so that they were content only to show coldness towards her. For the rest, she, says Madame de Motteville, showed bad behaviour. She went masked to all balls, too often to the comedy quite alone with men, and in the first carriages that met her, so that the French were ashamed of the praise which they had formerly laid on her, and they were willing to provide her with travelling money, in order to get rid of her the sooner.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Ludvig Holberg.

Corrado Ricci on Kristina's life in Italy, part 4

Sources:

Cristina di Svezia in Italia, article written by Corrado Ricci for Nuova antologia di scienze, lettere ed arti, volume 41 (125), pages 31 to 35, published by the Direction of Nuova antologia, 1892; original at the Bavarian State Library

https://books.google.com/books?id=wr6lJEO7mjkC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=regina+cristina+di+svezia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Roma, visioni e figure: con 29 illustrazioni, pages 144 to 150, by Corrado Ricci, 1925; original at Cornell University

https://books.google.com/books?id=j31oPsGNy5IC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=regina+cristina+di+svezia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND SUFFERING.

The article:

Cristina giunse in Francia dopo un viaggio non pericoloso, ma penosissimo pel caldo. L'8 settembre 1656 fece il suo ingresso a Parigi. Là, più presto che a Roma, capirono tutto il lato singolare del suo carattere. La figlia di Gastone d'Orléans, madamigella di Montpensier, restò sbalordita da' suoi gesti alla commedia: «Là elle me surprit; pour louer les endroits qui lui plaisoient, elle juroit Dieu, se couchoit dans sa chaise, jettoit ses jambes d'un côté et d'autre, et faisoit des posture peu décentes».

Cristina passò in Piemonte, e la visita spiacque alla Corte di Savoia, che già aveva fatto delicate pratiche per allontanare quella noia. Ma non c'è peggior sordo di chi non vuol capire! Ammirata dunque la ròcca di Monmegliano, superato il Cenisio, discesa alla Badia Novaliciense, in breve giunse a Torino, incontrata oltre Susa da Carlo Emanuele II.

La Corte di Savoia non era però tale da mancare all'etichetta. Una volta che la regina era venuta, bisognava riceverla con tutti gli onori. Il suo ingresso in Torino fu addirittura trionfale, e trionfali le feste fattele per dieci giorni, quantunque con grande disagio della Corte, dei cittadini e del Municipio. La sua partenza fu quindi più gradita che il suo arrivo. Oramai tutti si mostravano seccati dalle sue visite. Si diceva anche che il cardinal Mazzarino le avesse fatto capire che una seconda visita in Francia, a spese dello Stato, non sarebbe bene accetta; come si diceva pure che il re di Svezia, il quale aveva ragione di temer seccature da lei, le avesse promesso una bella somma qualora fosse ritornata subito a Roma. È certo che taluni la sopportavano ancora, perchè credevano di levar qualche vantaggio dalle sue intromissioni politiche, da lei audacemente ripetute senza darsi per intesa delle più dure ripulse.

Durante il ritorno, a Pesaro cadde inferma. Vi rimase in attesa di poter rientrare in Roma; ma ben presto mutò pensiero e, come fu pienamente ristabilita, ripassò in Francia, con qualche fatica, perchè i fiumi e i torrenti piemontesi erano gonfi da lunghe pioggie.

Le era compagno nel viaggio il marchese [Gian] Rinaldo Monaldeschi, suo grande scudiero, uomo d'aspetto bello e forte, giovine ancora, di modi distinti, da lei non solo tenuto pel cerimoniale, ma spedito talora come nunzio politico.

Cornelio Capitoni, in una lettera scritta da Parigi il 15 novembre 1657, fa credere che il Monaldeschi, indotto da gelosia, avesse scritte a Cristina una o più lettere anonime avvisandola che Francesco Santinelli andava raccontando, per vanteria, particolari piccanti e indiscretezze sulle relazioni molto intime passate fra lui e lei; e ciò per mettere in mala vista il conte Santinelli. Comunque fosse, è da notare che nelle diverse relazioni del tragico avvenimento, di cui ora parleremo, non si rivela mai chiaramente la natural del tradimento del Monaldeschi e tutto si copre con frasi vaghe ed ambigue, le quali ci confermano nel sospetto che le indiscrezioni del marchese fossero di un'indole, per una sovrana convertita, assai più delicata che una semplice briga politica. Così si spiegherebbe anche la decisione ferrea e cattiva di Cristina, presso la quale nulla valsero le vive preghiere d'un religioso e i singulti della vittima.

