Arthur Henry Hardinge's essay on Kristina, year 1880, part 12

Source:

Queen Christina of Sweden: Lothian Prize Essay for 1880, pages 69 to 71, by Arthur Henry Hardinge, 1880; original at the University of Michigan

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012302041&seq=75

The essay:

Christina felt that, devoid as she was of all real power, her title of queen, and her personal merits, gave her no influence in the politics of Europe, and that her attempts at taking part in them only laid her open to rebuffs. She became more and more weary of her life at Rome; once more her thoughts turned back towards her former kingdom, and she set to work to negotiate with the Senate for her return to Sweden. It was to no purpose that Heinsius, her faithful correspondent at Stockholm, warned her that the government would make difficulties about her priests and Italian servants; she was received to make the attempt, and by the summer of 1666 she arrived at Hamburg. She remained there until the following spring, enjoying the society of the men of science who were to be found there, and taking part in balls, plays, and masques. In April, 1667, she started for Sweden; and[,] passing through Sleswig[,] Fyen and Sjæland, reached Helsingborg in May, and proceeded northward towards Stockholm. On arriving at Norköping, however, a courier met her from the Court, to inform her that no Catholic priest could be allowed to accompany her; and that if she persisted in keeping her chaplains with her, they would have to be proceeded against according to Swedish law, by which the punishment for nonconformity to the established Church was death. It was easy to imagine the effect of such a message on a woman of Christina's temper. Her first impulse was to return at once to Hamburg; but she was at length persuaded by Count Pontus de la Gardie, who had been sent by the king as her escort, to allow him to write in her name to the Court, and to try and obtain some concessions as to the priests, whilst she herself pushed on to await the answer in her own domain at Norköping. On arriving at that city, she received the reply of the Senate: it was short and harsh. Not only was the queen to be deprived of her own chaplains, but she was forbidden even to attend Mass at the chapels of the Roman Catholic embassies at Stockholm. No amount of Protestant zeal could justify an act like this: to prevent a princess, who was not a subject of Sweden, and who was a declared Catholic, from being present at Catholic services, which were themselves permitted by the government, was a proceeding which could only be looked upon as proving the determination of the oligarchical party to use every means in their power, down to the most wanton and deliberate insults, for the purpose of driving Christina from the country.

She now hastened back to Hamburg, in the hope that[,] at the approaching meeting of the Estates[,] the conditions imposed by the Senate would be revoked, and that some demands she had made on the subject of the management of her revenues, and for the exchange of Pomerania for Bremen, might meet with a favourable hearing. She was not altogether disappointed; for at the ensuing Diet the unnoble orders, and especially the clergy, were far more friendly to her than she had supposed would be the case. The general feeling seems to have been that the Senate had treated her badly, and that their conduct had been influenced, not by those religious considerations which they affected to rate so highly, but by mere political fears that Christina's presence in Sweden would, perhaps, endanger the present power and future schemes of the oligarchy. In truth, this appears to have been the main reason for the action of the Senate. The life of the young king was looked upon as very uncertain; and if he were to die without heirs, the aristocracy might at last do what they had hoped to have been able to do after the death of Christina, and what they actually did do after that of Charles XII.; they might make the monarchy elective, and reduce their elected king to the position of a puppet in the hands of the ruling families: on the other hand, if the king were to die while Christina was in the country, the presence of an heir with a claim to the crown would render their scheme more difficult; the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus would only require to embrace the Lutheran faith, to have the clergy, and peasants, and all the discontented democracy on her side; and who could be sure that an ambitious woman, weary of private life, and suspected of indifference to all religions, would not gladly seize the chance thus offered of regaining the crown. It was their suspicion that these were the real motives of the Senate, and their growing discontent with the rule of the nobles, which made the lower estates rather more favourable to her, and explains what some writers have regarded as the inconsistent attitude of the clergy. They readily agreed to her demands about the bishopric of Bremen, and inserted in the resolution, in which they granted them, a passage in which they spoke in terms of high praise of the personal merits of Christina, and of the glory and prosperity of her reign.

It was whilst residing at Hamburg at this time, that Christina learnt the news of the death of Pope Alexander VII., and the election of Cardinal Giulii Rospigliosi [sic] to the Papal throne. The new Pope, who took the name of Clement IX., was an intimate friend of the queen, and in his love for luxury and display presented a striking contrast to his predecessor. To celebrate his accession, Christina had her house at Hamburg illuminated, though dissuaded by her friends from thus provoking the strong Protestant feelings of the population. She further set up in the square opposite her house two fountains, made to run with wine, and thus attracted a large crowd to the place. When the evening came, the illuminations and fireworks took the form of a representation of the new Pope's arms, and of various figures symbolising Catholic doctrines, one of them of the Church trampling upon the monster, Heresy. This wanton exhibition of Popish emblems in a Lutheran town produced its natural effect. The mob, which had collected in the square, and which was mainly composed of Dutch, Danish, and English sailors, all zealous Protestants, and all more or less drunk, began to howl and throw stones at the windows and illuminations. A shot fired by a servant of the queen's, which slightly wounded one of the rioters, increased the tumult; the populace broke in pieces, every window in the palace, and were about to burst in and pillage it, when the town-guard was called out, and after a slight resistance, the mob dispersed. Christina, during the riot, had been conveyed by a back gate to the house of the Swedish resident; but she returned on the following day to her palace, and remained at Hamburg more than a year after these events, only going on occasional visits to Stade, Bremen, and other places in the neighbourhood.

Above: Kristina.

Faith Compton Mackenzie on the Hamburg incident and on Kristina's attempt to be elected as queen of Poland

Source:

The Sibyl of the North: The Tale of Christina, Queen of Sweden, pages 220 to 232, by Faith Compton Mackenzie, 1931; original scan at the Universal Digital Library

https://archive.org/details/sibylofthenortht008021mbp/page/n233/mode/2up

The account:

CHAPTER XV

FIREWORKS

ON the night of July 25, 1667, Christina's palace at Hamburg was a blaze of illuminations. The centre-piece represented the Eucharist among clouds, adored by angels, and beneath it was an allegorical figure of the Church treading Heresy underfoot. The Rospigliosi arms crowned all.

Alexander VII was dead[,] and Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi had been elected Pope. Christina had every reason for jubilation, because there had been a very strong chance of Cardinal Farnese succeeding to the Papacy. This would have been a disaster for her, because Farnese as Governor of Rome had made no secret of his disapproval of the Northern Queen and the conduct of her household. He had had to deal severely with her servants on several occasions for public misdemeanours, and sometimes had them beaten through the street. Then there had been a little unpleasantness on the Lungara — nothing really important, from a political point of view, but not helpful to their relations. The Farnese family owned a pleasure garden next door to the Palazzo Riario in Rome. The Cardinal loved to take his leisure in this retreat, which was known as the Vigna Farnese. He was as passionately interested in his flowers as Christina was in hers, and, because the wells of the Vigna Farnese were not inexhaustible, he bribed the keepers of the fountain of Pope Paul V, which was supposed to be reserved for Christina's exclusive use, to divert some of the water into his own garden.

"Very well", said Christina to her gardeners when she discovered this. "Pull down the palisades that keep his terrace from falling into my garden, and let us see what happens."

The terrace duly fell into her garden, and there it had to remain, because under the circumstances the Cardinal could not with dignity have the mess cleared up and a new wall built. Christina was never very good at reprisals, which always seemed to recoil on herself.

Rospigliosi had been Alexander VII's Secretary of State, and was one of Christina's closest friends. He was a great gentleman, with a cultured taste in all the arts, and a character that made him justly beloved. Christina had every reason to rejoice. But, however natural her delight at the result of the Conclave, her manner of showing it was perversely extravagant.

Hamburg was an exclusively Protestant city where the practice of the Catholic Faith was strictly forbidden by law. Any public demonstration of joy would be out of place, and might be to the detriment of Holy Church. But, deaf to the urgent appeals of the authorities of Hamburg, who prophesied disaster, she persisted in planning a feast which was to last three days, and to be inaugurated by High Mass in one of the rooms of the Palace. Court mourning for the consort of John Casimir of Poland, who had died a few weeks before, was abandoned. The Marquis del Monte, who was always at hand to encourage the Queen in extravagances from which he never failed to make handsome commissions, was the organizer of this ill-conceived affair.

Mass was celebrated, and so that all the world should know it, guns were fired at the elevation. These guns were placed in the square in front of the Palace. A grand banquet followed Mass, and the Prince of Hesse Homburg, who had been one of Christina's strongest dissuaders, was present. An enormous crowd had been outside the Palace for some hours, attracted not only by the prospect of fireworks, but by the two fountains of wine which were playing abundantly in the square. As soon as it was dark[,] the front of the Palace blazed with hundreds of flares. The great set piece revealed itself; the swirling arabesques of fire illumined the inscription:

"CLEMENS IX PONT: MAX: VIVAT"

The Eucharist! The adoring angels! The Papal Diadem and Keys!

