Reinhold Stenbock on the Östergötland Cavalry Regiment escorting Kristina to and from her cousin-in-law Elsa Beata Brahe's funeral at Västerås in August 1653 and through Östergötland after her abdication in June 1654, year 1927/1928

Source:

Östgöta kavalleriregemente, 1618-1699, pages 200 to 201, by Reinhold Stenbock, 1927/1928; original at the University of Minnesota

https://books.google.com/books?id=PkcPAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=drottning+kristina&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The account:

Östgöta ryttare eskortera drottning Kristina genom

Östergötland augusti 1653 och juni 1654.

Även följande år 1653 deltogo Östgöta ryttare i sorgehögtider inom den pfalzgrevliga familjen. Hertig Adolf Johans gemål Elsa Beata Brahe avled å Vadstena slott den 4 april 1653. Till bisättningen i Vadstena klosterkyrka inbjödos, bland andra, överste Lewenhaupt med sin maka, grevinnan Charlotta zu Hohenlohe-Neuenstein und Gleichen, och hans närmaste officerare. Jordfästningen, som ägde rum därsammastädes den 28 augusti, bevistades även av drottning Kristina. För att eskortera drottningen, som över Västerås och Örebro reste ned till Östergötland, beordrades överste Lewenhaupt att lördagen den 23 augusti på morgonen vid Tjällmo möta med ett kompani ryttare, och antingen personligen inställa sig därstädes eller sända en ryttmästare. Efter begravningen beordrades ett nytt kompani — sannolikt ha båda de i Vadstena samlade kompanierna paraderat vid sorgeakten — att eskortera drottningen till Linköping, varifrån ett annat kompani följde som eskort till Norrköping. Från Norrköping följde slutligen ett fjärde kompani drottningen över Kolmården till Nyköping, där Östgöta ryttarna avlöstes av ett kompani Södermanlänningar.

Inom kort kom regementet åter att paradera för drottning Kristina. Den 6 juni 1654 avsade sig drottningen Sveriges krona, för att övergiva sitt land, och Karl X Gustaf kröntes till konung. Redan samma dags afton avreste drottningen från Uppsala och anträdde efter några dagars vistelse i Stockholm sin resa landvägen söderut. I Kalmar väntade en eskader, som skulle föra henne över till Pommern. För att uppvakta drottningen på vägen genom Östergötland beordrades av Östgöta kavalleriregemente 2 kompanier möta i Norrköping, 2 kompanier i Linköping och 2 kompanier i Kisa. Kompanierna eskorterade drottningen på vägen mellan städerna, ävensom från Kisa till Smålandsgränsen. Efter färden genom Östergötland föredrog drottningen att fortsätta sin resa över Danmark och lämnade Sverige på gränsen mellan Halland och Skåne.

English translation (my own):

Östergötland cavaliers escort Queen Kristina through

Östergötland in August 1653 and June 1654.

The following year, 1653, Östergötland cavaliers also participated in mourning ceremonies within the Count Palatine family. Duke Adolf Johan's wife Elsa Beata Brahe died at Vadstena Castle on April 4, 1653. Colonel Lewenhaupt and his wife, Countess Charlotta zu Hohenlohe-Neuenstein und Gleichen, and his closest officers were invited to the funeral in Vadstena Abbey Church, among others. The funeral, which took place there on August 28, was also attended by Queen Kristina. In order to escort the Queen, who travelled down to Östergötland via Västerås and Örebro, Colonel Lewenhaupt was ordered to meet with a company of riders on Saturday, August 23, in the morning at Tjällmo, and either appear there in person or send a riding master. After the funeral, a new company was ordered — both companies assembled in Vadstena probably paraded at the mourning ceremony — to escort the Queen to Linköping, from whence another company followed as an escort to Norrköping. From Norrköping, a fourth company finally followed the Queen across Kolmården to Nyköping, where the Östergötland cavaliers were relieved by a company of Södermanlanders.

Soon the regiment was again parading for Queen Kristina. On June 6, 1654, the Queen abdicated the crown of Sweden to abandon her country, and Karl X Gustav was crowned king. The same evening, the Queen departed from Uppsala and, after a few days in Stockholm, began her journey south by land. A squadron was waiting in Kalmar to take her across to Pomerania. To escort the Queen on the way through Östergötland, the Östergötland Cavalry Regiment ordered 2 companies to meet in Norrköping, 2 companies in Linköping and 2 companies in Kisa. The companies escorted the Queen on the road between the cities, as well as from Kisa to the Småland border. After the journey through Östergötland, the Queen preferred to continue her journey across Denmark and left Sweden on the border between Halland and Skåne.

Above: Kristina.

Carl Grimberg's article on Kristina's life, in "The American-Scandinavian Review", September 1927

Source:

Romances of Swedish Queens: Kristina, Daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, article written by Carl Grimberg for The American-Scandinavian Review, volume 15, pages 523/525 to 535 (Number 9, September, 1927), published by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1927; original at the University of Michigan

https://books.google.com/books?id=nsqQ5hUGc2UC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=kristina+the+girl+king&source=gbs_navlinks_s

—

Above: Carl Grimberg.

"There are few characters in history more fascinating than Queen Kristina, Gustavus Adolphus's daughter who renounced her father's crown and his faith. Her story is the second in four "Romances of Swedish Queens" which the distinguished Swedish historian, CARL GRIMBERG, is writing for the REVIEW."

The account:

Romances of Swedish Queens:

Kristina, Daughter of Gustavus Adolphus

By CARL GRIMBERG

NEVER has a man been more profoundly worshipped by a woman than was the great hero-king Gustavus II Adolphus by his beautiful spouse, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. It was ardent love at first sight. The very first time the two young people saw each other, according to a spectator, "the princess could never take her eyes from His Majesty." Nay, not even death seemed capable of separating Maria Eleonora from her beloved Gustav. On receiving the sorrowful message that he had offered up his life on the battlefield of Lützen for the cause of Protestantism, she hurried to his bier; and day and night she could not be separated from his remains. In fact, two days after his body had been deposited in Riddarholmskyrkan, she wanted to descend into the vault and have the coffin opened.

It is indeed a heartrending thing to see a love so all-devouring, a passion so blind, that it cannot be checked even by the dread hand of death. And yet this woman, who lived and breathed only by the memory of her happy love, was no withered old woman, but young and radiantly beautiful still. At the death of Gustavus Adolphus she was not quite thirty-three years old. In a dark, shut-in chamber, lighted only by the dull gleam of funeral candles, she sat day in and day out, clad in deepest mourning, with her only child, little Kristina, who later, on becoming of age, was to succeed her great father on the throne. The little girl was now Maria Eleonora's only comfort, for she seemed to see in her daughter the image of her departed mate. But what a life for the lively little seven-year-old with the big questioning eyes to sit closeted thus with the hysterical woman who only wept and mourned!

If the little girl who later was to govern the realm of Sweden — then one of the great powers of Europe — was not to be entirely ruined, she must be separated in time from her mother, who moreover did all she could to arouse in the child antipathy toward Sweden. The separation was effected, in spite of the violent protests of the mother, who in her desperation even contemplated suicide. Finally she fled the country.

Little Kristina came under the guidance of her sensible and very excellent aunt.

It was no easy task to take charge of this child prodigy — for a prodigy she was already. At her very arrival to this earth she came as a surprise. The astrologists had prophesied that the ardent desire of Gustavus Adolphus and Maria Eleonora for a son would be fulfilled. When a swarthy little brat came to the world — "brown as a Moor", in Kristina's own words — and greeted those standing by with an uncommonly vigorous cry, a real boy's howl, everybody thought at first that the soothsayers had spoken the truth.

Then came the disappointment! But papa laughed it off. "She is going to be very clever", he remarked, "for she fooled us all." For that matter, it soon became evident that the little one was a regular tomboy. In her autobiography, written in her later years, she says that she had always harbored "an invincible dislike for all that was feminine in word and action"; and that dislike lasted all her life. As often as possible she sought masculine company; but what attracted her to men was, according to her own explanation, not so much that they were men as that they were — not women.

Gustavus Adolphus was delighted with every indication of boyishness in his little girl. After all, he said, she was a warrior's daughter and ought to show it. That she had inherited her father's intelligence as well as courage soon became evident. With her large, eager eyes she literally drank in knowledge of every kind. Learning a new language like Greek she called a diversion for idle moments, about like playing chess, and never could her appetite for history, and politics be sated. For hours she could sit and discuss them with her teachers. A precocious and unusually gifted child who knew what she wanted — such is the impression one receives of the future regent of Sweden.

Kristina, however, was not only the highly gifted and strong-willed daughter of Gustavus Adolphus; she possessed also a heritage from her poor mother, so capricious and eccentric.

The most famous delineation of Kristina's appearance and manner is by the French envoy Chanut, who describes, in a letter to his government early in 1648, the impression made by the twenty-one-year-old queen on an observer who was both penetrating and enthusiastic. He says[,] among other things: "The first time you see her she does not awaken the same admiration as on closer observation. A single portrait is not sufficient to give an idea of her appearance; her face changes with her thoughts and emotions so that you scarcely recognize her from one moment to the other. But usually she appears thoughtful, and however her expression varies, she always retains a trace of the sunny and agreeable. At times her voice becomes more powerful than is characteristic of her sex. She attaches no importance to dress: in fifteen minutes she is dressed, and for everyday a comb and a bit of ribbon constitute her only head-dress. Yet her carelessly hanging hair is not unbecoming to her face, which she does not trouble to shield against rain or wind. While hunting she can sit on horseback for ten hours at a stretch; and there is no one in Sweden who can fell a leaping hare more surely. Neither cold nor heat bother her. Her food is simple and lacking in delicacies. She is chary of time and sleeps only five hours. She takes great pleasure in seeing learned men around her and hearing them treat difficult scientific problems. On such occasions she never expresses her opinion until all others have spoken, and then she does it well, with few words."