Ella, in sua vita, dopo un bagno d'acqua santa, volle un bagno di sangue. E si mantenne tenacemente ferma nel suo «punto d'onore», mostrandosi sempre soddisfatta della morte del Monaldeschi e conducendo, nei giorni seguenti all'assassinio, quanti la visitavano, a vedere «il sangue ed il luogo dove aveva fatto uccidere il marchese». Così scriveva il cav. Vincenzo Berrò segretario della legazione di Savoia in Parigi, nè si può certo mettere in dubbio, perchè la stessa Cristina, in una sua lettera edita dalla signora Barine, dichiarava recisamente: «Pour l'action que j'ai faite avec Monaldeschi je vous dis, que, si je ne l'avais faite, je ne me coucherais pas ce soir sans la faire».

Il delitto fu consumato con una ferocia senza pari e i sicari furono quasi tutti pesaresi. L'Arckenholtz pubblicò due relazioni, la seconda delle quali, del padre Le Bel, resta tuttora la più sicura. Cristina infatti mandò a chiamare proprio lui, Le Bel, e gli consegnò con tutta segretezza un fascio di carte. Un giorno o due dopo lo fece richiamare ed entrare in una sala dove si trovava insieme al Monaldeschi e ad altre tre persone fra cui Lodovico Santinelli. Cristina, fattosi allora restituire il pacco, ne levò alcune copie di lettere e le diede al marchese perchè le vedesse e leggesse, e gli chiese, con voce forte e piena di calore, se le conosceva. Il marchese, confuso, tremante negava; quando lei trasse e gli mise innanzi gli originali terribilmente incalzandolo di domande sino a che dalle scuse egli fu passato alle confessioni e le si fu gettato ai piedi domandando perdono. E, poichè i tre sicari sguainavano le spade, si alzò seguendo qua e là la regina e supplicandola ad ascoltare le sue giustificazioni. Ella, dopo aver pazientato a lungo, s'avvicinò al Monaldeschi appoggiandosi ad un bastoncino d'ebano col pomo rotondo, e voltasi al priore Le Bel disse: «Siete testimonio che io non precipito nulla e gli ho dato tempo perchè si giustifichi». Il marchese consegnò poi altre carte e tre chiavi alla regina che alfine con voce alta e risoluta disse al priore: «Mon Père, je vous laisse cette homme [sic] entre les mains, disposez-le à la mort, et aïez soin de son âme».

Al pari forse del marchese, lo stesso Le Bel rimase stordito da queste parole e si curvò, con le braccia in croce, piangendo e chiedendo grazia pel morituro. Ella mostrò d'essere incrollabile in questa sentenza, e dopo aver rinconfermata la sua volontà, uscì lasciando il priore coi tre uomini dalla spada sguainata.

Il Monaldeschi scongiurò di nuovo il religioso, perchè parlasse a Cristina, ma i tre manigoldi lo invitarono a confessarsi, tenendogli sempre le spade alle reni. Poi uno di loro, commosso, tornò alla regina inutilmente. Rientrando nella sala susurrò: «Marquis, pense a Dieu [sic] et à ton âme: il faut mourir». Alle disperate proteste dell'infelice, anche il priore volle riparlare a Cristina. La trovò tranquilla e serena, ma ferma. Non valsero ragioni di pietà, richiami alla misericordia di Dio, al perdono dato sul Calvario da Gesù Cristo; non valsero argomenti d'ordine morale e politico; il fatto stesso ch'ella si trovava in una nazione straniera e nel palazzo di un re; non valse che le dimostrasse le conseguenze di tale esecuzione. Cristina rispose poche volte e sempre sullo stesso tono calmo, senz'ombra d'impazienza, che il Monaldeschi doveva morire. È curiosissima e misteriosa la conclusione del priore: «Elle ne pouvoit plus reculer, sans se mettre en péril de la vie, si le marquis échapoit». Dovette tornare con la sentenza riconfermata per la terza volta. Il Monaldeschi gettò due o tre gridi strazianti; poi, ricaduto in ginocchio, singhiozzante cominciò la confessione. Entrato in quel frattempo l'Elemosiniere per interrogarlo sopra un dubbio, il marchese si levò e corse a lui per supplicarlo ancora. Parlarono sommessamente in un angolo della sala tenendosi per mano, poi l'Elemosiniere uscì di nuovo col capo di tre, che però non si fece aspettar molto e tornò con la sentenza inappellabile: «Marquis, demande pardon à Dieu, car sans plus tarder il faut mourir. Es-tu confessé?» Pronunziando queste parole, lo spinse contro il muro in fondo alla galleria e lo ferì con una puntata a destra dello stomaco. Il marchese cercò di difendersi afferrando la spada, ma si tagliò tre dita, miracolosamente, trovarono alcuni, perchè erano le tre dita di cui si era servito per iscrivere le lettere incriminate! Al colpo, il ferro essendosi torto, si capì che una buona maglia o corazza proteggeva il petto di [Gian] Rinaldo Monaldeschi. L'aguzzino allora gli fece una larga ferita nella faccia, ond'egli tutto sanguinoso gridò: «Oh, padre» e si piegò con un ginocchio a terra chiamando a ripresse Iddio; poi cadde riverso.