The cannon roared. The people shouted for joy, because a shout of joy is the only possible response to fireworks, whether they are in honour of the Pope or the Devil. Christina and her guests appeared in the square and stood among the crowd watching the enchanting spectacle. Though the Azzolino arms did not appear in the illuminations, this display was a secret tribute to the beloved Cardinal, for had not His Holiness himself sent word to her that he had made Azzolino his Secretary of State?

This was a momentous evening, and[,] in spite of the scaremongers[,] it had been successful, she thought. Standing on the steps of her residence, she looked back at the solid mass of human faces illumined by the already dying glow, and was not disquieted by the glint of the thousands of eyes turned upon her, nor by the thunderous clamour which greeted her retirement into the Palace. Detestable Hamburghers! They did not deserve such a glorious spectacle.

But as soon as she was gone the lights began to sputter, the glory began to fade, and, worst of all, the fountains of wine ran dry. The spell was broken. The Papal emblems — the crude symbolism, now blackened with smoke and dripping with foul wax, matched the rapidly changing mood of the intoxicated people. They had been captivated by beauty at first — exhilarated by generous wine. Now the stink of grease filled their nostrils, the darkness that followed brilliance and the aftermath of wine turned the excited crowd into a vengeful, dangerous mob.

The Queen bade her guests good-bye and retired to bed. Her room was in the front of the Palace, and she had not been there long when a shower of stones crashed through her window. The noise outside was now terrifying. The mob was trying to break into the Palace, and was hurling itself against the doors, which were hastily secured as soon as the danger was realized. Fortunately Christina's principal guests had not gone far. The Prince of Hesse and his friends had gone to the cemetery of St. Michael's church to watch the dying fireworks and the crowd, and hastened to the Palace when they saw the changed mood of the people. Hesse went to the Municipality for help, and another guest, the Count of Leiningen, to the Commandant of the town to ask for military assistance. The Commandant replied that he had been advised not to interfere, and by the time Leiningen arrived at the Palace with this news[,] the situation was desperate indeed. It was obvious that Christina and her household were in peril of their lives. The mob was ferociously determined to storm the Palace, and there was only one way of saving it and themselves.

Christina gave the order to fire. The cannon which had saluted the Pope boomed again, musketry cracked, a deadly fire swept the square, and of the Hamburghers some fell dead and many were wounded. At this juncture the Commandant of the town, having changed his mind about coming to the aid of the Papist Queen, arrived with his soldiery and drove off the rest of the now terrified crowd, which was already flying from the scene.

By back streets, and carefully guarded, the Queen was escorted to the house of the Swedish Minister, where she took refuge for the night. But next morning she was round at the Palace, which was continually surrounded by a large crowd of curious people, among whom she walked unconcerned, giving orders for the necessary repairs, and in three days she was installed again, as though nothing had happened. By way of reprisal she gave orders to her governors in Sweden to confiscate all Hamburg ships found in the ports of her island of Öland [sic]. As Hamburg had no trade with Öland, this act of hostility meant nothing at all, but the Regency, to make it clear to her that she had no power in Sweden, and further to humiliate her, forbade Bååt to take any notice of this command. Christina dealt generously with the families of the dead and wounded, and Hamburg seems to have resigned itself to her continued presence, for she remained another year engaged in the bitter task of dealing with financial problems.

Her leisure was spent in the laboratory of the famous physician and alchemist, Borri. She sought, as usual, the philosopher's stone. Borri was sufficiently notorious to have been burnt in effigy in the Campo de' Fiori at Rome after he had fled from a process for heresy. Over the Alps he fled to Germany and Holland, and wherever he went he performed sensational cures and miracles of alchemy. In Hamburg he did not find the philosopher's stone nor the solvent alkahest which, when found, would be, so it was said, even more potent than the stone. But he cured the Marquis del Monte of a serious malady, and, if a letter had not arrived from Azzolino telling Christina that Borri was an excommuniqué and that his presence in her Court was not well seen at the Vatican, he might well have become a permanent institution. He was immediately dismissed, and went to Denmark, where he flourished under the patronage of Frederick III. Years later he died in captivity.

The excellent Adami was still in Sweden endeavouring to secure, once for all, the Queen's revenues. As well attempt to turn base metal into gold! After two years of disheartening effort[,] he was succeeding with the renting of her islands, in spite of the Regency's delicately placed obstacles and the governor Bååt's open hostility. Bååt and Appelmann, who should have served Christina's interests, were creatures of Magnus de la Gardie, and there was no possible chance of easing her financial situation so long as the Chancellor was in power. He would see to that. Adami, though Christina had warned him, never quite gauged the perfidy of the Chancellor. The honest Italian was really working very hard, and did not deserve the constant criticism and haughty tone of Christina's letters to him. He had jealous enemies at Court, among them del Monte and Santini, and they were always ready to meet her moods of exasperation with a note of distrust.

Adami was at last so discouraged by her letters that he asked for his recall. Christina had no sooner given it than she began to dream of returning to Sweden. So Adami must remain. She wrote a polite letter explaining why his recall should be cancelled, but unfortunately the letter before that had openly accused him of dishonesty, a monstrous charge in the face of his loyal disinterested service. He left Stockholm at once, announcing there that the Queen had given him his congé, and arrived in Hamburg at the beginning of the year 1668. Christina was now conscious that she was losing a faithful servant, and attempted to be friendly with him.

"When I am on my way back to Rome, I hope I may see you at Loreto?" she said when he came to take his congé.

She always stopped at the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto (which was near Fermo, the birthplace of Azzolino and Adami)[,] where she had left her diamond crown and sceptre, on her first journey through Italy.

Adami, proud and deeply wounded, merely said coldly: "If I happen to be at Fermo", and went from her presence without compliments. Before he left Hamburg for Italy[,] he told del Monte and Santini and even, it was said, Texiera, what he thought of them. He had lost in the game of courtiers because he was an honest and simple soul. He lacked the graces of Santinelli, and he was not physically attractive to the Queen, which was the principal cause of his undoing.

Christina's renewed desire for Sweden was roused by the news that the postponed Diet would really sit in 1668. The usual wearisome exchange of proposals and negatives heaped up a mass of futile correspondence. While the Regency was quite firmly determined that Christina should never enter Sweden again, she on her side was only half-hearted in her attempt to do so. She knew her threats disquieted the Regency, and it was the only revenge she could take for the discomforts with which they encumbered her path. While she was always longing for Rome and detesting more and more the cold North, she was still a victim of ambition.

When someone remarked that she should console her cousin John Casimir of Poland for the loss of his consort, she said darkly: "I may sit on the throne, but not beside him."

John Casimir had reigned at Warsaw since 1648. He was a feeble degenerate and childless member of the Vasa family, and had been a cardinal before he came to the throne. When his wife died he chose to abdicate and return to the Church. Promises from Louis XIV of substantial benefices if he abdicated before September 20, 1668, hastened his retirement, and on the 16th of that month he formally resigned the crown.

Another empty throne!

There were four candidates for it; the Duke of Neubourg, the Prince of Condé, Prince Charles of Lorraine and the son of the Czar of Russia. There was not much to choose between them. The Poles themselves hated the French, Germans and Russians with good reason, but they favoured Condé because he was supported by the great Sobieski.

Christina determined to be the fifth candidate. Tradition was in her favour, and this was not the first time she had looked towards Poland as a possible solution of her ambiguous situation. Her sex was against her, but, as Azzolino wrote to the nuncio at Warsaw, Monsignore Marescotti, "all the world now looks upon the Queen not only as a man, but as superior to all men".

The Pope approved of the project, though he had already promised his protection to the Duke of Neubourg and the Prince of Lorraine, but that was before Christina announced her resolve. So long as a Catholic ruled in Poland — that was the main thing. He issued a secret brief to the Polish Diet urging the election of Christina, "that heroine remarkable for her piety, her wisdom and her virile courage".

Most enthusiastic of all was Azzolino. Whatever his motive for wishing to see Christina on the Polish throne, he worked without ceasing for that end. She was, he declared to Marescotti, born to command an army, to endure the privations of war. In support of this statement he instanced her long hours in the saddle without food or drink. (Many years ago this. Christina was now forty-two, and her health was uncertain.) Her courage and martial spirit only needed proving, said Azzolino. He did not stop at the praises of Christina. The abdicating King should be flattered; he might be useful. Hearing that he wanted to live in the Papal States, Azzolino offered him his own estate at Fermo. John Casimir found the idea attractive, and negotiations were almost completed when his stipulation that he should be allowed liberté des femmes brought the affair to an abrupt close. Azzolino was not going to have any ecclesiastical scandals in his own country if he could help it. John Casimir ended his days in France.