In our day, with the freer manners for women which have accompanied sports and comradeship between the sexes, Kristina would surely not have created such a sensation as in her own time. She would simply have been classified as a "modern sportswoman." But the thing which would have distinguished her in any age was her brilliant mind. Now, as in the age when she lived, the world would surely have reëchoed with admiration for the young girl who from 1644 governed independently that Northern land which her father had made a great power. Kristina herself enjoyed being famous, and her unusual endowment and thirst for knowledge showed her a way. Through valor at arms the Swedish nation had made itself a name in the world. Yet one thing remained; in the barren Swedish soil the finer flower of culture had not yet taken root. But why shouldn't it? Did it not seem as though Providence had appointed the great warrior's daughter as the guardian of science and art in the Northlands? A court in which the queen shone like a star in a constellation of European savants — that was an ambition worthy of the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus.

Scores of scientists, especially Frenchmen, accepted Kristina's invitation to Stockholm. They had left home and wife and child in order to behold the new goddess of wisdom on Sweden's throne, "the northern Minerva." For her sake they had been tossed about for weeks on a stormy sea in frail little ships, or shaken till they were bruised and tender on ungodly country roads. Indeed these children of the South even braved the dreaded cold of the Northlands in the blissful certainty that the queen of Sweden would richly reward all their trouble.

Towering above them all was the Frenchman Descartes, one of the greatest philosophers who have ever lived. After a long period of correspondence and persistent exhortation[,] Kristina succeeded in getting him to Stockholm, in the fall of 1649. He was no mouldy bookworm, this penetrating thinker with whom the queen of Sweden now found opportunity to discuss life's deepest problems. Descartes was an aristocrat, an experienced man of the world. He had been an officer, and enjoyed a reputation not only as a philosopher but also as a gallant. But surely no woman had so selfishly monopolized him as his royal admirer in Stockholm. At five o'clock in the morning he had to report in her library to instruct her and argue with her. Alas for him, who had assumed the comfortable habits of the man of the world! In the dark and chilly rooms of the Stockholm palace he shook with cold, and after four months he contracted pneumonia and died.

The young queen, however, had an eye not only for learning and genius in the opposite sex[,] but also for superficial excellencies. She had by nature a keen esthetic sense and loved to feast her eyes on what was beautiful and brilliant. Around her was a swarm of young nobles who had won her favor. The most celebrated was Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the son of General Jacob De la Gardie and beautiful Ebba Brahe, the first love of Gustavus Adolphus. He was beyond comparison the most handsome and cultured of the Swedish noblemen. Queen Kristina was overcome by his charm, and she made no secret of her liking; she showered him with unmerited distinctions. At the age of twenty-two he became Colonel of the Guards, and at the same time she placed him at the head of a brilliant embassage to Paris, which cost the poor Swedish nation a tidy sum of money.

It was even rumored that the queen contemplated the pampered favorite as her consort. Indeed[,] her very frank autobiography conveys the impression that the rumor was not without foundation, but pride restrained her from devoting herself to any man and subordinating herself to a husband. During the regency, when one of her guardians put the question of matrimony to her, the fifteen-year-old Kristina gave the cutting reply: "The person who can belong to herself should not belong to any one else." As for De la Gardie, his star was destined soon to pale. When the queen found that he was too cowardly to fight a duel, her admiration suddenly turned to disdain. In vain the pampered favorite sought to win back the heart of his queen. "Do not believe that I am angry with you", she wrote to him. "I assure you that I am not. The only feeling I can have for you henceforth is pity."

Discussing science and art and following up one brilliant court festivity with another are not the chief mission of a ruler, however, though Kristina seemed to think so. She soon turned a deaf ear to her more serious and tedious duties to the government. Yet this was a time of great opportunity in Sweden: difficult social problems craved solution, and only from the throne could help come. The nobility, the upper class of the realm, had become so powerful that it threatened to destroy the time-honored freedom of the Swedish peasantry. Sweden's constant quarrels with her neighbors had given caste to the warrior, and the deeds of prowess accomplished by leading men on the battlefields were rewarded, in accordance with the custom of the time, with investiture of lands. Year by year the earldoms and baronies and other tax-free estates increased, so that they finally embraced half the territory of the realm. When the land came into the possession of a nobleman, it became entirely or at least partially free from taxation to the Crown. The small farms were in danger of being swallowed up by manors, and the freedom of the peasantry was threatened. "We have heard", grumbled the peasantry at the Rigsdag [sic] of 1650, which was called to witness the queen's coronation, "that in other lands the peasant is a slave, and we fear that the same may befall us." The situation was aggravated by dearth and famine. Even in the most fertile provinces the people had to resort to bark bread. Many starved to death, and the roads were full of beggars.

To those who understood the lay of the land[,] it was very evident that the demands of the commoners could not long be ignored by the government. Kristina too realized it; but it is one thing to realize, and another to act. Far from trying to ameliorate conditions, Kristina made them worse from year to year. She created, on an average, one new nobleman each week, and in many cases the actual worth of the new-baked nobleman was highly disputable. The royal tailor may have been a very clever fellow in his trade, but it is doubtful whether his spirit had the heroic trend which would justify Her Majesty's cutting him a lion's shield with her own fair hand.

All the new earls and barone created by Kristina had to be provided with earldoms and baronies. The result was such a giving of lands that the queen finally could not keep track of which estates had been given away and which still belonged to the Crown.

At the same time[,] Kristina wasted quantities of money on court festivities, one more lavish than the other. Never before had Sweden seen anything to equal the splendor with which she celebrated her coronation. It was a dazzling spectacle to behold — all the land could offer of splendor and magnificence started in procession from the Stockholm palace toward Storkyrkan. But all the rest was eclipsed by the Queen of Sweden in her carriage de luxe, drawn by six snow-white steeds, silvershod, caparisoned with red velvet embroidered in gold and wearing tufts of pure white plumes on their heads. She was resplendent in a gown almost totally covered with gold, pearls, and jewels. Behind her carriage came her favorite white horse, whose mane and tail almost swept the ground. He wore a saddle richly embroidered in silver and gold, and about his silvershod hoofs was a rattling of gold chains.

After the coronation came a series of banquets and other diversions for the poor people. On the main market-place an ox roasted whole, a "coronation" ox, as it was called, was served to the people, and wine flowed from several fountains.

In the course of these festivities, the queen had found it necessary to order that the beggars who, because of the famine, had swarmed into Stockholm be led away, so that they would not "fill up the streets, to our dishonor and that of the Crown, especially considering the foreigners who have come to the city."

And now for some statistics! On Kristina's ascending the throne, three percent of the total income of the realm was consumed by court expenses. During her last year the figure had risen to twenty percent! In our day the Swedish court requires about one-third of one percent of the state revenues.

Kristina realized fully that in the long run the state finances of Sweden could not be handled in this way; but it was too tedious a task to start economic and social reforms. Her capricious and impulsive nature had long since tired of the daily grind of government worries. Once[,] when two secretaries came in with a pile of government negotiations to be signed by the queen, she greeted them with the kind words that it was "just as much fun for her to see them enter as if the devil himself had come for a visit." With the ruthless determination characteristic of Kristina, she soon found a way out of the difficulty: she would renounce the crown and leave Sweden forever. Free! She wished to be free, free from all duties, free from all bonds! She had never harbored any warm sentiments for her fatherland, and as little had she ever felt any obligation to work for the welfare of the loyal though poverty-stricken people of Gustavus Adolphus [sic], for her insight into the popular character had never penetrated beneath the rather rough surface.

Kristina's whim to leave Sweden had other reasons than those enumerated. The daughter of Gustavus Adolphus had secretly become a Catholic. In her heart of hearts she had never been a Lutheran — so she claimed. She found the Lutheran church service monotonous; she longed for the mystic ceremonies which gave atmosphere to the worship in the Catholic churches. Her independent nature from the beginning had resisted all attempts of well-meaning educators to implant in her a faith in the excellency of Protestantism. Yet her restless, doubting heart felt an actual need of making reason a captive to faith, faith in the infallibility of the pope and all the dogmas incidental to it. Irreconcilable elements united in one human soul!

Kristina awaited with impatience the time when she could resign her queenship in order to be a human being. In the lands of the South she would live as a queen in the realm of genius, surrounded by the creations of art and the foremost poets and scholars of the age. All the honor she could win as the queen of Sweden was already hers. Her life's greatest triumph would now be this: at the acme of her power and glory, still young and fêted, she would voluntarily lay down the crown.

One reason for Kristina's resolution to abdicate was her distaste for giving the world a successor of her own flesh and blood. Her feeling toward matrimony was, as we have seen, one of decided antipathy. Multitudes of princes sought her hand, but none succeeded in winning her. Of no avail were the pleas of her subjects that she should marry. And "woman's will is God's will."

When the Riksdag convened in Uppsala in 1654, Kristina set in motion her plans to abdicate. She appeared in person before her people and announced her decision. When she had assured herself of a very considerable annual maintenance, consisting of the revenues from several Swedish provinces, the formal abdication took place in the hall of state in Uppsala castle. In the presence of the councillors and Estates of the Realm she laid down the crown, the apple, and the sceptre, and thereupon spoke "so gently and freely to those assembled that she moved many an honest man to tears", says an eyewitness. "Beautiful as an angel she stood there in a white robe."