Il Capitoni racconta che, a questo punto, Lodovico Santinelli legò le braccia dietro al paziente, poi gli diede un terribile manrovescio. È certo che un altro gli fu addosso e lo colpì sulla testa, ed egli fece un gesto che parve supplicare che per finirla gli tagliassero il collo; gesto che infatti gli procurò alcune ferite. Si aprì la porta e ricomparve l'Elemosiniere. Il Monaldeschi rialzò a stento il capo e si trascinò allo zoccolo dell'aula; ma il manigoldo ultimo gli corse sopra e lo scannò come una bestia da macello. Il Monaldeschi, ripiegato sul fianco destro, gettò un ultimo rantolo: poi, per più d'un quarto d'ora, s'udì il gorgoglio del sangue.

Il capo dei tre, come lo vide morto, trafugate le sue vesti, trovò un piccolo coltello e un libretto di preghiere.

Tostochè la regina fu informata della vil morte di quel suo cortigiano, così vilmente trucidato, rimpianse d'essere stata obbligata a tanto eccesso, pregò Dio di perdonare all'ucciso e ordinò che si dicessero molte messe per l'anima sua «per supplicare la Bontà divina ad accogliere l'anima del defunto in paradiso». Storici vecchi e nuovi vedono in ciò qualche circostanza attenuate che mostra il buon cuore di Cristina! La pietà postuma di lei, almeno per noi, è ripugnante e null'altro ci appare se non un codicillo gesuitico all'atto malvagio, anche se grave e imprudente era stato il fallo del marchese! Più tardi la regina scriveva: «Aimer ses ennemis est un acte héroique, digne en quelque façon de Dieu qui l'ordonne». Eppure non mancò chi allora la proclamasse pietosa nella severità! Non c'è da maravigliarsi: Cristina stessa insegnava che «l'hipocrisie [sic] déguise mieux que tous les masques de carnaval».

English translation (my own):

Kristina arrived in France after a journey that was not dangerous, but extremely painful because of the heat. On September 8, 1656, she entered Paris. There, more quickly than in Rome, they understood the full extent of her singular character. Gaston d'Orléans's daughter, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, was astonished by her gestures at the comedy: "Là elle me surprit; pour louer les endroits qui lui plaisoient, elle juroit Dieu, se couchoit dans sa chaise, jettoit ses jambes d'un côté et d'autre, et faisoit des posture peu décentes." ["There she surprised me; to praise the places that pleased her, she swore to God, lay down in her chair, threw her legs this way and that, and struck postures little decent."]

Kristina passed through Piedmont, and the visit displeased the court of Savoy, which had already made delicate arrangements to ward off that annoyance. But there is none so deaf as he who refuses to understand! After admiring the fortress of Montmélian, crossing the Cenis, descending to Novalesa Abbey, she soon reached Turin, where she was met beyond Susa by Charles Emmanuel II.

The court of Savoy, however, was not one to be lacking in etiquette. Once the Queen arrived, she had to be received with full honours. Her entry into Turin was truly triumphal, as were the ten-day celebrations, albeit to the great annoyance of the court, the citizens and the Municipality. Her departure was therefore more welcome than her arrival. By now, everyone seemed annoyed by her visits. It was even said that Cardinal Mazarin had made it clear to her that a second visit to France, at State expense, would not be welcome; just as it was said that the King of Sweden, who rightly feared annoyance from her, had promised her a handsome sum if she returned to Rome immediately. It is certain that some still tolerated her, believing they were gaining some advantage from her political interference, which she boldly repeated without even the harshest rebuffs.