When the question of marriage came up, Azzolino hastened to assure Marescotti that Christina would marry whom the Polish Diet wished. Christina herself, when approached on this subject, merely agreed that she would not marry anyone to whom the Polish Diet objected. Then came the delicate question of the succession, and it was hinted that the Queen's age was against her providing an heir. At this Azzolino threw reserve to the winds. He declared (in confidence) there was no reason why she should not have a son, because her temperament was still so vigorous that there was every prospect of this possibility for another ten years. Whereas, in her youth, her excessive ardour might have prevented conception. This was from one man of the world to another. As the whole business was a profound secret, such clear evidence of Azzolino's familiarity with Christina's temperament need not go farther than the nuncio. This somewhat bewildered person was doing his best to steer between the various candidates so as not to lose the cardinal's hat which at least two of them were holding out to him. The Pope's strict injunction to secrecy made it possible for him when approached by Christina's emissary, Hacki, to put his finger to his lips intimating that by order of His Holiness the subject must not be discussed; so negotiations went slowly. Christina had also held out a cardinal's hat, but Marescotti had little faith in it, at first. As the months went by, however, and the massive correspondence of Azzolino and Cardinal Rospigliosi (nephew of the Pope) piled up the evidence of His Holiness's desire that Christina might be chosen as his candidate, Marescotti thought it prudent to divulge the secret of the Papal choice to one of the most influential electors, the Bishop of Posnanie.

When Marescotti whispered the name of Christina, the Bishop crossed himself several times and begged his friend not to joke with him. It was later made quite clear that the idea of a woman, however good a man she might be, would not be entertained for a moment by the electors. Azzolino and Rospigliosi were begged to save the Pope from disappointment and cancel the candidature of Christina, because there was no possibility of her being chosen. Fortunately the secret had been well kept and[,] the cancellation could be done without much embarrassment to the Pope or to Christina. When the election took place there was no mention of her, and indeed the other four candidates had no better fortune than she had, for the Poles elected one of their own princes, Michel Korybut Wiesnowiecki, who burst into tears when he knew he was elected, reigned ingloriously for four years, and was succeeded by John Sobieski himself.

During the nine months of the Polish negotiations Christina was at Hamburg, sad and ill, hardly sharing the enthusiasm of Azzolino for the new project. Even the summer was cold and dreary. Fires were necessary in August, and she had constant headaches and sore throats. Azzolino's letters were evidently full of reproaches, and he complained that he could not keep up her household without funds, and hinted that rumours of her extravagance in Hamburg had reached him. This subject always reduced her to a state of despair. His treatment will kill her, and, indeed, she longs to die. If he has so poor an opinion of her, why does he think her worthy to rule over Poland? And then, his cruel treatment will never change the unalterable affection that she will have for him — till death. That is always the sum of it. She will never cease to love him.

A few weeks before Christina left Hamburg for Rome, a very curious Englishman appeared on the scene. He was a Carmelite priest; his name was, according to Christina, "Cornicz". He was on his way to Rome from England, which he had left rather suddenly. Christina, hearing that he was ill and a priest, sent such help as was necessary to him, and when he came to pay his respects she was, she declared to Azzolino, amazed at his appearance. He was clothed in a flame-coloured suit covered with ribbons, his hair was elaborately curled and he wore a point de Paris cravat "handsomer than my own". This bright creature attached himself to her household, and was known as il frate delle fettucie because of the ribbons with which he decked himself. He spent his time drinking and meddling scandalously with Court affairs, and announced to the world that he was one of the Queen's gentlemen, whereas she says that she only spoke to him twice — once at the first audience, when she told him to change his habit, and the second time when she advised him to stop gossiping. It was not until she had to dismiss him for choses indecentes that she mentioned him to Azzolino, and then probably only because he would certainly go gossiping to Rome. He was such a type as Christina might have been amused to study for a while, but a type that is inconvenient in a household.

It is not surprising that Adami should have revenged himself against his enemies as soon as he arrived in Rome. He visited Azzolino and revealed to him the perfidy of del Monte in particular, assuring the Cardinal that he and Santini were always ready to sell the Queen's secrets to the highest bidder, that del Monte was, in fact, a black-guard and a traitor and not fit to be in her service.

The result of this was that del Monte was sent to Rome by Christina, to justify himself or to die. Naturally he justified himself, and no doubt Azzolino was easily persuaded of his innocence. Another execution by Christina should at all costs be avoided. The Marquis returned triumphant to escort Christina from Hamburg, but he was a little late and met her on the road.

"I leave this place with the joy of a soul escaping from Purgatory — and I hope I have done a good part of mine here", she writes to Azzolino on the 20th of October. This is her last letter to Azzolino from Hamburg, written on the day of her departure for Rome. Its optimistic tone is not justified by events. She declares that she issues gloriously from the Purgatory that was Hamburg, and implies that the Swedish affairs are settled to her and, she is sure, to his, ultimate satisfaction.

On the contrary, those two years of struggle, sickness and unhappiness were years utterly wasted. She had better have been in Rome, among her books and pictures and her flowers, breathing in the gold, sunlit air she so much needed, enjoying those precious days which "only endured a moment". Whatever good came out of those two years had been accomplished by Adami in Sweden, for[,] in spite of de la Gardie, his efforts had produced a slight improvement in the delivery, if not in the extent, of her revenue. That was all. Sweden was definitely forbidden her during the King's minority, and the Polish affair was still undecided when she left Hamburg. Her genius, so prodigal and so perverse, had spent itself in perplexing calculations and gargantuan correspondence which led to nothing — nothing — nothing at all.

. . . . . . .

Near Luneburg, on the way South, a cannon, saluting her, burst into a thousand pieces.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Pope Alexander VII.

Above: Pope Clement IX.

Above: Cardinal Decio Azzolino.

Above: Lorenzo Adami.

Above: Faith Compton Mackenzie.

Notes: Marie Louise Gonzaga, queen consort of Poland, had passed away on May 10, 1667, at 55 years old.

Posnanie is the French name for the Polish city of Poznań.

Ada Harrison's biography of Kristina, part 19

Source:

Christina of Sweden, pages 74 to 78, by Ada Harrison, 1929

https://books.google.com/books?id=xJvrtq4DCv0C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=memoires+concernant+christine+1760&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The biography:

The Polish scheme was marvellous, even for Christina. We can only conclude that Hamburg had driven her to it. The year 1666, which she passed at Hamburg, might have driven her to anything. She met only one congenial soul in the city, and that was the aged general Wrangel, a survivor from the days of Gustavus Adolphus, who loved a battlefield better than anything on earth, and treated the Lion's daughter as the most royal of queens. Otherwise she had only the Germans. Christina was driven to giving them and their still duller ladies a banquet, but they did not brighten. To add to her sense of isolation and impotence, she learned that Alexander VII was dangerously ill at Rome. There was a likelihood of a conclave, in which Azzolino would have a vote, and would badly need her assistance. It was unthinkable that a Pope could be made without Christina.

She participated feverishly by post, and as a result of her renewed intimacies with Louis XIV, fell into worse odour than ever with the regents of Sweden. In any case[,] her affairs at home went badly. The Senate refused to recognise her religion, which was one of her chief points, and on top of that news she learnt that Stropp, her agent, had lent two thousand écus of her precarious money to Magnus de la Gardie. She was helplessly furious. To repair her finances she sold her three islands, Gothold [sic], Ösel, and Öland, to two speculators. She implored her agent to get more money than was offered, but in the end was compelled to give in about the price, so imperative was it for her to have a solid sum under her hand. All the time she wrote letters indefatigably, having to use for almost all of them a laborious figure-cipher and for those to Azzolino a special cipher which for secrecy's sake she had to transcribe herself. It was no wonder that with it all, and with Azzolino's coldness[,] she fell ill. By August, 1666, she is complaining, in the midst of her close work, of migraine and fever, of mal de tête and mal de l'estomac, and is submitting unhopefully to being bled.

It was at this moment, and in this frame of mind and body, that Christina took up her pen to write her Memoirs. 'Ce que Vous êtes et ce que je suis m'y oblige', she begins, companionably addressing God. God occurs plentifully in the preface, but chiefly to demonstrate that to no one of lower rank could Christina make her dedication and give her confidence. She casts herself upon God's bosom, but in her own peculiarly unreligious way. It is to be a matter of mutual deference. And as usual the banner of her own glory is kept floating high. 'Permettez-moi, Seigneur', she astonishingly remarks, 'd'admirer toutes Vos dispositions sur moi!' There is something heroic about it. God's dispositions over her were at that moment so peculiarly wretched. But it was always by this fallacy that Christina pulled through.

This Memoir, which also was begun at Azzolino's instance, did not get very far. It takes Christina to the end of her childhood; then, after a preliminary dissertation on the inability of women (in general) to govern, it breaks off. It is unfortunate, for it would be fascinating to have Christina's account, made in the conviction of unbiassed [sic] honesty, of her mature and responsible self.

From Hamburg she resumed relations with two of her early friends, Vossius the scholar, and Bourdelot. Vossius was commanded to write the history of her reign.

'I have remarked', she wrote to him, 'that either ignorance or envy has taken the pleasure to conceal or obscure the greatest and most splendid actions of my reign. You have been an ocular witness of its unparalleled felicity; of you therefore I require reparation in the name of truth, to which every historian ought to render homage. I request only a simple detail of facts. This cannot be suspected of partiality, because all the world knows that the present calamities of Sweden have reduced me to a situation in which I am incapable of paying the price of incense.'