In an ecstasy of happiness and freedom she left Sweden. Her goal was Rome, the eternal city. On the way thither she met an envoy from the pope in Innsbruck in the Tyrol, and before him, in the castle chapel, she publicly foreswore the faith for which her father had died, and expressed her conviction that no one can achieve salvation outside the Catholic church. "All wept; she alone shed no tear", says a spectator. Everywhere the Catholics rejoiced that the daughter of the heretic king had come to a realization of the truth and become the obedient child of his holiness the pope; and[,] hailed as a victor, she made her entrance in Rome, mounted on a snow-white horse and escorted by a brilliant cortège.

Kristina's first weeks in Rome were a dance on roses. The pope, the cardinals, and the society people of Rome took pains to show their most agreeable side to this most recent acquisition of the Roman church. But the first intoxication passed, and Kristina was to learn that fortune is not constant, even under the sunny skies of Italy. First the pope showed that he was not entirely satisfied with her. He had expected to see a crowned saint with the fragrance of holiness about her — a convert who spent her time in long prayers and good works, and was an example to be followed. Instead he found a woman uncommonly free in speech and bearing, who smiled and jested during the church services and who — Oh, height of impropriety! — turned the heads of the cardinals.

It was not only the pope who showed a bit of acid in his sweetness; the respect for the queen began to decrease here and there when it became noticeable that she was sometimes short of cash. "The Italians do not like converts without money", as the English ambassador in Livorno once said.

In her difficulties, however, Kristina found a helper and friend, faithful unto death: Cardinal Azzolino, who became a profound influence in her life. Azzolino's appearance was both forceful and pleasing, and his quick intelligence and high culture were to Kristina's taste. A very interesting glimpse into the relations between him and the ex-queen is gained by a study of the still existing letters of Kristina and the cardinal. This woman, who pours out her soul to her friend in complete sincerity, was very different from the queen who with bold courage defied the whole world. In these letters, intended for no eye but his, her womanliness comes to light. The will of the beloved has become her law, and without him life holds no value. She, the proudest of women, exclaims: "In relation to me you are omnipotent, and however you choose to treat me, I shall never complain." It is certain that, if Kristina ever gave herself wholly to any man, it was to Azzolino.

Kristina had expected to find in the eternal city the great peace and happiness. Now she had learned by experience that neither in the north nor in the south is peace to be found by a celebrity-hunter. Kristina wished to be independent of her fellow-men, but could not; but worse than that, she could not escape her own capricious self, which never allowed her a feeling of complete contentment; which drove her, throughout her whole life, to chase after phantoms. Hardly had she become settled in Rome when she appeared at the court in Paris. There she created a huge sensation, because of her eccentric appearance as well as her genius. People were amazed at her masculine way of flinging herself into chairs and throwing her legs over the arms of chairs in the presence of the king and the entire court. The French queen, Anne of Austria, vowed that she had never been so completely astonished. She had heard that "the travelling queen" was not like other people, but had never imagined anything quite so different. Yet for all her oddities, she could not help liking Kristina.

The following year [1657] she suddenly appeared again at the French court. While she was sojourning at the beautiful pleasure castle of Fontainebleau outside of Paris, there happened a sensational occurrence which has smirched her reputation. By order of the ex-queen her chief house-steward, the Italian Marquis of Monaldesco, was killed. Legend has spun around this deed the motive of love and jealousy, and Alexandre Dumas has built on this legend his treatment of the drama at Fontainebleau, however without any basis in reality. The true motive for the execution or the murder — whichever we should call it — was that Monaldesco for money had betrayed an important political confidence.

Her French visits were connected with plans, suddenly born in this restless head, to gain by intrigue the crown of the kingdom of Naples. In 1660, when her successor on Sweden's throne suddenly died, she could not forbear starting directly for Stockholm to try to obtain a new right to the crown; but her former subjects were now quite cool toward the adventuress from the pope's city.

One remark made by her during this visit deserves to be rescued from oblivion. When the eighty-seven-year-old archbishop, heading a delegation of ministers, came and admonished her to give up her erroneous religion and lamented "the pope's evil plots against our souls", Kristina retorted scornfully: "Good gentlemen, I know the pope better than you: he wouldn't give four dollars for all your souls together." Despite the failure of her trip to the homeland, however, Kristina visited it again in 1667, this time with still more ignominious results. The Swedish government gave her to understand plainly that the visit was not desired, and in her vexation she turned back when half-way to Stockholm. Shortly thereafter she took it into her head to seek the vacant throne of Poland. What attracted her was the suspense in playing for a throne rather than the throne itself — which she did not win in the end, for that matter.

La regina nomada, the travelling queen, had now become one of the curiosities of Rome. There she sat in Palazzo Riario, which she had changed to a museum of exquisite paintings, statues, books, and manuscripts, most of which she had brought with her from the royal palaces in her impoverished native land. With the years, she had become a fat little old woman with a double chin adorned with long, coarse hairs, an enormous eagle nose under bushy eyebrows, a protruding underlip and clipped hair, sprinkled with gray. But the big blue eyes still retained their fire. She was not forgotten by the good Romans in her old age; she saw to that by providing constant quarrels with the pope to liven up her existence. Once his holiness dismissed such a dispute with a shrug of the shoulders and the pertinent remark: "E donna"— she is a woman.

The only change in her life which she anticipated calmly and quietly was the greatest and last which awaits all. She had always declared that she did not fear death, and when she stood face to face with it, she showed that she had spoken the truth.

On the morning of April 19, 1689, she quietly drew her last breath, at the age of sixty-two. Her restless and storm-tossed life was ended. Her last hours were sweetened by the presence of Azzolino, who, though attacked by illness himself, watched day and night by her bedside. Under the crimson mantle of the cardinal beat a heart which mourned her, after all.

With great pomp and ceremony she was interred in St. Peter's cathedral, where her tomb constitutes a permanent reminder of the greatest triumph of Jesuitism, the conversion of the great heretic king's daughter.

"E donna" — those words which were received by Kristina as an unpardonable insult nevertheless explain better than anything else her restless, fluttering career. But what is the reason, we finally ask, for the depressing feeling of desolation, of meaningless emptiness, which results from a contemplation of Kristina's life and destiny? Why must we always see happiness just escaping this brilliant personality? The answer is that true happiness is absolutely unknown to the person who lives in constant concern for his own ego. All work for personal development becomes meaningless if the new powers developing within are not used in work for the happiness of others. Herein lies one of the great secrets of civilized community: no one may break the law of interdependence. Only by working at a life mission can any one find true happiness.

This life mission Kristina never found. Hence her great qualities never became the blessing which they might have become to her fellowmen; and consequently they never became a blessing to her.

Note: Palazzo Riario is the old name for the Palazzo Corsini alla Lungara.

Emma Saltzman on Princess Katarina's life, in "Husmodern: Organ för föreningen Martha" magazine, year 1927

Source:

Kvinnogestalter XVI.: Gustav II Adolfs syster, article written by Emma Saltzman for Husmodern: Organ för föreningen Martha, issue 5, pages 110 to 114, issue of May 1, 1927; original at the Finnish National Library (Kansalliskirjasto/Nationalbiblioteket)

https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/900144?term=drottningen&term=drottningens&term=Kristina&page=6

Husmodern: Organ för föreningen Martha, 01.05.1927 no 5, s. 110-114 https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/900144 Kansalliskirjaston Digitaaliset Aineistot

The article:

KVINNOGESTALTER

XVI.

Gustav II Adolfs syster.

Sveriges hävder äro rika på märkliga kvinnogestalter, viljestarka och handlingskraftiga typer, bistra krigshjältars myndiga, driftiga husfruar, starka i kärlek men även i hat, oftast hårda som tiden de levat i. Det gör en människa av vår komplicerade, splittrade tid gott att någon gång betrakta denna stolta rad av helgjutna kvinnoskepnader, men man kan ej låta bli att samtidigt leta efter inslag av mildare, för oss mera fattbart slag. Och man letar icke förgäves.

På tröskeln till Sveriges glansfulla storhetstid möter oss i tronens omedelbara närhet en kvinna, vars karaktärs höga sedliga halt, och kvinnligt kärleksfulla väsen och vandel av samtidens vittnesbörd och av den historiska forskningen enhälligt erkänts och bekräftats. Det är Karl IX:s och hans första gemåls, den milda Marias av Pfalz, dotter, Gustav II Adolfs avhållna styvsyster Katarina, hon som blev föreningslänken icke blott mellan den egentliga Wasaätten och huset Pfalz-Zweibrücken, men även mellan detta och huset Holstein-Gottorp, i det konung Adolf Fredrik var hennes äldsta dotters avkomling i femte led, samt vidare med den i Sverige nu regerande dynastin Bernadotte sålunda, att konung Oscar I:s gemål Josefina var ättling i åttonde led av samma dotter till Katarina. I Sveriges konungalängd kan Katarina sägas vara en central gestalt.

Detta låter ju storståtligt, men sådant var varken prinsessan Katarinas väsen eller hennes eget levnadslopp, om det än tilldels förflöt inom konungaborgen.