On her return journey, she fell ill in Pesaro. She remained there waiting to be able to return to Rome; but she soon changed her mind and, once fully recovered, she crossed back into France, with some difficulty, as the Piedmontese rivers and streams were swollen from prolonged rains.

Her companion on the journey was Marquis [Gian] Rinaldo Monaldeschi, her grand equerry, a man of strong and handsome appearance, still young, with distinct manners, whom she not only kept for ceremonial purposes, but sometimes sent as a political nuncio.

Cornelio Capitoni, in a letter from Paris on November 15, 1657, suggests that Monaldeschi, driven by jealousy, had written one or more anonymous letters to Kristina, warning her that Francesco Santinelli was boastfully recounting racy details and indiscretions about his and her very intimate past relations; this was to discredit Count Santinelli. Be that as it may, it is noteworthy that in the various accounts of the tragic event, which we will now discuss, the nature of Monaldeschi's betrayal is never clearly revealed, and everything is covered up with vague and ambiguous phrases, which confirm our suspicion that the Marquis's indiscretions were of a nature, for a converted sovereign, far more delicate than a simple political intrigue. This would also explain Kristina's ironclad and malicious resolve, against which the fervent prayers of a religious and the sobs of the victim were of no avail.

In her life, after a bath of holy water, she wanted a bath of blood. And she tenaciously held firm to her "point of honour", always appearing satisfied with Monaldeschi's death and, in the days following the assassination, taking those who visited her to see "the blood and the place where she had the Marquis killed". This was written by Vincenzo Berrò, secretary of the legation of Savoy in Paris, and there can certainly be no doubt about it, because Kristina herself, in a letter published by Madame Barine, stated bluntly: "Pour l'action que j'ai faite avec Monaldeschi, je vous dis que si je ne l'avais faite, je ne me coucherais pas ce soir sans la faire". ["As for the action I have done with Monaldeschi, I tell you that if I had not done it, I would not be going to bed tonight without doing it".]

The crime was consummated with unparalleled ferocity, and the assassins were almost all from Pesaro. Arckenholtz published two reports, the second of which, by Father le Bel, remains the most reliable. Kristina, in fact, sent for le Bel himself and secretly handed him a bundle of papers. A day or two later, she had him called back and brought him into a room where she was with Monaldeschi and three other people, including Ludovico Santinelli. Kristina, having then returned the package, took out some copies of letters and gave them to the Marquis to see and read, asking him, in a strong, passionate voice, if he knew them. The Marquis, confused and trembling, denied it; when she took out the originals and placed them before him, she terribly pressed him with questions until he moved from apologies to confessions and threw himself at her feet, begging for forgiveness.

And, as the three assassins drew their swords, he rose, following the Queen here and there and begging her to listen to his justifications. She, after a long wait, approached Monaldeschi, leaning on a small ebony stick with a round head, and turning to Prior le Bel, said: "You are my witness that I am not rushing anything, and I have given him time to justify himself."

The Marquis then handed more papers and three keys to the Queen, who finally said to the Prior in a loud and resolute voice: "Mon Père, je vous laisse cet homme entre les mains, disposez-le à la mort, et aïez soin de son âme". ["My Father, I leave this man in your hands; dispose him for death, and take care of his soul".]

Like the Marquis, perhaps, le Bel himself was stunned by these words and bowed down, arms crossed, weeping and begging for mercy for the man about to die. She showed herself unwavering in this sentence, and after reconfirming her will, she left, leaving the Prior with the three men with drawn swords.

Monaldeschi again begged the religious man to speak to Kristina, but the three scoundrels urged him to confess, still holding their swords to his back. Then one of them, moved, returned to the Queen, but to no avail. Reentering the hall, he whispered: "Marquis, pense à Dieu et à ton âme: il faut mourir". ["Marquis, think of God and of your soul; you must die".]

At the desperate protests of the unfortunate man, the Prior also wanted to speak to Kristina again. He found her calm and serene, but firm. Reasons of pity, appeals to God's mercy, and the forgiveness granted on Calvary by Jesus Christ were of no avail; moral and political arguments were of no avail; the very fact that she was in a foreign country and in a King's palace; his showing her the consequences of such an execution was of no avail. Kristina replied a few times, and always in the same calm tone, without a trace of impatience, that Monaldeschi must die.