She wrote to Bourdelot thanking him for sending her books:

'The perplexity of my affairs confines me here at Hamburg, this winter; the only consolation to be expected is letters from Rome and books from France. The transfusion of the blood seems a wonderfully ingenious hypothesis; but I should not care to try the experiment, for fear of degenerating into a mere animal; in case of such a metamorphosis a lion would be my choice. ... I am pretty well in health, and make a jest of physic and physicians, but to enjoy it in a state of perfection my sovereign remedy is to breath[e] the air of Rome.'

Yet in Spring, 1667, writing to thank Azzolino for his kind expressions, 'si je les pouvais croire!' she offers to please him by staying out of his sight in Sweden, when she gets there, for three years.

In May, after exchanging some bitter letters with her 'brother and nephew', the little King, and refusing a handsome annuity from the Senate in the justifiable belief that it would not be paid, she did actually arrive in Sweden. As soon as she crossed the frontier[,] she was ordered to dismiss her chaplain. She wrote a furious letter and was for leaving at once, but was persuaded to wait for an answer, which[,] when it arrived[,] was an uncompromising negative. If she wished to worship, she could go to the French Embassy, but as a simple visit. Christina go to the Embassy! 'If Pomponne [French Ambassador in her time] had proposed such a thing, I would have had him beaten.' But there was no help for her. Stung by her unsuccess, she pursued her usual course of threatening and insulting all round. She told de la Gardie 'all she thought worthy of herself and her spirit', and having remarked, as a final shaft, that if the King should die[,] she would have a word to say about the succession, she left on June 4th. 'I thank God', she observed on her retreat while her vituperations still echoed over Sweden, 'that I have not allowed myself to be carried away by anger, and have done myself no wrong.'

This visit finally ruined her country in her eyes. When years later she sent her gentleman, Del Monte, into Sweden on her business, she warned him what he might expect.

'You are going into a country where you must trust neither what you see with your eyes nor touch with your hands. To everything that you hear, good or evil, praise or scorn, give no heed. Be on your guard in everything, and never enter into other folks' affairs. If you do[,] you will fling yourself into an abyss from which there is no escape, and where they will let you die like a dog.'

Back in Hamburg she received one good piece of news. This was that Clement IX, her candidate and Azzolino's, had been elected Pope in place of Alexander VII. She celebrated the occasion, before the eyes of Protestant Hamburg, by illuminations, rockets, and a tasteful set-piece of fireworks depicting the Church trampling heresy underfoot. There was a pontifical mass, punctuated by cannon, a banquet and free wine. The Hamburgers bore it all with ominous quietness. Finally, having nursed their wrath for hours under Christina's windows, they let it explode. There was riot and bloodshed, and the festive cannon were used as instruments of death. Of this affair she wrote: 'It is only in the holy city that decent people can pass their lives. ... Is it not strange that the queen cannot give a party without running the risk of being murdered in her own house?'[,] a passage which shows that her adopted religion was one of the few subjects which moved her to open dishonesty.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Cardinal Decio Azzolino.

Note: The autobiography quoted here is Kristina's most well-known attempt, written in 1681; the version she wrote in the late 1660s is sadly not known to still exist.

Ellen Fries' biography of Kristina, part 8

Sources:

Märkvärdiga qvinnor, serie 2: Svenska qvinnor, pages 259 to 266, by Ellen Fries, 1891

https://runeberg.org/feqvinnor/2/0263.html

A journal of the Swedish ambassy, in the years M.DCC.LIII. and M.DCC.LIV., volume 1, page 365, Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1772

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Journal_of_the_Swedish_Ambassy/gPFMAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=A+journal+of+the+Swedish+embassy+Bulstrode+Whitelocke,+1772&printsec=frontcover

The biography:

När Kristina på vintern 1654 för den engelske ambassadören Whitelocke omtalade sin afsägelseplan, afrådde han liksom alla andra henne därifrån, berättande om en lord, som afstått alla sina rättigheter åt sin son, men redan samma dag ångrat sitt beslut, då sonen, vorden herre i huset, förbjöd sin far att, såsom han var van, spotta på salsgolfvet. »Jag tycker», invände nu Kristina med sitt vanliga skämtsamma lynne, »att få slippa ifrån kronan är just som att få spotta i salen.»

»Det är bättre» — var hennes mening — »att icke hafva någon öfver sig än att herska öfver hela jorden.» Hon hoppades på frihet och själfständighet utan arbete och ansvar, och hon hade förbehållit sig en suveräns värdighet och rättigheter öfver sina tjenare. Inom kort fick hon likväl erfara, att en suverän utan rike, ibland till och med utan penningar, har svårt att göra sina höga anspråk gällande. Det blef ofta disharmoni mellan vilja och kunna, och hennes uppträdande föll ibland nära nog i det löjliga. Kristina utsattes för förödmjukelser och förtretligheter, hvilka gingo henne djupt till sinnes. Hon blef hård, bitter och retlig, som hon ej varit förut. Motgångar inverkade aldrig förmånligt på hennes karaktär, det erkänner hon själf. Hon hade varit alltför länge bortskämd af lyckan för att nu kunna uppfostras af pröfningarne.

Det mest beryktade exemplet på Kristinas suveränitetsanspråk är aflifvandet af hennes stallmästare, markisen Monaldeschi, i hjortgalleriet i Fontainebleau den 10 nov. 1657, under det att hon var franske konungens gäst.

Monaldeschi var bland de italienske ädlingar, som hon efter sin ankomst till Italien tagit i sin tjenst, och genom sitt behagliga väsen hade han i hög grad vunnit hennes förtroende. Han visade sig ej värd detta, utan hade mot henne begått ett förräderi, hvars omfattning är höljd i ett visst dunkel. I alla fall ville han göra en sin rival i drottningens gunst, markisen Sentinelli, misstänkt för sina egna onda anslag och förfalskade i dennes namn bref, som föllo i drottningens hand. Hon visade dem för markisen och frågade, hvilket straff den förtjenade, som bedrog henne på detta sätt. »Eders majestät», sade han, »bör utan pardon döda honom på ögonblicket, och jag erbjuder mig själf att vara antingen den utförande eller den lidande, ty det är en handling af rättvisa.» »Nåväl», svarade Kristina, »kom ihåg dessa ord, og hvad mig beträffar, förklarar jag Eder, att jag aldrig skall förlåta honom.»

Monaldeschi blef emellertid orolig öfver att blifva upptäckt och var betänkt på att fly. Kristina ville dock ej, att han skulle undkomma henne; markisen var illa känd, och hon kunde frukta det värsta.

Hon kallade honom till sig en förmiddag, och med mycken slughet lyckades hon få bekräftelse på hans brottslighet. Trots den gunst, hvilken Monaldeschi åtnjutit, trots hans och de närvarandes ifriga böner befallde Kristina, att han efter bikt och absolution skulle af vaktgörande kaptenen och dennes handtlangare på stället dödas.

Det uppträde, som nu följde, var ohyggligt. Markisen sökte undvika att bikta sig för att uppskjuta dödsögonblicket, han bönföll hos de tillkallade presterna och hos bödlarne, och bud på bud skickades till drottningen. Hennes medlidande väcktes, hennes stämma veknade, men hennes beslut att låta döda honom var oryggligt. Hon sade sig hafva fattat det utan öfverilning.

Monaldeschi sökte komma undan, han sökte försvara sig, och då han bar en ståltröja närmast kroppen, var det endast med svårighet och efter ett ynkligt lemlästande, som han efter timmars kämpande och bedjande slutligen uppgaf andan.

Kristina visade vid detta tillfälle, att hon hade fått Vasaättens lidelsefulla häftighet, som någon gång kunde till och med hos Gustaf Adolf stelna till hårdhet. Hon var ej af naturen kall och beräknande, utan i stället ofta beherskad af sina känslor, och dessa kunde genom sin lidelsefulla styrka förleda henne till och med till handlingar, som tyckas vittna om oklokhet eller hjärtlöshet, hvilka egenskaper ingalunda voro för henne utmärkande.

Under intryck af sin känsla af harm och ovilja var hon ej mottaglig för de skäl, som kapucinermunken Lebel framställde, att hon i Monaldeschis sak vore både part och domare och att hon genom sin dom inkräktade på den franske konungens höghetsrättigheter. Detta sista skäl var i stället egnadt att befästa hennes beslut, ty hon ansåg sig hafva rätten på sin sida. När hon afstod från regeringen, hade hon ju förbehållit sig en suveräns alla rättigheter öfver sina tjenare, och det var endast en af dem hon utöfvade genom att döda Monaldeschi. Det herskade dålig ordning i hennes af olika element sammansatta hof, och genom sitt öfvermod och sin oförsiktighet vardt hon mer än de fleste utsatt för intriger och förtal. Nu ville hon statuera ett exempel och visa inför sina tjenare liksom inför hela världen, att hon vore en drottning, hvars rättigheter ej kunde af någon mänsklig makt henne fråntagas.