Katarina föddes på Nyköpings slott den 12 november 1584, men redan innan hon hunnit fylla sitt femte levnadsår stod hon vid sin moders bår som dennas enda överlevande barn. I Karl IX:s andra gemål, Kristina av Holstein, fick hon en klok och rättrådig, om än sträng styvmoder och blev för denna viljestarka, statskloka drottning en foglig och kärleksfull dotter. Katarina var till sitt yttre icke skön, men behaglig och till sitt väsende livlig, älskvärd och vinnande. Hennes begåvning var ej av det glänsande slaget, ej heller ägde hon talanger, men hon var en klok och självständigt tänkande kvinna, icke viljelös, men taktfull, mjuk och foglig, from och den protestantiska bekännelsen varmt tillgiven, men ej trångbröstad i sin gudsfruktan. Harmoni av känsla och förstånd, av fasthet i det viktiga och eftergivenhet i det mindre väsentliga är utmärkande för Katarinas karaktär. Denna lyckliga blandning av möderne- och fädernearv gjorde henne till den goda genius hon blev i den kungliga familjekretsen, inom vilken det hetsiga Wasa-blodet nog så ofta kokade över; den gjorde henne omtyckt även utom densamma och skaffade henne talrika vänner bland hög och låg. För sin framför alla andra beundrade och avhållna tio år yngre broder Gustav II Adolf förblev hon städse den kära ”Kätchen”, hos vilken han i ungdomsåren fann tröst i sina kärlekssorger och vid mognare år förståelse och välbehövlig vila från regerings- och familjebekymmer. Hans förhållande till systern, säger Fryxell, är en lysande förebild för allt, som finnes skönt och ädelt i broderlig kärlek.

Vad hade väl varit naturligare än att Katarina tidigt hade blivit bortgift, såsom det plägade gå med prinsessor, — att skaffa friare åt en så älskvärd fröken borde ej heller hava fallit sig svårt? Måhända undanskötos dessa omsorger på grund av de allvarliga politiska tilldragelser, som inföllo under Katarinas ungdomsår, måhända voro föräldrarna obenägna att mista en dotter, som så väl behövdes och så ofta anlitades som hjälpreda och tröstarinna, som var så ägnad att taga moderlig vård om de yngre syskonen. På vad det än må hava berott, så stannade Katarina ända till sitt 29:de år i hemmet, ingalunda sysslolös — sådant kom ej i fråga vid den driftiga drottning Kerstins hov — men obemärkt, delande sin tid och sin ömhet mellan styvmor, syskon och den gamla, ännu levande farmodern Katharina Stenbock.

År 1613 betecknar en vändpunkt i Katarinas levnad. Om hösten, medan hovet vistades på Gripsholm, inträffade där en ung tysk furste från Rhen, Johan Kasimir av Pfalz-Zweibrücken. Han var yngste sonen av en yngre gren av det kurfurstliga huset och som sådan en prins utan land. Han fördrev tiden med långväga resor, under vilka han förkovrade sina vid Heidelbergs universitet inhämtade kunskaper. Han hade ett fördelaktigt yttre och ett belevat sätt, var även skicklig i manliga idrotter. För Katarina tedde han sig dock främst som budbärare från hennes älskade moders land! Med allt detta vann han hennes hjärta. Visserligen var han fyra år yngre än Katarina, men detta hindrade honom ej att fatta tycke för den älskvärda prinsessan, detta så mycket mindre som förbindelsen måste hava tett sig för hans kloka, beräknande sinne som synnerligen fördelaktig. I Gustav Adolfs och änkedrottningens ögon motsvarade den fattige prinsen ingalunda de anspråk en konungadotter med rätta kunde hysa och även den i Örebro samlade riksdagen, för vilken Johan Kasimir framlade sin och prinsessans önskan, hyste stora betänkligheter. Men i denna, för henne så viktiga angelägenheter utvecklade den annars fogliga Katarina stor viljekraft. Visserligen fick prinsen göra en resa till sitt land för att där åt sin tilltänkta gemål utverka ”livgeding och morgongåva” och visserligen förflöt med dessa underhandlingar närmare ett år, — men de tu fingo dock slutligen varandra.

Bröllopet stod den 11 juni 1615 och de nygifta bosatte sig till en början på Västerås slott. De voro ett lyckligt par: Katarinas val av make var ju ett hjärteval och även Pfalzgreven fäste sig innerligt vid sin gemål. De svårigheter, som yppade sig under loppet av deras äktenskap, tyckas aldrig hava påverkat deras inbördes förhållande. Detta var i främsta rummet Katarinas förtjänst: hennes stora anpassningsförmåga och hennes kärleksfulla uppskattning av mannens förtjänster underlättade för henne uppgiften att stå under målsmanskapet av denne praktiskt duglige, rättrådige men till ytterlighet hushållsaktige och despotiske man.

Att detta giftermål därjämte innebar en stor lycka för Sverige kunde ingen då ana. Rikets herrar sågo snarare med misstrogna, oblida ögon på den fattige, tyske utbölingen och ville helst se honom draga sina färde. Det gjorde Johan Kasimir självmant, åtföljd av sin gemål tre år efter bröllopet, främst för att bevaka sina intressen i Pfalz, men därjämte för att, enligt sin kungliga svågers uppdrag, på nära håll iakttaga förhållandenas utveckling i Tyskland, och där verka för ett samgående med Sverige.

I fyra års tid vistades Katarina i sin makes och sin moders hemland, vars skönhet hon livligt beundrade och där hon av Johan Kasimirs släkt blev vänligt bemött, men där den svenska kungadottern tyvärr fick pröva på många umbäranden, ja ofta befinna sig i ytterligt ekonomiskt trångmål. Pfalzgrevens slott visade sig vara ”ett liderligt logement”. Visserligen påbegynte han byggandet av ett nytt, präktigt sådant, men krigstillståndet tvang Katarina att söka en tryggare tillflyktsort i Strassburg. Johan Kasimir fick mest vara borta. Gustav Adolf lämnade åt systern då och då ekonomisk hjälp, men den orofyllda tiden bjöd även honom att iakttaga sparsamhet. Så beslöt han slutligen att föreslå den pfalz-grevliga familjen en återflyttning till Sverige, där han var bättre i stånd att bereda den en anständig och tryggad tillvaro. Johan Kasimirs självkänsla uppreste sig i förstone mot att göra sig helt beroende av svågerns gunst, men ett upprepande av förslaget förmådde honom att giva vika.

År 1622 återvände Katarina till sitt älskade fosterland för att aldrig mera lämna det. Gustav Adolf lyckades, trots många betänkligheter från rådets sida, att ställa det väl för syster och svåger. Johan Kasimir fick i förläning Stegeborgs slott och län, samt längre fram en pension; dessutom erhöll Katarina två gods att själv råda över.

Vid sin återkomst till Sverige fann Katarina släkt- och vänkretsen glesnad: döden hade krävt många offer. Men än levde änkedrottning Kristina, till vilken Katarinas förhållande nu blev innerligare än någonsin. Och så hade kungens unga gemål, Maria Eleonora, tillkommit, vars lidelsefulla kärlek och beundran för sin make fann livlig genklang i systerns hjärta.

Den viktigaste händelsen efter hemkomsten var dock sonens födelse, hans, som efter morfar och morbror erhöll namnen Karl Gustav. Härmed uppfyllde Katarina Gustav Adolfs i sammanhang med hennes bröllop uttalade förhoppning, att hon åt honom skulle föda en efterföljare på tronen; därmed skänkte hon Sverige den förste av dess stora Karlar och blev så den rätta ”Karlamodern”!

På Stegeborg förflöto Katarinas dagar under trägna omsorger om barn, gods och husfolk. Johan Kasimir var ofta borta i konungens ärenden och då var det konstigt nog att sköta allt honom till nöje. Ledd av sitt despotiska lynne och av sparsa[m]hetsskäl höll Pfalz-greven hushållningens tyglar stramt i egen hand och lämnade sin gemål mer än rådligt var i okunnighet om sina avsikter och förehavanden, undergrävande därmed hennes myndighet gentemot underhavande och tjänare. Katarina erkände villigt hans större ekonomiska förmåga, men hon kunde ej undgå att känna olägenheterna av detta hans förfarande. Hon själv var icke opraktisk, men frikostig, småaktig beräkning låg icke för henne, och härsklystnad var henne främmande. Hon var, i motsats till många av sina gelikar dåförtiden, mera maka och moder än härskarinna i huset — hennes flitiga brevväxling med maken, då hon var skild från honom vittnar vältaligt om hennes innerliga inlevelse i barnkammarens fröjder och bekymmer, om hennes varma religiositet, men även om hennes förmåga att höja blick och tankar utöver de egna familjeintressena till tidens stora välvningar, i vilka hennes beundrade broder deltog.

Kriget i Tyskland var för Katarina aldrig en kamp om makten staterna emellan, det var protestantismens stora och rättmätiga strid mot katolicismen. Att Gustav Adolfs syster, med vilken han ofta stod i förtroligt tankeutbyte, så uppfattade saken, tyder ovillkorligen på att denna synpunkt var väsentlig även för honom, om den än icke kunde vara den enda för honom gällande.

När konungen år 1630 stod i beråd att begiva sig ut till Tyskland, förnyade han ett tidigare gjort förslag, att hans gemål skulle följa efter och Katarina i så fall övertaga vården av deras dotter. Så skedde även och Pfalzgrevinnan flyttade 1631 till den femåriga Kristina i Stockholm, medtagande dit de tre äldre av sina fem barn, medan de två yngre lämnades på Stegeborg i säker och trogen vård av två tillgivna och i den pfalzgrevliga familjens tjänst beprövade hjälpredor. Även Johan Kasimir vistades då i Stockholm, emedan konungen ombetrott svågern med skötseln av Räknekammaren.