The Prior's conclusion is extremely curious and mysterious: "Elle ne pouvoit plus reculer, sans se mettre en péril de la vie, si le marquis échapoit". ["She could no longer retreat without putting herself in peril of her life if the Marquis escaped".]

He had to return with the sentence reconfirmed for the third time. Monaldeschi uttered two or three heartrending cries; then, falling to his knees, he began his confession, sobbing. Meanwhile, the Almoner entered to question him about a doubt, and the Marquis rose and ran to him to plead with him again. They spoke quietly in a corner of the hall, holding hands, then the Almoner came out again with the leader of the trio, who, however, did not keep them waiting long and returned with the final sentence: "Marquis, demande pardon à Dieu, car sans plus tarder il faut mourir. Es-tu confessé?" ["Marquis, ask God for forgiveness, for, without further delay, you must die. Have you confessed?"]

As he spoke these words, he pushed him against the wall at the end of the gallery and stabbed him in the right side of the stomach. The Marquis tried to defend himself by grabbing his sword, but he cut off three fingers — miraculously, some found — because they were the three fingers he had used to write the incriminating letters! At the blow, the iron having twisted, it was clear that a good coat of mail or breastplate was protecting [Gian] Rinaldo Monaldeschi's chest. The torturer then made a large wound in his face, at which he, all bleeding, cried out: "Oh, Father!" and bent on one knee, calling upon God; then he fell backwards.

Capitoni recounts that, at this point, Ludovico Santinelli tied the sufferer's arms behind him, then gave him a terrible backhanded blow. It is certain that another man approached him and struck him on the head, and he made a gesture that seemed to beg for them to cut his neck to finish him off; a gesture that indeed caused several wounds. The door opened, and the Almoner reappeared. Monaldeschi barely raised his head and dragged himself to the doorway of the room; but the last slayer rushed over and butchered him like a beast for slaughter. Monaldeschi, curled onto his right side, let out a final gasp; then, for over a quarter of an hour, the gurgling of blood could be heard.

The leader of the three, when he saw him dead, stole his clothes and found a small knife and a prayer book.

As soon as the Queen was informed of the vile death of her courtier, so vilely murdered, she regretted having been forced to such excess, prayed to God to forgive the murdered man, and ordered that many Masses be said for his soul "to implore divine Goodness to welcome the soul of the deceased into Paradise". Historians old and new see in this some attenuated circumstances that demonstrate Kristina's good heart! Her posthumous piety, at least for us, is repugnant and appears to us as nothing more than a Jesuit codicil to the evil act, however serious and imprudent the Marquis's fault had been! Later on, the Queen wrote: "Aimer ses ennemis est un acte héroique, digne en quelque façon de Dieu, qui l'ordonne". ["To love one's enemies is a heroic act, worthy in some way of God, who orders it".] Yet there was no shortage of those who proclaimed her merciful in her severity! There is no need to wonder: Kristina herself taught that "l'hypocrisie déguise mieux que tous les masques de carnaval" ["hypocrisy disguises better than all the masks of Carnaval"].

Above: Kristina condemns Monaldeschi to die, painted by Johan Fredrik Höckert.

Above: Corrado Ricci, painted by Ettore Tito in 1913.

Corrado Ricci on Kristina's life in Italy, part 3

Sources:

Cristina di Svezia in Italia, article written by Corrado Ricci for Nuova antologia di scienze, lettere ed arti, volume 41 (125), pages 29 to 31, published by the Direction of Nuova antologia, 1892; original at the Bavarian State Library

https://books.google.com/books?id=wr6lJEO7mjkC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=regina+cristina+di+svezia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Roma, visioni e figure: con 29 illustrazioni, pages 142 to 144, by Corrado Ricci, 1925; original at Cornell University

https://books.google.com/books?id=j31oPsGNy5IC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=regina+cristina+di+svezia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The article:

Intanto ad Alessandro VII crescevano i sopraccapi e i fastidi per la sua convertita che pretendeva costantemente onoranze eccessive, superiori alla prammatica e al cerimoniale in uso. Non rinunziò ella a visitare il Campidoglio perchè i Senatori si rifiutarono di riceverla a capo scoperto accampando che appunto a capo coperto i loro predecessori avevano ricevuto un imperatore come Carlo V? Ed è veramente curioso ch'ella persistisse ognor più a manifestare pretese su pretese, quando poi a sua volta mancava alle norme più semplici della devozione frequentando gli altari senza il rosario e senza libri di preghiera.