Hon vann dock ej sitt mål. Monaldeschis aflifvande har af samtid och eftervärld stämplats som ett mord, och få rättslärde hafva vid dess bedömande intagit den ståndpunkt Kristina själf intog. Hon har hårdt bedömts för denna handling, måhända ibland hårdare än hon förtjenat, då man ej har gjort sig mödan att sätta sig in i hennes, låt vara öfvermodiga och oriktiga föreställning om sin makt. Hon ville aldrig erkänna, att hon inte hade rätt att döda honom. Men måhända ångrade hon inom sig själfva handlingen och tänkte på Monaldeschi, när hon bland sina aforismer nedskref: »Man ångrar aldrig att hafva förlåtit förbrytelser, men man ångrar nästan alltid, att man straffat dem, hur rättvist straffet än varit.»

Ett annat exempel på hennes suveränitetsanspråk var, då hon 1667 lade beslag på några af staden Hamburgs fartyg för att på det sättet utöfva repressialer mot hamburgarne, hvilka anfallit hennes bostad, då hon uppehöll sig i Hamburg vintern 1667-68 efter sitt andra besök i Sverige. Kristina var på visst sätt orsak till detta anfall, ty med sitt vanliga öfvermod och sin likgiltighet för andras känslor hade hon i anledning af den nye påfvens, Clemens IX:s, val tillställt en illumination med transparenter och flödande vinfontäner, ur hvilka den protestantiska befolkningen hemtat mod för att visa sin frikostiga värdinna det religiösa nit, som besjälade äfven dem. Kristina måste fly förklädd från sitt palats och hålla sig en tid dold. Dessutom förstördes en del af hennes egodelar. För att skaffa sig upprättelse för denna skymf, till hvilken hon likväl genom sin oförsiktighet gifvit anledning, befallde hon, att alla hamburgska fartyg i hennes svenska underhållsländer skulle konfiskeras. Karl XI:s förmyndarregering råkade i anledning häraf i en obehaglig mellanhand, och Kristina fick mottaga en bestämd skrifvelse, i hvilken man sökte för henne klargöra, att hon ej egde rätt »mot rikets välfärd det ringaste att praktisera och handla».

Hennes affärer och hennes rättigheter öfver underhållsländerna gåfvo ständigt ämnen till dispyt mellan henne och den svenska regeringen.

Det är påtagligt, att Kristina icke alltid, särskildt under krigsåren, utbekom hvad hon hade rätt att fordra. Likaså att Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie ej mot sin välgörarinna visade tacksamhetens undseende, utan i sina transaktioner med henne alltid bibehöll någon bitterhet. Det förefaller såsom han funnit ett visst behag uti att det nu var han, som hade makten gent emot den, som en gång störtat honom från hans höga plats. Äfven var man i Sverige missbelåten öfver de stora utgifterna för hennes räkning, och mången menade, såsom redan är nämndt, att sedan hon blifvit katolik, hade hon förverkat sin rätt till underhåll.

Det kan likvisst ej förnekas, att drottningen å sin sida ofta var bråkig, oresonlig och aldrig den, som för fäderneslandets bästa ville offra ett öre af de henne tillförsäkrade stora penningesummorna. Hennes förslag angående domänernas skötsel föreföllo farliga. Regeringen fruktade, att hon skulle afsöndra dem från svenska kronan, och såg med misstänksamma blickar alla hennes åtgöranden. Den saknade ej skäl för sin försiktighet.

År 1657, i ekonomiskt afseende ett af drottningens bekymmersammaste år, lär hon hafva framställt förslag om att till tyska kejsaren mot lämplig ersättning afstå en af sina underhållsland, nämligen Pommern. Ingen af Kristinas handlingar skulle vittna om en sådan grad af själfviskhet som just denna. Ännu synes oss hennes tillvägagående i denna sak ej fullt utredt. I hvarje fall öfvergaf hon snart denna tanke och återkom aldrig till densamma. Däremot torde andra af hennes planer, om de också icke afsågo att skilja något område från Sverige, dock hafva fört därhän, om hon lyckats genomföra dem. Efter det dansk-brandenburgska kriget under Karl XI:s regering ansåg hon, att Sverige ej skulle få igen Pommern sin svenske sekreterare Cedercrantz med order att skaffa henne denna provins. Hon ville dock lofva att återställa den till Sverige efter sin död, hvilket säkerligen ej fallit sig så lätt. Emellertid behöfde Sverige ej hennes tvetydiga bistånd vid fredskongressen, utan behöll sitt område, om också något förminskadt.

Detta var hvarken första eller sista gången, som drottningen utan rike sökte göra sin stämma hörd i den europeiska politiken. Var det krig, ville hon medla fred, var det fred, ville hon genom något krig förekomma ett annat. Hon skickade sina tjenare både till det ena och det andra hofvet. De blefvo alltid afvisade, hvilket ej hindrade henne att om igen försöka sin lycka. Att det vid hennes beskickningar ej ligger till grund blott fåfänga och hersklystnad, utan äfven en benägenhet att hjälpa och bättra, synes oss alldeles omisskänligt. Hela hennes karaktär visar en dylik sammansättning af olika känslor.

Det var dock för Kristinas stolthet påkostande att se sig tillbakasatt. Hon hade haft en obegränsad tro på sin personlighets öfverlägsenhet, på själfva drottningnamnets makt, och hon fann sig betyda ganska litet, utan det rike hon öfvergifvit. Därföre ångrar hon också sin afsägelse af regeringsmakten och gör flere försök att än en gång varda herskarinna öfver ett rike. Hon glömde sina åsikter om qvinnoregemente. Konsekvens låg ej i hennes karaktär.

När hon fick underrättelse om Karl X Gustafs död, visar hon sig angelägen om att bevaka sin rätt till Sveriges krona, ifall hennes kusins son, den späde Karl XI, skulle aflida utan arfvingar. Hon förnyar sina arfsanspråk och medgifver ej frivilligt, att hon afsagt sig kronan annat än till förmån för Karl X Gustafs ättlingar. I styrelsen under sin kusinsons minderårighet anser hon sig också hafva rätt att deltaga.

Hon inledde äfven underhandlingar i Polen om att väljas till sin frändes, Johan Kasimirs, efterträdare (1668).

I det ena som det andra fallet rönte hennes sträfvanden ingen framgång. Hennes häftiga, oroliga, känsliga lynne hade gjort henne känd såsom olämplig för regeringsärendens handhafvande.

Mellan henne och hennes gamla fädernesland hade dessutom genom religionsförändringen bildats en klyfta, som omöjliggjorde allt närmande.

Utrymmet förbjuder oss att närmare skildra de tvänne besök, som Kristina efter sin afsägelse gjorde i sitt hemland, utan vi måste nöja oss med några antydningar.

Vid sitt första besök ankom hon till Stockholm den 1 okt. 1660. Regeringen var särdeles bekymrad öfver hennes ankomst och fruktade för de intriger, som hennes närvaro vid den instundande riksdagen kunde medföra. Man visade henne dock i början all skyldig vördnad, och man tillät henne i Torstensonska huset läsa mässan. Återseendet mellan Kristina och mången af hennes forna vänner var hjärtligt, det var till och med så hjärtligt, att det ökade regeringens oro för hennes qvardröjande i landet, fastän hon inom kort utbytte hufvudstaden mot Norrköping. Presterskapet vid riksdagen visade sig emot henne ytterst ogent, hon förbjöds att läsa mässan för öppna dörrar, och hennes prest fick tillsägelse att lemna landet. Man diskuterade till och med hennes rätt att njuta underhåll, och hon fick underskrifva en ny afsägelse af alla sina anspråk på svenska tronen.

Kristina protesterade förgäfves mot detta intrång i hennes rättigheter. Gråtande knäböjde hon inför biskoparne och begärde att få fritt utöfva sin nya religion, men hon fick till svar endast stränga ord och förmaningar. De fester, som tillställdes till hennes ära, och de artighetsbetygelser, som visades henne af gamla vänner, kunde ej öfverskyla den bitterhet denna behandlingssätt framkallade. Det gjorde henne dock endast fastare i sin nya religion, och hon synes ej hafva egnat en tanke åt den möjligheten, att allt kunde blifva godt mellan henne och hennes forna undersåtar, om hon lemnade den katolska kyrkan — hon som i allting annat var nyckfull och beherskad af motsatta känslostämningar.

På våren 1661 reste Kristina ifrån Sverige, uppehöll sig ett år i Hamburg och återvände först 1662 till Rom.

Besöket i Sverige synes hafva hos henne väckt till lif hemlandskänslor, huru kosmopolitiskt anlagd hon än var. Fäderneslandet utöfvade äfven på henne sin starka, hemlighetsfulla dragningskraft. Under de närmast följande åren närer hon tidtals den tanken att åter bosätta sig i Sverige, och hon låter Nicodemus Tessin fullfölja slottsbyggnaden i Borgholm. Genom att slå sig ned hemma skulle hon afklippa alla anmärkningar om att stora penningesummor årligen för hennes skull gingo ur landet. Hon lofvade att afstå från sina anspråk på kronan, men däremot ville hon ha sig garanterad religionsfrihet.