Innan två år förflutit kom dödsbudet från Lützen, som försänkte Sverige i djupaste sorg. Pfalzgrevinnan sörjde med sitt land, men hon hade även skäl att sörja å sin familjs vägnar. Emot all förmodan efterlämnade Gustav Adolf intet dokument, som tillförsäkrade denna några som helst rättigheter i Sverige. Mer än Katarina tog sig Johan Kasimir därav. Han framställde inför förmyndarregeringen gång på gång krav och anspråk, som illa upptogos. Mot Katarina iakttogs nödig hänsyn, men hennes make behandlades så pass snöpligt, att han drog sig tillbaka till Stegeborg, dit även Katarina, efter Maria Eleonoras hemkomst, följde. Makarna voro bägge oroliga för de sinas framtid — barnen innehade ju icke ens svenskt adelskap —, men medan hon i sitt förtroende förhöll sig värdigt och lugnt, fortsatte han tyvärr trakasserierna med regeringen.

Först med rikskanslern Axel Oxenstjernas återkomst till Sverige förändrades läget. Icke som om han hyst sympati för eller velat taga hänsyn till Pfalzgreven och hans anspråk, men han insåg, att den unga drottningens uppfostran ej utan våda kunde längre lämnas i moderns hand, vars besynnerligheter blivit allt mera uppenbara. Förmyndarregeringen beslöt därför att, ihågkommande den store konungens egen tidigare åtgärd, anförtro Kristinas vård och uppfostran åt pfalzgrevinnan Katarina, som finge hava med sig alla sina barn, och skulle dessa uppfostras tillsammans med drottningen. Endast Pfalzgreven lämnades helt och hållet åsido. För Katarina fanns intet val: Gustav Adolfs minne och de egna barnens väl voro förpliktande, bjudande!

Makarna fingo skiljas, denna gång dock så att det var han, som stannade hemma. Flitig och regelbunden brevväxling ersatte samvaron. Pfalzgreven bibehöll vården om familjens ekonomi, så att Katarina in i det sista förblev beroende av hans ofta småaktiga sparsamhet, om än den nya ställningen förlänade henne större självkänsla, gjorde henne till familjens huvud.

Denna hedrande ställning var ej utan sina vanskligheter. Att foga sig i förmyndarregeringens överinseende var ingalunda det svåraste. Visserligen var förhållandet mellan Katarina och Axel Oxenstjerna vid denna tid något spänt: hon såg i honom sin makes motståndare, medan han tycktes befara, att hon kunde utnyttja sitt inflytande till den egna familjens fördel. Men hon böjde sig som alla andra för hans överlägsenhet, varjämte hans intresse för hennes sons, Karl Gustavs, studier gottgjorde mycket i moderns ögon. Värre var att tåla avundsjuka damers småaktiga intriger, förtal och stickord, men värst av allt att bevittna änkedrottning Maria Eleonoras tilltagande oresonlighet och oberäknelighet. Med sin myndlings moder, mer än med någon annan, ville Katarina stå på god fot och hon sörjde uppriktigt över att ej i längden kunna gilla och försvara den älskade broderns änka. Längtan hem till mannen övermannade henne ibland och hon frågade sig, om hon handlat rätt i att övergiva honom och hemmet.

Katarinas oförvitliga karaktär och orubbliga pliktrohet höllo dock stånd mot förtret, svårigheter och känsloanfäktelser. Stor hugnad beredde henne sonen Karl Gustavs lovande framsteg och man kan taga för givet, att det goda kamratskapet och den innerliga vänskapen, som då rådde mellan honom och den unga drottningen, ingåvo modern glada, om än tysta förhoppningar för hans framtid. Dessas förverkligande, som skedde i något annan form än hon möjligen föreställt sig, upplevde hon icke.

Katarinas hälsa hade varit vacklande alltsedan hennes yngsta barns, sonen Adolf Johans födelse, som inträffade då hon redan fyllt 40 år [sic]. Under år 1638 avtogo hennes krafter märkbart och den 7 december samma år insjuknade hon häftigt. Följande dag inföll emellertid drottningens födelsedag och Katarina ville ej försumma att till sin avhållna myndling personligen framföra sina lyckönskningar till de fyllda tolv åren. Denna ansträngning bröt hennes krafter och hon fick intaga sängen. Katarina beredde sig lugnt till döden. Gripande voro hennes sista samtal med riksrådets medlemmar, hennes allvarsord till de egna barnen och hennes förmaningar till Kristina att med kärlek tänka på sin mor och än mer på sitt folks och sitt fäderneslands välfärd. Riksrådet Per Brahe uppmanade Kristina att bedja Gud om att få behålla sin faster, som för henne vore mera värd än halva konungariket. Lugnt och stilla, så att de kringstående knappast märkte det, avsomnade Pfalzgrevinnan den 13 december.

Katarina, omtänksam om mannen in i det sista, ville ej skrämma honom med en förhastad underrättelse om sin sjukdom. Så kom det sig, att Johan Kasimir ej var närvarande vid sin makas sista stunder. För honom var hennes död ett hårt slag och även en anledning till stor oro, ty nu skulle det visa sig om det fanns plats i Sverige för honom och hans barn. Men oron lugnades vid åsynen av all den höga uppskattning, som nu kom den avlidna till del, och den allmänna saknad hon lämnade efter sig. Axel Oxenstjerna skrev till honom, att han hellre hade för andra gången begravat sin mor, än sett denna ädla furstinna i förtid ryckas bort. Den unga drottningen yttrade till Katarina[s] äldste dotter, att hon nu ville vara en mor för henne och hennes syskon och framtiden visade att där var allvar i löftet. Vid begravningsförberedelserna åsidosattes ingenting, som kunde hedra den avlidnas minne. Pfalzgrevinnan Katarina begrovs den 5 februari i Strängnäs domkyrka, där hon vilar vid sidan av sina föräldrar. Hennes namn och minne äro inristade i hävderna!

Emma Saltzman.

English translation (my own):

FEMALE FIGURES

XVI.

Gustav II Adolf's sister.

Sweden's history is rich in remarkable female figures, strong-willed and energetic types, the mature, enterprising housewives of grim war heroes, strong in love but also in hate, often as harsh as the time they lived in. It does a person of our complicated, fragmented time good to sometimes look at this proud line of solid female figures, but one cannot help but simultaneously look for elements of a gentler kind, more comprehensible to us. And one does not search in vain.

On the threshold of Sweden's glorious age of greatness, we meet in the immediate vicinity of the throne a woman whose high moral character and femininely loving nature and conduct have been unanimously recognised and confirmed by contemporary testimony and by historical research. It is the daughter of Karl IX and his first wife, the gentle Maria of the Palatinate, Gustav II Adolf's beloved stepsister Katarina, who became the connecting link not only between the actual Vasa family and the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, but also between this and the House of Holstein-Gottorp, in which King Adolf Frederik was a descendant of her eldest daughter in the fifth degree, and further with the Bernadotte dynasty now ruling in Sweden, in that King Oscar I's wife Josefina was a descendant in the eighth degree of the same daughter of Katarina. In the royal line of Sweden, Katarina can be said to be a central figure.

This does sound grandiose, but such was neither Princess Katarina's nature nor the course of her own life, even though it partly took place within the royal castle.

Katarina was born at Nyköping Castle on November 12, 1584, but before she had even reached the age of five she stood at her mother's bier as her only surviving child. In Karl IX's second wife, Christina of Holstein, she had a wise and upright, albeit strict, stepmother, and became an obedient and loving daughter to this strong-willed, statesmanlike queen. Katarina was not beautiful in appearance, but pleasant and lively, lovable and winning in character. Her gifts were not of the brilliant kind, nor did she possess any talents, but she was a wise and independent-minded woman, not weak-willed, but tactful, soft and obedient, pious and warmly devoted to the Protestant confession, but not narrow-minded in her fear of God. Harmony of feeling and understanding, of firmness in the important and yielding in the less essential are characteristic of Katarina's character. This happy mixture of maternal and paternal heritage made her the good genius she became in the royal family circle, within which the fiery Vasa blood so often boiled over; it made her popular even outside it and gained her numerous friends among high and low. For her brother Gustav II Adolf, who was admired and loved above all others and was ten years younger than her, she always remained the dear "Käthchen", in whom he found comfort in his love sorrows in his youth and, in his more mature years, understanding and much-needed rest from the worries of government and family. His relationship with his sister, says Fryxell, is a shining example of everything that is beautiful and noble in brotherly love.

What could have been more natural than that Katarina had been married off early, as was the custom with princesses, — finding suitors for such a lovely young lady should not have been difficult? Perhaps these concerns were neglected because of the serious political events that occurred during Katarina's youth; perhaps her parents were unwilling to lose a daughter who was so much needed and so often called upon as a helper and comforter, who was so suited to take maternal care of the younger siblings. Whatever the reason, Katarina remained at home until she was 29 years old, by no means idle — such was out of the question at the court of the energetic Queen Kerstin, — but unnoticed, dividing her time and her affection between her stepmother, siblings and her old, still living paternal grandmother Katarina Stenbock.

The year 1613 marked a turning point in Katarina's life. In the autumn, while the court was staying at Gripsholm, a young German prince from the Rhine, Johan Kasimir of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, arrived there. He was the youngest son of a younger branch of the Electoral House, and, as such, a prince without a country. He spent his time on long journeys, during which he improved his knowledge acquired at the University of Heidelberg. He had an advantageous appearance and a well-mannered manner, and was also skilled in manly sports. To Katarina, however, he appeared primarily as a messenger from her beloved mother's country! With all this he won her heart. Although he was four years younger than Katarina, this did not prevent him from taking a liking to the lovely princess, much less as the connection must have appeared to his wise, calculating mind as particularly advantageous. In the eyes of Gustav Adolf and the Dowager Queen, the poor prince did not in any way correspond to the claims that a king's daughter could rightfully have, and even the parliament assembled in Örebro, to which Johan Kasimir presented his and the princess's wishes, had great misgivings. But in this, for her, so important matter, the otherwise docile Katarina developed great willpower. It is true that the prince had to make a journey to his country to obtain "a dower estate and a morning gift" for his intended wife, and it is true that these negotiations took almost a year — but the two finally got each other.