Ma le pratiche religiose erano una fatica noiosissima per lei che vera passione dimostrava solo per la sua Accademia, per le commedie e i drammi musicali. S'era messa sino a studiar canto con sommo dispiacere del papa. — Ma ben altre pillole il povero vecchio doveva ingoiare! — Da un dispetto, da un capriccio di lei potevano nascere danni sensibili alla religione, proprio quando la sua conversione cominciava a produrre utili risultati, avendola imitata il marchese di Sultzbach. Alla corte pontificia si sopportava tutto con santa pazienza, e s'andava anche coi piedi di piombo nel farla avvertita dei danni cui poteva andare incontro.

Ovvio però era l'accorgersi sin da principio che Cristina con le sue stranezze avrebbe finito per divenire la favola di Roma e perdere il prestigio dapprima esercitato sul pubblico; il quale, una sera, al teatro Barberini, dopo averla aspettata lungamente, perchè la rappresentazione potesse cominciare, al suo apparire l'accolse con urli e fischi. Cristina s'inchinò ringraziando, atto di sprezzante confidenza non degno certo d'una sovrana! E peggio fece ancora quando, ad un simile dispetto del pubblico, per un nuovo indugio, rispose fischiando da parte sua mefistofelicamente.

La plebe cessò allora di rispettarla. Al Corso le rivolse motti poco puliti cui rispose ridendo. Ai rimproveri, invece, che le venivano dall'alto, sino dal pontefice, pareva attendesse compunta, ma due minuti dopo, data una scrollatina di spalle, badava a fare i comodi suoi, fino a costringere il pontefice ad aspettarla in una chiesa dove non si recò che quando lo seppe partito!

Nella scelta del confidente religioso ella aveva seguìto fini criteri — diremo così — d'estetica! Il cardinal Decio Azzolini da Fermo non era soltanto un ingegno pronto e vivace, un parlatore brillante, ma anche un magnifico uomo, celebrato e favorito dalle dame. L'origine della conoscenza sua con Cristina si pretendeva risalisse ad una galanteria. Volendo colei discendere dalla carrozza presso S. Luigi dei Francesi e non sapendo dove porre il piede, tanto la via era limacciosa, egli, poco lontano, accorse, si levò la mantellina, la stese sul fango, e la regina passò. Falso o vero, il fatto — in sè ben poco importante — resterebbe a provare che l'Azzolini passava per un uomo galante. L'epigramma infatti del signor di Coulanges è assai più maligno che la storiella del mantello.

«Mais Azolin dans Rome

sceut charmer ses ennemis [sic].

Elle eût sans ce grand homme

passé des tristes nuits.»

L'autorità dell'Azzolini sull'animo di Cristina era tale che lo stesso pontefice si serviva di lui per intermediario quando voleva farlo sapere utili consigli. Invece, com'era a prevedersi, il cardinale le suggeriva le scuse e la tattica per avere soccorsi, consigliandole nei casi gravi a minacciar di rimpatriare; minaccia che faceva subito Alessandro arrendevole. Prometteva poi di vivere sobria, rassegnata e obbediente, e, promettendo soltanto, spillava danari al Papa quando già l'erario era tormentato dalla siccità. Ottenuto quanto voleva, si ribellava, e ad Alessandro, che la consigliava di ritirarsi, durante la peste, in un monastero, rispondeva di non esser nata per vivere fra quattro mura e di voler morire sul campo di battaglia. Il Provana soggiungeva ingenuamente: «Io non so che guerra voglia esser questa!» mentre il suo dubbio aveva un'efficace risposta in tutta la condotta di Cristina. La quale invece si preparava alla partenza e per mettere insieme quattrini impegnava i gioielli e vendeva malamente carrozze e cavalli.