Hon lemnade åter Rom 1666 och begaf sig på väg hem. I Helsingborg mottogs hon af Pontus Fredrik de la Gardie med all artighet. Ett strängt religionsplakat hade emellertid kort förut utfärdats, och i Jönköping mötte en regeringens utskickade, som förbjöd henne att medföra en enda prest. Kristina kände sig genom regeringens föreskrift kränkt i sin värdighet som drottning och fri människa. Ledsen och förbittrad, beslöt hon lemna landet. Afvaktande svenska regeringens ytterligare beslut, stannade hon emellertid öfver ett år i norra Tyskland. Den svenska regeringen visade henne tillmötesgående i afseende å underhållet, men alla hennes förhoppningar förblefvo afskurna att utan religionsförändring kunna återkomma till fäderneslandet. Med rätta anmärker hon, att ingen längre kan anklaga henne för att hon i utlandet förstör svenska penningar.

Berättelserna om Kristinas besök i Sverige göra ett vemodigt intryck. Hon och hennes folk förstå ej längre hvarandra. För att ej i Rom misstänkas för slapphet och af en medfödd retsamhet lägger hon i öppen dag sitt religiösa nit, och svenskarne å sin sida såra henne på tusen sätt.

Den svenska regeringens handlingssätt kan synas hårdt, men till dess ursäkt må lända, att det måste medföra många obehag att i riket hafva en person af Kristinas hersklystna karaktär och genom visande af religiös intolerans fanns en lämplig utväg att hålla henne aflägsnad. Det lutherska presterskapets intolerans kan också ursäktas af den energiska propaganda, som den katolska kyrkan alltid har fört. Kristina själf yttrade, att religionen ej behöfde utgöra ett hinder hvarken för hennes regentskap i Sverige eller för hennes bosättning därstädes, men i sin tolerans stod hon höjd öfver sin samtid. Hon kunde i ro lefva tillsammans med lutheraner, hon kunde erkänna deras religionsfrihet, om hon också sökte att omvända dem, som stodo henne närmast, men af hennes katolska prester hade man aldrig kunnat vänta samma undseende för andras tro.

English translation (my own):

When Kristina mentioned her plan to abdicate to the English ambassador Whitelocke in the winter of 1654, he, like everyone else, dissuaded her from doing so, telling her about a lord who had given up all his rights to his son, but had already regretted his decision the same day when the son, having become master of the house, forbade his father, as he was accustomed, to spit on the parlour floor.

"But to be quit of [the crown]", Kristina now objected in her usual joking mood, "rather than to keep it, I shall think to be spit in the parlour."

"It is better", was her opinion, "to have no one over her than to rule the whole world."

She hoped for freedom and independence without work and responsibility, and she had reserved for herself the dignity and rights of a sovereign over her servants. She soon learned, however, that a sovereign without a kingdom, sometimes even without money, has difficulty in asserting his high claims. There was often disharmony between will and ability, and her behaviour sometimes verged on the ridiculous.

Kristina was subjected to humiliations and annoyances, which deeply affected her. She became harsh, bitter and irritable as she had never been before. Adversity never had a favourable effect on her character, she herself admits it. She had been spoiled by fortune for too long to be brought up by trials now.

The most notorious example of Kristina's claim to sovereignty is the execution of her equerry, the Marquis Monaldeschi, in the Galerie des Cerfs at Fontainebleau on November 10, 1657, while she was the guest of the French king.

Monaldeschi was among the Italian nobles whom she had taken into her service after her arrival in Italy, and by his agreeable nature he had largely won her confidence. He proved himself unworthy of this, but had committed a treachery against her, the extent of which is shrouded in some obscurity. In any case, he wanted to make a rival in the Queen's favour, the Marquis Santinelli, suspected of his own evil designs, and forged letters in his name, which fell into the Queen's hands. She showed them to the Marquis and asked what punishment the one who deceived her in this way deserved.

"Your Majesty", said he, "should without mercy kill him on the spot, and I offer myself to be either the executioner or the sufferer, for it is an act of justice."

"Well then", replied Kristina, "remember these words, and as for me, I declare to you that I will never forgive him."

Monaldeschi, however, became anxious about being discovered and considered fleeing. Kristina, however, did not want him to escape her; the Marquis was badly known, and she might fear the worst.

She summoned him to her one morning, and with great cunning she succeeded in obtaining confirmation of his crime. Despite the favour which Monaldeschi enjoyed, despite his earnest prayers and those of those who were present, Kristina ordered that, after confession and absolution, he should be killed on the spot by the captain on guard and his henchmen.

The scene that now followed was hideous. The Marquis sought to avoid confession in order to postpone the moment of death; he pleaded with the summoned priests and the executioners, and message after message was sent to the Queen. Her compassion was aroused, her voice faltered, but her decision to have him killed was unshakable. She said she had made it without haste.

Monaldeschi tried to escape, he tried to defend himself, and as he wore a chainmail shirt closest to his body, it was only with difficulty and after a pitiful mutilation that, after hours of fighting and begging, he finally gave up the ghost.

Kristina showed on this occasion that she had inherited the passionate vehemence of the Vasa family, which could sometimes even harden into harshness in Gustav Adolf. She was not by nature cold and calculating, but instead was often controlled by her emotions, and these, through their passionate strength, could even lead her to actions that seemed to testify to unwiseness or heartlessness, which qualities were in no way characteristic of her.

Under the influence of her feelings of indignation and dislike, she was not receptive to the reasons put forward by the Capuchin monk le Bel, that in Monaldeschi's case she was both jury and judge, and that by her judgement she was infringing on the sovereign rights of the French King. This last reason was rather apt to confirm her decision, for she considered herself to have right on her side. When she abdicated the government, she had reserved for herself all the rights of a sovereign over her servants, and it was only one of these that she exercised by killing Monaldeschi. There was poor order in her court, which was composed of various elements, and through her arrogance and imprudence she was more than most exposed to intrigues and slander. Now she wanted to set an example and show before her servants, as well as before the whole world, that she was a queen whose rights could not be taken away from her by any human power.

She did not win her case, however. Monaldeschi's execution has been branded as murder by contemporaries and posterity, and few legal scholars have taken the position that Kristina herself took in its assessment. She has been judged harshly for this act, perhaps sometimes harsher than she deserved, since no one has taken the trouble to understand her, albeit arrogant and incorrect, idea of her power. She never wanted to admit that she had no right to kill him. But perhaps she regretted the act itself and thought of Monaldeschi when she wrote down among her aphorisms: "One never regrets having forgiven crimes, but one almost always regrets having punished them, however just the punishment may have been."

Another example of her claim to sovereignty was when in 1667 she seized some of the ships of the city of Hamburg in order to carry out reprisals against the Hamburgers who had attacked her residence when she was in Hamburg in the winter of 1667-68 after her second visit to Sweden. Kristina was in a certain way the cause of this attack, for with her usual arrogance and indifference to other people's feelings, she had arranged an illumination with transparencies and flowing wine fountains on the occasion of the election of the new Pope, Clement IX, from which the Protestant population drew courage to show their generous hostess the religious zeal that animated them as well. Kristina had to flee from her palace in disguise and remain hidden for a time. In addition, part of her property was destroyed.

To obtain redress for this insult, to which she had nevertheless given cause through her carelessness, she ordered that all Hamburg ships in her Swedish maintenance lands should be confiscated. Karl XI's regency government therefore found itself in an unpleasant situation, and Kristina received a definite letter in which they tried to make it clear to her that she had no right "to practice and act in the slightest way against the welfare of the kingdom"

Her affairs and her rights over the maintenance lands were constantly a matter of dispute between her and the Swedish government.

It is evident that Kristina did not always, especially during the war years, pay what she was entitled to. Likewise, Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie did not show any gratitude towards his benefactress, but always maintained some bitterness in his transactions with her. It seems that he found a certain pleasure in the fact that it was now he who had the power against the one who had once overthrown him from his high place. Even in Sweden people were dissatisfied with the large expenses on her behalf, and many believed, as has already been mentioned, that because she had become a Catholic, she had forfeited her right to maintenance.

It cannot be denied, however, that the Queen, for her part, was often quarrelsome, unreasonable, and never one to sacrifice a penny of the large sums of money assured to her for the good of the Fatherland. Her propositions concerning the management of her domains seemed dangerous. The government feared that she would separate them from the Swedish Crown, and it viewed all her actions with suspicion. It was not without reason for its caution.

In 1657, one of the Queen's most troublesome years in economic terms, she is said to have proposed to cede one of her maintenance lands, namely Pomerania, to the German emperor in return for suitable compensation. None of Kristina's actions would testify to such a degree of selfishness as this one. Her approach in this matter does not seem to us to be fully investigated. In any case, she soon abandoned this idea and never returned to it.

On the other hand, others of her plans, even if they did not intend to separate any area from Sweden, must have led there, if she had succeeded in carrying them out. After the Dano-Brandenburgian war during the reign of Karl XI, she considered that Sweden would not get Pomerania back, so she ordered her Swedish secretary Cedercrantz to obtain this province for her. However, she wanted to promise to restore it to Sweden after her death, which certainly did not come so easily. Sweden did not, however, need her ambiguous assistance at the peace congress, but retained its territory, albeit somewhat reduced.