The wedding took place on June 11, 1615, and the newlyweds initially settled at Västerås Castle. They were a happy couple: Katarina's choice of husband was a choice of the heart, and the Count Palatine also became deeply attached to his wife. The difficulties that arose during the course of their marriage seem never to have affected their relationship. This was primarily Katarina's merit: her great adaptability and her loving appreciation of her husband's merits made it easier for her to be under the guardianship of this practically capable, upright but extremely domestic and despotic man.

That this marriage also meant great happiness for Sweden, no one could have guessed at the time. The lords of the realm rather looked with distrustful, unfriendly eyes at the poor, German outcast and would rather see him go. Johan Kasimir did this of his own accord, accompanied by his wife three years after the wedding, primarily to guard his interests in the Palatinate, but also to, according to his royal brother-in-law's assignment, closely observe the development of conditions in Germany and there work for a union with Sweden.

For four years, Katarina stayed in her husband's and mother's homeland, whose beauty she greatly admired and where she was kindly received by Johan Kasimir's family, but where the Swedish king's daughter unfortunately had to experience many hardships, and often found herself in extreme financial hardship. The Count Palatine's castle turned out to be "a shabby lodging". He did indeed begin the construction of a new, magnificent one, but the state of war forced Katarina to seek a safer refuge in Strassburg. Johan Kasimir had to be away most of the time. Gustav Adolf left his sister financial help from time to time, but the troubled times also forced him to be frugal. So he finally decided to suggest to the Count Palatine's family that they move back to Sweden, where he was better able to provide them with a decent and secure existence. Johan Kasimir's self-esteem initially rebelled against making himself completely dependent on his brother-in-law's favour, but a repetition of the suggestion made him give in.

In 1622, Katarina returned to her beloved homeland, never to leave it again. Gustav Adolf, despite many misgivings on the part of the Council, managed to make things right for his sister and brother-in-law. Johan Kasimir received the castle and county of Stegeborg as a fiefdom, and later a pension; Katarina also received two estates to manage herself.

Upon her return to Sweden, Katarina found her circle of relatives and friends thinned: death had claimed many victims. But Dowager Queen Christina was still alive, with whom Katarina's relationship now became more intimate than ever. And then came the King's young wife, Maria Eleonora, whose passionate love and admiration for her husband found a lively echo in his sister's heart.

The most important event after returning home, however, was the birth of her son, who was named Karl Gustav, after his maternal grandfather and maternal uncle. In this way, Katarina fulfilled Gustav Adolf's expressed hope in connection with her wedding that she would give birth to a successor to the throne; thus she gave Sweden the first of its great Karls, and thus became the true "mother of the Karls"!

At Stegeborg, Katarina's days passed in persistent care of children, estates and household. Johan Kasimir was often away on the King's business, and then it was strange enough to manage everything to his pleasure. Led by his despotic disposition and for reasons of thrift, the Count Palatine held the reins of the household tightly in his own hands and left his wife more than was advisable in ignorance of his intentions and activities, thereby undermining her authority over the household and servants. Katarina willingly acknowledged his greater economic ability, but she could not help feeling the inconveniences of this approach of his. She herself was not impractical, but generous, petty calculation was not for her, and a desire to dominate was foreign to her. She was, unlike many of her peers at the time, more a wife and mother than a mistress of the household — her frequent correspondence with her husband, when she was separated from him, testifies eloquently to her heartfelt empathy with the joys and worries of the nursery, to her warm religiosity, but also to her ability to raise her gaze and thoughts beyond her own family interests to the great events of the time, in which her admired brother participated.

For Katarina, the war in Germany was never a struggle for power between states, it was the great and legitimate struggle of Protestantism against Catholicism. That Gustav Adolf's sister, with whom he often had a confidential exchange of thoughts, understood the matter in this way certainly indicates that this point of view was also essential for him, even if it could not be the only one that applied to him.

When the King was about to set out for Germany in 1630, he renewed a previously made proposal that his wife should follow and that Katarina would then take over the care of their daughter. This was also done, and in 1631 the Countess Palatine moved to be with the five year old Kristina in Stockholm, taking the three older of her five children there, while the two younger ones were left at Stegeborg in the safe and faithful care of two devoted helpers who had been tried and tested in the service of the Count Palatine's family. Johan Kasimir also stayed in Stockholm at that time, because the King had entrusted his brother-in-law with the care of the Chamber of Accounts.

Before two years had passed, the death notification came from Lützen, plunging Sweden into the deepest mourning. The Countess Palatine mourned with her country, but she also had reason to mourn on behalf of her family. Against all odds, Gustav Adolf left no document that would have assured her of any rights in Sweden. Johan Kasimir took more advantage of this than Katarina. He repeatedly presented demands and claims to the regency government, which were poorly received. Katarina was given due consideration, but her husband was treated so harshly that he withdrew to Stegeborg, where Katarina also followed after Maria Eleonora's return. Both spouses were worried about their future — the children did not even hold Swedish nobility — but while she behaved with dignity and calmness in her confidence, he unfortunately continued to harass the government.

Only with the return of the Grand Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna to Sweden did the situation change. Not that he had any sympathy for or wanted to take into account the Count Palatine and his claims, but he realised that the young Queen's upbringing could no longer be left without danger in the hands of her mother, whose eccentricities had become increasingly obvious. The regency government therefore decided, remembering the great King's own previous action, to entrust Kristina's care and upbringing to the Countess Palatine Katarina, who was allowed to bring all her children with her, and they were to be raised together with the Queen. Only the Count Palatine was left completely aside. For Katarina there was no choice: Gustav Adolf's memory and the well-being of her own children were binding, compelling!

The couple had to separate, this time, however, so that he was the one who stayed at home. Diligent and regular correspondence replaced the time spent together. The Count Palatine maintained the care of the family finances, so that until the very end Katarina remained dependent on his often petty thrift, although the new position gave her greater self-esteem and made her the head of the family.

This honourable position was not without its difficulties. To submit to the supervision of the regency government was by no means the most difficult thing. Admittedly, the relationship between Katarina and Axel Oxenstierna was somewhat tense at this time: she saw in him her husband's opponent, while he seemed to fear that she could use her influence to the advantage of her own family. But she, like everyone else, bowed to his superiority, which, moreover, his interest in the studies of her son, Karl Gustav, made up for a lot in his mother's eyes. Worse was to endure the petty intrigues, slander and insinuations of jealous ladies, but worst of all to witness the increasing unreasonableness and unpredictability of the Dowager Queen Maria Eleonora. With the mother of her ward, more than with anyone else, Katarina wanted to be on good terms, and she sincerely grieved that she would not be able to like and defend her beloved brother's widow in the long run. The longing to go home to her husband sometimes overpowered her, and she asked herself if she had done the right thing in abandoning him and their home.

Katarina's irreproachable character and unwavering devotion to duty, however, withstood annoyance, difficulties and emotional attacks. She was greatly comforted by the promising progress of her son Karl Gustav, and it can be taken for granted that the good companionship and the intimate friendship that then existed between him and the young Queen gave his mother happy, if silent, hopes for his future. She did not experience the realisation of these hopes, which took place in quite another form than she had possibly imagined.

Katarina's health had been shaky ever since the birth of her youngest child, her son Adolf Johan, which occurred when she was already 40 years old [sic]. During the year 1638 her strength declined noticeably, and on December 7 of that year she fell seriously ill. The following day, however, was the Queen's birthday, and Katarina did not want to neglect to personally convey her best wishes to her beloved ward on turning twelve years old. This effort broke her strength, and she had to take to bed. Katarina calmly prepared for death. Her last conversations with the members of the Council of the Realm were poignant, her solemn words to her own children and her admonitions to Kristina to think with love of her mother and even more of the welfare of her people and her Fatherland. The councilman Per Brahe urged Kristina to pray to God that she might get to keep her aunt, who was worth more to her than half the kingdom. Calmly and quietly, so that those around her hardly noticed, the Countess Palatine passed away on December 13.

Katarina, considerate of her husband to the last, did not want to frighten him with hasty news of her illness. It so happened that Johan Kasimir was not present during his wife's last moments. For him, her death was a hard blow and also a cause for great concern, for now it would be seen whether there was room in Sweden for him and his children. But his concern was calmed by the sight of all the high esteem in which the deceased woman was now held, and the general longing she left behind her. Axel Oxenstierna wrote to him that he would rather have buried his mother for the second time than see this noble princess taken away prematurely. The young Queen told Katarina's eldest daughter that she would now be a mother to her and her siblings, and the future showed that there was seriousness in the promise. In the funeral preparations, nothing was overlooked that could honour the memory of the deceased woman. Countess Palatine Katarina was buried on February 5 in Strängnäs Cathedral, where she rests beside her parents. Her name and memory are engraved in history!

Emma Saltzman.

Note: morning gift = a gift, here in the form of property, given by a man to his wife the morning after their wedding in Germanic cultures.

Kristina and her favourites, in "Hufvudstadsbladet" newspaper, year 1927

Source:

Under fröken Kristinas regemente, article written by P-y B. for Hufvudstadsbladet, issue 347 (2nd edition), pages 7 to 8, issue of Thursday, December 22, 1927; original at the Finnish National Library (Kansalliskirjasto/Nationalbiblioteket)

https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/1535037?term=Kristinas&term=drottning&term=Drottning&term=Kristina&term=drottningen&term=drottningens&term=Drottningen&page=7

Hufvudstadsbladet, 22.12.1927 no 347 (2nd edition), s. 7-8 https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/1535037 Kansalliskirjaston Digitaaliset Aineistot

The article:

Under fröken Kristinas

regemente.