Se n'andò una sera di luglio, e il riguardo del contagio non fu che la scusa per giustificare il viaggio che voleva fare in Francia ed in Germania. Andò fino a Civitavecchia a cavallo, accompagnata da parecchi cardinali e provvigionata dal Papa. «Aveva indosso» — dice il Claretta — «un giustacuore, una gala di trina, una sottana di colore sul bigio, solo a metà gamba; una ciarpa a traverso la vita; calze e scarpe bianche con rosetta nera, ed in testa una parrucca incipriata». Tutt'insieme, una bella caricatura!

English translation (my own):

In the meantime, Alexander VII's annoyances grew over his convert, who constantly demanded excessive honours, exceeding customary standards and ceremonial. Did she not give up visiting the Capitoline Hill because the Senators refused to receive her bareheaded, arguing that their predecessors had received an emperor like Charles V with their heads covered? And it is truly curious that she persisted in making ever greater demands when, in turn, she herself violated the simplest norms of devotion by frequenting altars without a rosary and without prayer books.

But religious practices were a very tedious chore for her, and she showed true passion only for her Academy, for comedies and musical dramas. She had even taken to studying singing, much to the Pope's displeasure. — But the poor old man had to swallow far different pills! — A single outburst, a whim on her part, could cause significant damage to religion, just when her conversion was beginning to produce useful results, as the Marquis of Sulzbach had imitated her. At the pontifical court, everything was endured with saintly patience, and they even proceeded with caution in warning her of the harm she might incur.

It was obvious, however, from the outset that Kristina, with her eccentricities, would eventually become the talk of Rome and lose the prestige she had initially wielded over the public. One evening, at the Teatro Barberini, the audience, after having waited a long time for her in order to begin the performance, greeted her with hoots and whistles upon her appearance. Kristina bowed in thanks, an act of contemptuous confidence certainly unworthy of a sovereign! And it was even worse when, in response to the audience's similar displeasure, she responded by Mephistophelianly whistling at herself for another delay.

The common people then ceased to respect her. At the Corso, they addressed her with unsavory remarks, to which she responded by laughing. She seemed to await the rebukes coming from above, even from the Pontiff, with composure; but two minutes later, with a shrug, she was going about her business, even forcing the Pontiff to wait for her in a church, where she did not show up until she learned he had left!

In choosing her religious confidant, she had followed fine — so to speak — aesthetic criteria! Cardinal Decio Azzolino of Fermo was not only a quick and lively genius, a brilliant speaker, but also a magnificent man, celebrated and favoured by the ladies. The origin of his acquaintance with Kristina was said to be based on gallantry. When she wanted to alight from the carriage near San Luigi dei Francesi and, unsure where to put her foot because the path was so muddy, he ran up nearby, took off his cloak, spread it on the mud, and the Queen passed by. True or false, the fact — in itself of little importance — would prove that Azzolino was considered a gallant man. Indeed, Monsieur de Coulanges's epigram is far more malicious than the story of the cloak.

"Mais Azolin dans Rome

sceut charmer ses ennemis [sic].

Elle eût sans ce grand homme

passé des tristes nuits."

["But Azzolino in Rome

knew how to charm her enemies [sic];

she had without this great man

passed sad nights."]

Azzolino's influence over Kristina's mind was such that the Pontiff himself used him as an intermediary when he wanted to pass on useful advice. Instead, as foreseen, the Cardinal suggested excuses and tactics for obtaining succour, advising her, in serious cases, to threaten repatriation — a threat that immediately made Alexander compliant. She then promised to live soberly, resignedly and obediently, and, by promising nothing more, she extorted money from the Pope when the treasury was already racked by drought. Having obtained what she wanted, she rebelled, and when Alexander advised her to retire to a monastery during the plague, she replied that she was not born to live within four walls and wanted to die on the battlefield. Provana naively added: "I don't know what kind of war this is!" while his doubts were effectively answered in Kristina's entire conduct. She, however, was preparing to leave and, to raise money, she pawned her jewels and sold carriages and horses at a low price.

She left one evening in July, and concern about the contagion was merely an excuse to justify the journey she wanted to make to France and Germany. She rode to Civitavecchia on horseback, accompanied by several cardinals and provisioned by the Pope. "She was wearing", says Claretta, "a justaucorps, a lace ruche, a greyish skirt that reached only mid-calf; a scarf around her waist; white stockings and shoes with a black rosette, and a powdered wig on her head." All in all, a fine caricature!

Above: Kristina.

Above: Cardinal Decio Azzolino.

Above: Corrado Ricci, painted by Ettore Tito in 1913.