This was neither the first nor the last time that the Queen without a kingdom sought to make her voice heard in European politics. If there was war, she wanted to mediate peace. If there was peace, she wanted to prevent another war through one war. She sent her servants to both courts. They were always rejected, which did not prevent her from trying her luck again. That her missions are not based solely on vanity and lust for power, but also on a tendency to help and improve, seems to us quite unmistakable. Her whole character shows such a combination of different feelings.

It was, however, costly for Kristina's pride to see herself set back. She had had an unlimited faith in the superiority of her personality, in the power of the very name of queen, and she found herself to be of little importance without the kingdom she had abandoned. Therefore she also regretted her renunciation of the power of government and made several attempts to once again become the ruler of a kingdom. She forgot her views on women's reigns. Consistency was not in her character.

When she received news of Karl X Gustav's death, she showed herself anxious to safeguard her right to the Crown of Sweden, in case her cousin's son, the infant Karl XI, should die without heirs. She renewed her claims to the inheritance and did not voluntarily admit that she had renounced the Crown except in favour of Karl X Gustav's descendants. She also considered herself entitled to participate in the regency during her cousin's son's minority.

She even began negotiations in Poland to be elected as her cousin Jan Kazimierz' successor (in 1668).

In both cases her efforts met with no success. Her impetuous, restless, sensitive disposition had made her known as unfit for the administration of government affairs.

Furthermore, a gap had formed between her and her old Fatherland through her change of religion, which made any rapprochement impossible.

Space prohibits us from describing in more detail the two visits that Kristina made to her homeland after her abdication, but we must content ourselves with a few hints.

On her first visit she arrived in Stockholm on October 1, 1660. The government was particularly concerned about her arrival and feared the intrigues that her presence at the upcoming Riksdag might entail. However, they showed her all due respect at first, and she was allowed to read Mass in the Torstensson house. The reunion between Kristina and many of her former friends was cordial — so cordial, in fact, that it increased the government's concern about her staying in the country, although she soon exchanged the capital for Norrköping. The clergy at the Riksdag showed themselves extremely hostile to her, she was forbidden to read Mass in open doors, and her priest was ordered to leave the country. They even discussed her right to enjoy her maintenance, and she was forced to sign a new renunciation of all her claims to the Swedish throne.

Kristina protested in vain against this infringement on her rights. She knelt weeping before the bishops and demanded to be allowed to freely practice her new religion, but she received in answer only stern words and admonitions. The feasts given in her honour and the courtesies shown her by old friends could not overshadow the bitterness this treatment provoked. It only made her more firm in her new religion, and she does not seem to have given a thought to the possibility that all might be well between her and her former subjects if she left the Catholic Church — she who in everything else was capricious and governed by contrary emotional moods.

In the spring of 1661, Kristina left Sweden, stayed in Hamburg for a year, and only returned to Rome in 1662.

The visit to Sweden seems to have awakened feelings of homeland within her, however cosmopolitan she was. The Fatherland also exerted its strong, mysterious attraction on her. During the following years she occasionally entertained the idea of settling in Sweden again, and she let Nicodemus Tessin complete the building of the castle in Borgholm. By settling down at home, she would cut off all complaints that large sums of money were annually leaving the country for her sake. She promised to renounce her claims to the Crown, but in return she wanted to be guaranteed religious freedom.

She left Rome again in 1666 and set out for home. In Helsingborg she was received by Pontus Fredrik de la Gardie with all courtesy. However, a strict religious edict had been issued shortly before, and in Jönköping she met a government emissary who forbade her to bring a single priest. Kristina felt violated in her dignity as queen and as a free human being by the regency's decree. Sad and embittered, she decided to leave the country. Awaiting further decisions from the Swedish regency, however, she stayed in northern Germany for over a year. The Swedish regency showed her lenience in terms of maintenance, but all her hopes of being able to return to her Fatherland without changing her religion remained cut off. She rightly remarks that no one can now accuse her of wasting Swedish money abroad.

The stories of Kristina's visit to Sweden make a sad impression. She and her people no longer understand each other. In order not to be suspected in Rome of laxity and of an innate irritability, she openly displays her religious zeal, and the Swedes, in turn, hurt her in a thousand ways.

The Swedish government's course of action may seem harsh, but its excuse must be that it must cause many discomforts to have a person of Kristina's imperious character in the kingdom, and by showing religious intolerance there was a suitable way to keep her at a distance. The intolerance of the Lutheran clergy can also be excused by the energetic propaganda that the Catholic Church has always carried out. Kristina herself stated that religion need not constitute an obstacle either to her rule in Sweden or to her residence there, but in her tolerance she stood tall above her contemporaries. She could live in peace with Lutherans, she could recognise their religious freedom — even if she sought to convert those closest to her, — but from her Catholic priests one could never have expected the same respect for the faith of others.

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

Above: Kristina.

Dr. John Doran on Kristina's life, part 6

Source:

Monarchs Retired from Business, volume 2, pages 274 to 275, by Dr. John Doran, 1857 (1902 edition)

https://books.google.com/books?id=7fsVAAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=hugo+de+groot+konigin+christina&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The account:

Restless, and perplexed by pecuniary difficulties, Christina, in 1666, announced her intention to revisit Sweden. Intimation was conveyed to her, that if she returned with Romish priests in her train, she could not be permitted to cross the frontier. In great vexation, she remained for some time at Hamburg, negotiating this question. While the negotiation was in progress, she visited the Museum. Among the medals there, exhibited to her, was one in memory of her own abdication. On one side was her head, with the words "REGINA CHRISTINA"; on the other, a crown, with the subscription "ET SINE TE". The feelings of the ex-sovereign got the better of her judgment, and dashing the medal to the ground, she passed haughtily on.

She journeyed onwards to her old home, not without hopes of being permitted to have her own way. There is little doubt that she was desirous of fixing her residence there. Her letters speak respectfully of Lutheranism. In one, she says that she gave it up, not because she found any error in it, but for other reasons which she could show, as Coriolanus could his wounds, when it happened to please her. Perhaps it was on account of these expressions that her return to the faith of her father was weekly prayed for in all the Swedish churches. Before anything was settled, she set out for Sweden; but discovering that she not only was forbidden to have a priest in her train, but that she would not be permitted to attend Mass at any of the Ambassadorial chapels, she once more returned to Hamburg.

Tranquillity went not in her company. It was while residing there (1667) that she learned the death of Alexander VII., and the election of Clement IX. To demonstrate the measure of her joy at the latter event, Christina gave a grand festival, displayed a marvellous exhibition of fireworks, and illuminated the front of her mansion. Amid the lamps however was a transparency, on which were seen the symbols of the Romish faith. The city cried 'fie!' upon the superstition, and the orthodox Reformed sailors of all nations, fired by religious zeal, or by something else, attacked the palace, smashed all that was breakable, and raised a riot, in which many persons were wounded, and a couple slain. Christina, herself, narrowly escaped falling into the hands of these zealous individuals; but she was smuggled out of her home in disguise, and shortly after, she proceeded on her way to Stade.

The errant lady here signalized herself at a review, at which she attended in a male dress, and rode a horse in cavalier fashion. She placed herself at the head of the squadrons of dragoons, and put everything into such confusion by the commands which she gave, that the field-day ended more like a rout than a review.

On her arrival at Rome in 1668, Clement IX. received, with splendid demonstrations of welcome, a lady who had suffered so much for the good cause. For a long period, her time was now passed between pleasures of every possible quality and intercourse with philosophers. Never till this time were stage-representations of such gorgeousness exhibited in Rome. The entire Sacred College were for ever going to the play, and the balcony of her box was every night crowded by Cardinals, who looked with edification on the ballerinas, and listened with delight to the exquisitely dressed singing girls, who resorted to Rome at the invitation of Christina. The etiquette, when she was present, was of the very strictest. The noblest in Rome were compelled to remain uncovered as long as she was in the house. The gay [cheerful] Cardinals, who lolled over the balcony in front of her box, alone wore their caps. In allusion to this privilege, a paper was one night fixed beneath the balcony, on which was inscribed, "Plenary indulgence for the gentlemen in purple!"

Above: Kristina.

Above: Dr. John Doran.