—

En svensk drottning och hennes

gunstlingar.

—

Drottning Kristina av Sverige är en personlighet som i allmänhet mera fängslat utlänningarna än svenskarna själva. Det har skrivits åtskilliga biografier över henne på engelska och franska, men den svenska historieforskningen har på ett ganska ointresserat sätt gått hennes gestalt förbi. I synnerhet har man ansett sig kunna nonchalera hennes öden efter det hon avsade sig kronan och lämnade fosterlandet. Det är naturligtvis hennes abdikering och omvändelse till den tro hennes fader bekämpat som närmast föranlett den köld med vilken svenskarna bemött henne. Men också hela hennes karaktärsläggning var sådan att det måste bli svårt för hennes landsmän att förstå henne. Hon hade ärvt sin faders stora begåvning och sin moders excentricitet, hon var alltså en originell och kraftfull natur som alltid väckte uppmärksamhet.

Drottning Kristinas nya svenska biograf, Ragnar Sjöberg, säger att hon hade något av den moderna människans behov att synas och omtalas. På våra dagars språk skulle omdömet lyda, att hon förträffligt förstod konsten att skaffa sig „en god press”. De engelsmän, fransmän och italienare, som ägnat henne sina studier, ha alla sett på henne som ett intressant och underligt djur i vår Herres hage. På moralens våg ha de inte vägt henne. Med enbart sitt intellekt — utan inslag av känsla — ha de studerat och bedömt henne. Hon är en av de få svenska personligheter, som vunnit internationell berömmelse. Hennes namn är känt inte blott bland lärda specialister och flitiga bokmalar — det bekanta porträttet av den högdragna damen med den skarpt skurna profilen och den majestätiskt böjda näsan tillhör inte uteslutande hennes eget folk; det är hela den bildade världens allmänna egendom.

Drottning Kristina tadlades ofta för sina manliga fasoner, men trots det ägde hon mycken kvinnlig charm. Carl Grimberg har rätt då han säger att Bourdons porträtt av drottningen lär ingen man kunna likgiltigt betrakta.

Kristina lät kröna sig i Stockholm och inte i Uppsala, vilken dittills varit sed. Hon tyckte som vanligt om att trotsa fördomarna. Med åren utvecklades alltmer hennes främlingskänsla för sitt folk, och hennes lust att isolera sig växte i jämnbredd därmed. Det invecklade hovceremonielet blev för henne ett välkommet medel att skydda sin person. Hovmännens antal växte år från år — fram på 1650-talet hade hon lyckats att på Stockholms slott införa vanor från Filip av Spaniens och Anna av Österrikes hov i Madrid och Paris. Allra mest frånstötande för det svenska folkets uppfattning var det gunstlingsvälde, som snart började florera på slottet. Den unga drottningen slösade sina ynnestbevis på personer i sin omgivning på ett så fördomsfritt och obekymrat sätt, att det satte onda tungor i rörelse inte bara bland avundsjuka svenska hovmän. Louvrens „cronique scandaleuse” fick mer än ett bidrag från hovet där uppe i det isiga björnlandet.

Skvallrets medelpunkt var en tjugo års pojke — greve Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. Han hade gjort vidsträckta resor i Tyskland, Holland och Frankrike. Som ressällskap hade han rikskanslerns unge son, den blivande store statsmannen Erik Axelsson Oxenstierna. Resan varade hela tre år. Unge greve Magnus drog tydligen fördel av sina erfarenheter i främmande land — när han kom hem, var han landets mest fulländade kavaljer. — Orsaken till grevens framgångar vid hovet i Stockholm får sökas på det personliga området. Drottningen hade nyss konstaterat, att hennes hjärta ohjälpligen kallnat för den tjocke, opoetiske kusinen Karl Gustav. Hon var trött på Axel Oxenstiernas evinnerliga allvar och hans allt uppslukande intresse för „kronan Sveriges” framtid och storhet. Hon längtade efter ett mer jämnbördigt sällskap. Stämningen var trist på Stockholms slott.

I det psykologiska ögonblicket uppträdde greve Magnus. — Ragnar Sjöberg karaktäriserar honom på följande sätt: „Han var inte över hövan begåvad, inte besvärande djupsinnig och absolut fri från allt allvar. Men han var vacker — vacker som en gud — och han var smidig och elegant. Han drack inte och han slogs inte, som stormaktstidens unga adelsmän för sed hade. Han var kort sagt en uppenbarelse från en annan värld. Inte underligt, att den nittonåriga Kristinas ögon tindrade av förtjusning över detta fynd. Att den eleganta ytan dolde en plebej och de ridderliga fraserna en feg och opålitlig karaktär, var mer än hennes världserfarenhet förmådde genomskåda.”

Greve Magnus steg snabbt i graderna — han blev svensk ambassadör i Paris, riksråd, hovmarskalk och slutligen riksskattmästare. Men sedan blev han störtad. Han råkade fast för att ha bakdantat ett par av drottningens nya gunstlingar, och Kristinas vänskap för honom tog en hastig ände. Det berättas att hans mor, den gamla Ebba Brahe gråtande kastat sig för den unga drottningens fötter och bönfallit om förlåtelse för sonen. Men drottningen ville aldrig mer se Magnus för sina ögon. Och hon höll ord.

Efter greve Magnus' fall uppsteg en ny stjärna, som en tid skulle fördunkla alla andra. Det var Klas Åkesson Tott, son till fältmarskalken Åke Henriksson Tott, Gustav Adolfs berömda „snöplog”. Hans mor var Sigrid Vasa, Erik XIV:s och Karin Månsdotters dotter. På mödernet räknade han således nära släktskap med kungahuset. Om honom skriver Sjöberg: „I fråga om ståtligt yttre behövde unge herr Klas inte vika tillbaka för en jämförelse med greve Magnus. Vad de inre egenskaperna beträffar, hade han ingen likhet med den störtade rivalen. Klas Tott fuskade varken i konst eller litteratur; någon lärdom kunde han inte med skäl beskyllas för. Däremot var han en av samtidens mest beryktade slagskämpar, fräck och brutal och alltid parat till „slående” argument, men därtill en ypperlig sportsman, den främste på rännarbanan. Hans förnämsta merit till gunstlingsposten tycks ha varit den, att han i allt var greve Magnus' konträra motsats.”

Vid tjugotvå års ålder blev Klas utnämnd till greve — på grund av faderns förtjänster, hette det. Han gav den beskäftiga fru Fama ännu mer sysselsättning än på sin tid greve Magnus gjort det. Man påstod, att drottningen ville göra honom till sin efterträdare på tronen — ett stöd för sina funderingar trodde man sig finna i det faktum, att han kunde leda sina anor tillbaka till Vasaätten. Ryktet var helt och hållet gripet ur luften. Greve Klas var för Kristina ett umgänge som till en tid roade henne — ingenting annat. Med sin vanliga hänsynslöshet slösade hon pengar och titlar på honom. Att ge honom politiskt inflytande föll henne däremot inte ett ögonblick in. Tronföljdsfrågan hade hon i sitt sinne för länge sedan avgjort i vad på henne berodde. Visst är dock, att greve Klas väckte en ovilja, vilken långt övergick den, som den mer smidige greve Magnus under sin välmakts dagar beklagat sig över. Trots sin råhet och hänsynslöshet föreföll dock greve Klas, när allt kom omkring, det svenska folket som en bland de få aktningsvärda personerna i drottningens omgivning. Med alla sina fel hade han en stor förtjänst. Klas Tott var ingen främling, han var svensk.

I raden av drottningens gunstlingar bör man inte heller glömma fransmannen Chanut. Två år efter det Kristina blivit myndig kom han till det svenska hovet i egenskap av resident. Tre år senare — år 1649 — belönades hans välförhållande med en rangförhöjning — han utnämndes till ambassadör. Det var en välförtjänt upphöjelse, ty han hade på denna korta tid helt vunnit drottningen. Hon samtalade med honom om sina hemligaste tankar, berättade för främlingen om sin oro, sin vantrevnad, sin melankoli. Chanut gjorde det bästa av situationen. Han prisade Frankrikes skönhet, glansen vid drottning Annas hov, han beskrev de parisiska salongerna, där sköna damer förde spirituella samtal med lärda, vittra och eleganta män. Han förstod att träffa den svenska drottningens svagaste sida — hennes måttlösa fåfänga. — Till sist skilde Chanut henne från hennes fäders tro. Det var ingen svår konst. Hon hade aldrig haft något religiöst sinne. Hon hade aldrig varit lutheran, och hon blev aldrig en troende katolik. Men hon kände sig uttråkad av den poesilösa protestantiska liturgin, de ändlöst långa dogmatiska utläggningarna, de kala, torftiga kyrkorna. Hon behövde svängande rökelsekar, vigvatten och skrudade prelater för att komma i stämning. Hon var i grunden torr och nykter, men hennes skönhetssinne längtade efter katedraler i stället för vitmenade svenska bondkyrkor. — Chanut gjorde mer än berättade lockande sagor om den stora världen utanför Sveriges gränser. Han kände personligen många av de lärda män som han talade om, och han erbjöd sig att uppträda som medlare mellan dem och den svenska drottningen. Ett av de första namnen han nämnde var René Descartes, känd under namnet Cartesius.”