Simon Arnauld de Pomponne on the Hamburg incident (1667; New Style dates used)

Source:

Mémoires de marquis de Pomponne, ministre et secrétaire d'État au département des affaires étrangères, volume 2, pages 403 to 405, published by J. Mavidal, 1861

https://books.google.com/books?id=RK0aAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The account:

Le déplaisir de cette princesse avoit remporté de son voyage fut suivi d'un autre peu de tems après son retour à Hambourg. Le pape Alexandre VII étoit mort le 22 de mai, et le cardinal Rospigliosi, qui prit le nom de Clément IX, avoit été élu en sa place le [20 juin 1667]. L'amitié qu'elle avoit avec lui depuis long-tems, lui fit ressentir avec joie son exaltation au pontificat; et elle fut bien aise de témoigner par des marques publiques, et le cas qu'elle faisoit de la personne, et la part qu'elle prenoit à un choix qui remplissoit si dignement le Saint-Siége. Sans trop considérer qu'elle étoit dans une ville toute luthérienne, où le nom du pape est toujours odieux, où le peuple est en fort grand nombre, et où comme dans une ville libre, l'insolence de la populace est difficile à réprimer, elle fit préparer des feux de joie et des fontaines de vin pour le jour qu'elle désignoit pour cette réjouissance. Le magistrat tâcha de la détourner de cette pensée en lui remontrant les désordres qui en pourroient naître et dont il auroit peut-être peine à être le maître; mais elle continua dans son dessein, et prit le 25 de juillet pour le jour de cette fête. Elle fut commencée le matin par la messe et le Te Deum qui fut chanté dans sa chapelle: elle fut continuée tout le jour par les fontaines de vin dont les peuples, et ceux d'Allemagne plus que tous autres sçavent toujours profiter, et finie par les feux qu'elle fit allumer le soir devant son logis. Toutes choses furent assez tranquilles tant que la populace trouva de quoi satisfaire sa soif ou sa curiosité; mais sur les dix heures du soir, lorsque la fête paroissoit heureusement terminée, cette même populace émue par les prêtres luthériens qui s'y étoient mêlés, attaqua la maison de la reine avec tant d'injures et une grêle de pierres si épaisse, que les vitres et les fenêtres en ayant été brisées en un moment, elle fut contrainte de se sauver à pied chez le résident de Suède. Ses gens firent quelques décharges de fusils; et la mort de quelques bourgeois dont elles furent suivies, auroit été capable d'augmenter le désordre, si le gouverneur de la ville ne fût marché avec une partie de sa garnison pour l'arrêter. La reine demeura quelques jours chez le résident de Suède pour donner tems au rétablissement de sa maison; et bien que l'on doutât qu'après cette injure, elle pût avec honneur s'arrêter plus long-tems à Hambourg, les réparations qui en furent faites par les magistrats, et la difficulté de trouver une autre demeure aussi commode, l'obligèrent à y continuer son séjour.

With modernised spelling:

Le déplaisir de cette princesse avait remporté de son voyage fut suivi d'un autre peu de temps après son retour à Hambourg. Le pape Alexandre VII était mort le 22 de mai, et le cardinal Rospigliosi, qui prit le nom de Clément IX, avait été élu en sa place le [20 juin 1667]. L'amitié qu'elle avait avec lui depuis longtemps lui fit ressentir avec joie son exaltation au pontificat, et elle fut bien aise de témoigner par des marques publiques et le cas qu'elle faisait de la personne, et la part qu'elle prenait à un choix qui remplissait si dignement le Saint-Siège.

Sans trop considérer qu'elle était dans une ville toute luthérienne, où le nom du pape est toujours odieux, où le peuple est en fort grand nombre, et où comme dans une ville libre, l'insolence de la populace est difficile à réprimer, elle fit préparer des feux de joie et des fontaines de vin pour le jour qu'elle désignait pour cette réjouissance. Le magistrat tâcha de la détourner de cette pensée en lui remontrant les désordres qui en pourraient naître et dont il aurait peut-être peine à être le maître; mais elle continua dans son dessein, et prit le 25 de juillet pour le jour de cette fête.

Elle fut commencée le matin par la messe et le Te Deum, qui fut chanté dans sa chapelle; elle fut continuée tout le jour par les fontaines de vin dont les peuples, et ceux d'Allemagne plus que tous autres savent toujours profiter, et finie par les feux qu'elle fit allumer le soir devant son logis. Toutes choses furent assez tranquilles tant que la populace trouva de quoi satisfaire sa soif ou sa curiosité; mais sur les dix heures du soir, lorsque la fête paraissait heureusement terminée, cette même populace émue par les prêtres luthériens qui s'y étaient mêlés, attaqua la maison de la reine avec tant d'injures et une grêle de pierres si épaisse, que les vitres et les fenêtres en ayant été brisées en un moment, elle fut contrainte de se sauver à pied chez le résident de Suède. Ses gens firent quelques décharges de fusils, et la mort de quelques bourgeois dont elles furent suivies aurait été capable d'augmenter le désordre si le gouverneur de la ville ne fût marché avec une partie de sa garnison pour l'arrêter.

La reine demeura quelques jours chez le résident de Suède pour donner temps au rétablissement de sa maison; et bien que l'on doutât qu'après cette injure, elle pût avec honneur s'arrêter plus longtemps à Hambourg, les réparations qui en furent faites par les magistrats, et la difficulté de trouver une autre demeure aussi commode l'obligèrent à y continuer son séjour.

Swedish translation (my own):

Det missnöje som denna prinsessa hade fått av sin resa följdes av ett annat kort efter hennes återkomst till Hamburg. Påven Alexander VII hade dött den 22 maj och kardinal Rospigliosi, som tog namnet Clement IX, hade valts i hans ställe den [20 juni 1667]. Den vänskap hon haft med honom under lång tid gjorde att hon med glädje kände hans upphöjelse till pontifikatet, och hon var mycket glad att med offentliga betyg vittna både om den aktning hon hade för hans person och den roll hon tog i ett val som så fyllde den Heliga Stolen värdigt.

Utan att tänka för mycket på att hon befann sig i en helt luthersk stad där påvens namn alltid är avskyvärt, där folket är i mycket stort antal och där, som i en fri stad, befolkningens fräckhet är svår att förtrycka, hon lät förbereda brasor och fontäner med vin för den dag hon utsett till denna glädje. Magistraten försökte avleda henne från denna tanke genom att påpeka för henne de störningar som kunde uppstå därav och som han kanske skulle ha svårt att kontrollera; men hon fortsatte i sin dessäng och tog den 25 juli för dagen för denna fest.

Det började på morgonen med mässa och Te Deum, som sjöngs i hennes kapell; den fortsattes hela dagen vid vinkällorna som folket, och Tysklands mer än alla andra, alltid vet hur de skall utnyttja, och det slutade med de eldar som hon hade tänt på kvällen framför sitt hus. Allt var ganska lugnt så länge som befolkningen hittade något att tillfredsställa sin törst eller sin nyfikenhet; men vid klockan tio på kvällen, när festen tycktes lyckligt över, anföll samma folkslag, rörd av de lutherska präster, som hade anslutit sig till den, drottningens hus med så många förolämpningar och ett så tjockt hagl av stenar att, då rutor och fönster hade krossats på ett ögonblick, tvingades hon fly till fots till resident av Sverige. Hennes folk avlossade några gevärsskott, och döden av några borgare som följde dem skulle ha kunnat förvärra oordningen om inte stadens guvernör hade marscherat med en del av sin garnison för att stoppa den.

Drottningen stannade några dagar hos den residenten av Sverige för att ge tid för restaureringen av sitt hus; och ehuru man betvivlade huruvida hon efter denna förolämpning med heder kunde stanna längre i Hamburg, förpliktade de reparationer, som förrättades av magistraten, och svårigheten att finna en annat lika bekväm residens, henne att fortsätta sin vistelse där.

English translation (my own):

The displeasure of this princess had gotten from her journey was followed by another shortly after her return to Hamburg. Pope Alexander VII had died on May 22, and Cardinal Rospigliosi, who took the name of Clement IX, had been elected in his place on [June 20, 1667]. The friendship she had had with him for a long time made her feel with joy his exaltation to the pontificate, and she was very glad to testify by public marks both the esteem she had for the person and the part she took in a choice which so worthily filled the Holy See.

Without considering too much that she was in a wholly Lutheran city where the name of the Pope is always odious, where the people are in very great numbers, and where, as in a free city, the insolence of the populace is difficult to repress, she had bonfires and fountains of wine prepared for the day she designated for this rejoicing. The magistrate tried to divert her from this thought by pointing out to her the disorders which might arise from it and which he would perhaps have difficulty in controlling; but she continued in her design and took July 25 for the day of this feast.

It was begun in the morning with Mass and the Te Deum, which was sung in her chapel; it was continued all day by the fountains of wine which the people, and those of Germany more than all others, always know how to take advantage of, and it ended with the fires which she had lit in the evening in front of her house. All things were fairly tranquil as long as the populace found something to satisfy their thirst or their curiosity; but, at about ten o'clock in the evening, when the feast seemed happily over, this same populace, moved by the Lutheran priests who had joined in it, attacked the Queen's house with so many insults and such a thick hail of stones that, the panes and windows having been broken in one moment, she was forced to flee on foot to the resident of Sweden. Her people fired a few rifle shots, and the death of some burghers which followed them would have been capable of worsening the disorder if the governor of the city had not marched with part of his garrison to stop it.

The Queen remained a few days with the resident of Sweden to give time for the restoration of her house; and although it was doubted whether after this insult she could with honour stop longer at Hamburg, the repairs which were made by the magistrates, and the difficulty of finding another equally convenient residence, obliged her to continue her stay there.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Simon Arnauld de Pomponne.