Kristinas förhållande till sina gunstlingar har sysselsatt många svenska författare i senare tid. August Strindberg ger i sitt skådespel om drottningen ett sympatiskt och ridderligt porträtt av den unge Tott, då däremot greve Magnus blivit en smula vid sidan. Kristina själv framstår mera som en typisk Strindbergsk kvinnokatt än som en manhaftigt och stark drottning. Också Verner von Heidenstam har sökt tyda drottning Kristinas gåta — i den berömda dikten „Drottning Kristinas julnatt”. I denna dikt stifta vi bekantskap med den åldrande kvinnan som vandrar omkring under sömnlösa nätter i sitt palats i Rom, hemlös och utan krona. Även greve Snoilsky har ägnat henne i en diktcykel i „Svenska bilder” — man erinrar sig den gripande scenen från hennes dödsbädd. Vid hennes sista läger satt en man, insvept i den röda kardinalsdräkten. Det var Azzolino, hennes sista gunstling och enda verkliga vän. Han hade aldrig älskat henne [sic], men han visade sig som en trofast vän. Klockan sex på morgonen den 19 april 1689 lytte den sjuka sin vänstra hand mot halsen. Christina Alexandra, Sveriges forna drottning, hade ingått i den eviga vilan.

När testamentet öppnades, fann man att kardinalen Decio Azzolino hade av henne bestämts till universalarvinge. Han levde endast några månader efter drottningen. Efter hans död spriddes hennes kvarlåtenskap, som delvis var svenska kronans egendom, åt alla väderstreck.

P-y B.

English translation (my own):

During Lady Kristina's

reign.

—

A Swedish queen and her

favourites.

—

Queen Kristina of Sweden is a personality who has generally captivated foreigners more than the Swedes themselves. Several biographies have been written about her in English and French, but Swedish historical research has passed her figure by in a rather uninterested manner. In particular, people have considered it possible to ignore her fate after she renounced the crown and left her homeland. It is, of course, her abdication and conversion to the faith her father had fought against that has most closely caused the coldness with which the Swedes have treated her. But her entire character was also such that it must have been difficult for her countrymen to understand her. She had inherited her father's great talent and her mother's eccentricity; she was therefore an original and powerful nature that always attracted attention.

Queen Kristina's new Swedish biographer, Ragnar Sjöberg, says that she had something of the modern human need to be seen and talked about. In today's language, the assessment would be that she perfectly understood the art of getting "good press". The English, French and Italians who have devoted their studies to her have all seen her as an interesting and strange animal in Our Lord's pasture. They have not weighed her in the scales of morality. With their intellect alone — without a touch of feeling — they have studied and judged her. She is one of the few Swedish personalities who has won international fame. Her name is known not only among learned specialists and diligent bookworms — the familiar portrait of the haughty lady with the sharply cut profile and the majestically bent nose does not belong exclusively to her own people; it is the common property of the entire educated world.

Queen Kristina was often criticised for her masculine features, but in spite of that, she possessed a great deal of feminine charm. Carl Grimberg is right when he says that no man can look at Bourdon's portrait of the Queen indifferently.

Kristina was crowned in Stockholm and not in Uppsala, which had been the custom until then. As usual, she liked to defy prejudices. Over the years, her sense of alienation from her people grew more and more, and her desire to isolate herself grew in parallel with it. The intricate court ceremonial became a welcome means for her to protect her person. The number of courtiers grew year by year — by the 1650s she had succeeded in introducing customs from the courts of Felipe of Spain and Anne of Austria in Madrid and Paris to Stockholm Castle. Most repulsive to the Swedish people's perception was the rule of favouritism, which soon began to flourish at the castle. The young Queen lavished proofs of her favour on people around her in such an indiscriminate and carefree manner that it set evil tongues in motion not only among jealous Swedish courtiers. The Louvre's "cronique scandaleuse" received more than one contribution from the court up there in the icy land of bears.

The center of the gossip was a twenty year old boy — Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. He had made extensive travels in Germany, Holland and France. As a travelling companion he had the Grand Chancellor's young son, the future great statesman Erik Axelsson Oxenstierna. The journey lasted a full three years. Young Count Magnus evidently benefited from his experiences in a foreign country — when he returned home, he was the country's most accomplished cavalier. — The reason for the Count's successes at the court in Stockholm must be sought in the personal sphere. The Queen had just noted that her heart had irremediably grown cold for her fat, unpoetic cousin Karl Gustav. She was tired of Axel Oxenstierna's everlasting seriousness and his all-consuming interest in the future and greatness of the "crown of Sweden". She longed for more equal company. The atmosphere at Stockholm Castle was sad.

At that psychological moment Count Magnus appeared. — Ragnar Sjöberg characterises him as follows: "He was not overly talented, not annoyingly profound and absolutely free from all seriousness. But he was beautiful — beautiful as a god — and he was agile and elegant. He did not drink and he did not fight, as was the custom of young nobles of the time of great power. In short, he was a revelation from another world. No wonder the eyes of the nineteen year old Kristina sparkled with delight at this discovery. That the elegant surface hid a plebeian and the chivalrous phrases a cowardly and unreliable character was more than her worldly experience could see through."

Count Magnus rose through the ranks quickly — he became Swedish ambassador in Paris, councilman, court marshal and finally grand treasurer. But then he was overthrown. He happened to be caught having backbited a couple of the Queen's new favourites, and Kristina's friendship for him came to a sudden end. It is said that his mother, the old Ebba Brahe, threw herself at the young Queen's feet in tears and begged for forgiveness for her son. But the Queen never wanted to see Magnus before her again. And she kept her word.

After Count Magnus' fall, a new star rose, which for a time would eclipse all the others. It was Claes Åkesson Tott, son of field marshal Åke Henriksson Tott, Gustav Adolf's famous "snowplow". His mother was Sigrid Vasa, daughter of Erik XIV and Karin Månsdotter. On his mother's side, he was thus closely related to the royal house. Sjöberg writes about him: "In terms of stately appearance, young Lord Claes did not have to shy away from a comparison with Count Magnus. As for his inner qualities, he bore no resemblance to his overthrown rival. Claes Tott cheated in neither art nor literature; he could not reasonably be accused of any learning. On the other hand, he was one of the most notorious brawlers of his time, brazen and brutal and always ready with 'striking' arguments, but also an excellent sportsman, the foremost on the track. His chief merit for the position of favourite seems to have been that he was in everything the complete opposite of Count Magnus."

At the age of twenty-two, Claes was appointed count — because of his father's merits, it was said. He gave the busy Lady Fama even more employment than Count Magnus had done in his time. It was alleged that the Queen wanted to make him her successor on the throne — support for her speculations was thought to be found in the fact that he could trace his ancestry back to the Vasa family. The rumour was completely taken out of thin air. Count Claes was, for Kristina, a companion who amused her for a time — nothing more. With her usual recklessness, she wasted money and titles on him. Giving him political influence, however, did not occur to her for a moment. In her mind, she had long ago decided the question of succession to the throne as something that depended on her. It is certain, however, that Count Claes aroused a dislike that far exceeded that which the more flexible Count Magnus had complained about during the days of his prosperity. Despite his rudeness and ruthlessness, Count Claes, when it all came down to it, appeared to the Swedish people as one of the few respectable people in the Queen's entourage. With all his faults, he had one great merit. Claes Tott was no foreigner, he was a Swede.

Among the Queen's favourites, one should not forget the Frenchman Chanut. Two years after Kristina came of age, he came to the Swedish court as a resident. Three years later — in 1649 — his good relations were rewarded with a promotion — he was appointed ambassador. It was a well-deserved elevation, for in this short time he had completely won the Queen over. She talked to him about her most secret thoughts, told the foreigner about her anxiety, her unhappiness, her melancholy. Chanut made the best of the situation. He praised the beauty of France, the splendour of Queen Anne's court, he described the Parisian salons, where beautiful ladies held witty conversations with learned, aged, and elegant men. He knew how to hit upon the Swedish Queen's weakest side — her immoderate vanity. — In the end, Chanut separated her from the faith of her fathers. It was not a difficult art. She had never had any religious mind. She had never been a Lutheran, and she never became a devout Catholic. But she felt bored by the poetryless Protestant liturgy, the endlessly long dogmatic expositions, the bare, shabby churches. She needed swinging censers, holy water and garbed prelates to get in the mood. She was basically dry and sober, but her sense of beauty longed for cathedrals instead of whitewashed Swedish peasant churches. — Chanut did more than tell enticing tales about the great world beyond the borders of Sweden. He personally knew many of the learned men he spoke of, and he offered to act as mediator between them and the Swedish Queen. One of the first names he mentioned was René Descartes, known by the name Cartesius."

Kristina's relationship with her favourites has occupied many Swedish writers in recent times. In his play about the Queen, August Strindberg gives a sympathetic and chivalrous portrait of the young Tott, while Count Magnus has become a bit of a sidekick. Kristina herself appears more like a typical Strindbergian she-cat than a manly and strong queen. Verner von Heidenstam has also tried to solve the mystery of Queen Kristina — in the famous poem "Drottning Kristinas julnatt". In this poem we get to know the aging woman who wanders around during sleepless nights in her palazzo in Rome, homeless and without a crown. Count Snoilsky has also dedicated a poem cycle to her in "Svenska bilder" — one remembers the touching scene from her deathbed. At her last rest sat a man, wrapped in the red cardinal's robe. It was Azzolino, her last favourite and only true friend. He had never loved her [sic], but he proved himself a faithful friend. At six o'clock in the morning on April 19, 1689, the sick woman put her left hand to her throat. Kristina Alexandra, the former Queen of Sweden, had entered into eternal rest.

When the will was opened, it was found that Cardinal Decio Azzolino had been appointed by her as universal heir. He lived only a few months after the Queen. After his death, her estate, which was partly the property of the Swedish Crown, was scattered in all directions.

P-y B.