Excerpts from an anonymously authored book on Gustav Adolf and Maria Eleonora, year 1854, part 2

Source:

Gustaf II Adolfs frieri till Maria Eleonora, pages 16 to 24, by anonymous author, 1854; courtesy of Uppsala University Library (Uppsala universitetsbibliotek) via Litteraturbanken.se

https://litteraturbanken.se/f%C3%B6rfattare/Anonym/titlar/GustafIIAdolfsFrieri/sida/20/faksimil

The account:

MARIA ELEONORAS SEDNARE ÖDEN.

Den varma kärlek och djupa vördnad, som Maria Eleonora hyste för Gustaf Adolf, hade, så länge han lefde, tillbakahållit alla mer i ögonen fallande utbrott af hennes besynnerliga lynne. Hon hvarken ville eller vågade lemna fritt lopp deråt, och i allmänhet upptogs hela hennes själ, hennes varelse, blott af en enda känsla, kärleken till hennes gemål. Han var hennes make, hennes vän, hennes ledare, hennes allt i alla. Han föll, och lemnade henne ensam, vacklande och svag, utan förmåga att stöda sig sjelf, utan förstånd att låta stöda sig af andra. Den gränslösa sorgen ökade ännu mera hennes besynnerligheter och påskyndade deras utbrott. Så föranleddes de bedröfliga öden, som träffade den store Gustaf Adolfs efterlefvande maka.

Knappt var jordfästningen förbi, förr än villorna förnyades. Redan andra dagen kände enkedrottningen en oemotståndlig längtan att gå ned i grafkoret, och såsom förut öppna kistan och hugna sig af den döda konungens betraktande, och hon begärde i sådan afsigt nyckeln. Men ståthållaren ansåg sig böra anmäla saken i rådet, hvilket, efter att hafva inhemtat biskoparnes mening, gaf ett nekande svar, så väl för sakens egen beskaffenhet, som för det uppseende den skulle väcka hos rikets nu församlade ständer, serdeles hos allmänheten och bönderna, hvilka, ovana vid sådana uppträden, skulle betrakta dem som ett ogudaktigt afguderi med de dödas ben. Drottningen blef öfver detta afslag ganska förbittrad, och då rådet fortfor uti sitt beslut, helsade hon tillbaka, att också hon ämnade fortfara i sitt, och således tvert emot deras vilja besöka grafven. Men då regeringen bestämdt förklarade, att den i sådant fall ämnade möta våld med våld, och då man föreställde enkedrottningen obehaget af att blifva från kyrkodörren tillbakavisad, afstod han ändtligen från sitt trotsande, men begärde deremot att ännu blott en enda gång få besöka grafven; hon erbjöd sig att derefter aldrig mer sådant begära, och tillika att vid samma tillfälle i kistan nedlägga konungens hjerta. Äfven denna bön vägrades under förevändning, att regeringen icke borde bryta sitt en gång fattade och öppet uttalade beslut, och att dessutom ett sådant uppträde kunde medföra våda för drottningens redan förut försvagade helsa. Emedlertid sökte än rådsherrar, än biskopar att lugna och leda henne medelst allvarliga föreställningar. »Som kristen borde hon vara nöjd med hvad Gud beslutat. Han vet bäst hvad oss nyttigt är, och på honom allena skola vi förtrösta, men icke på döda kroppar. — Gud är de lefvandes, icke de dödas Gud. — Att störa de aflidnes ro, strider dessutom mot skriftens ord, förnuftets och den sanna kärlekens bud och slutligen mot alla folkslags plägseder« o. s. v. Det lyckades omsider att besegra hennes envisa motstånd. Hon lemnade ifrån sig hjertat, hvilket med gulddosa och omgifvande sammetspung i all tysthet blef i konungens kista nedlagdt, och dermed fick denna obehagliga tvist ett efterlängtadt slut.

Drottningens sorg tycktes deremot aldrig vilja upphöra. Redan från första ankomsten till Nyköping lät hon i sitt rum med svart kläde öfverdraga både väggar, tak, möbler och golf. Fönsterna blefvo på samma sätt tillstängde, så att kammaren endast upplystes af facklor och vaxljus. Uti denna dystra omgifning satt drottningen beständigt innesluten, sjelf klädd uti djupaste sorgdrägt, gråtande nästan natt och dag, understundom utbrytande uti så våldsamt jemrande, att en hvar, som det hörde og såg, kände medlidande med hennes olyckliga tillstånd. Man hoppades någon förändring efter ankomsten till Stockholm och konungens begrafning, men förgäfves. Maria Eleonora fortsatte sitt förra lefnadssätt, och endast småningom och efter flere år lugnades hennes hjerta till en mera sansad sorg. Men ännu och alltid var Gustaf Adolf hennes enda tanke. Så snart hans namn eller bragder nämndes, utbrast hon suckande: "Min sällhet är förbi!" Hon författade till hans grafskrift följande rader:

»Hans bragder och hans dygd med oförgänglig ära,

I död liksom i lif triumfens kransar bära.«

Vid aflemnandet af hans hjerta, stiftade hon för några anhöriga och tillgifna fruntimmer en orden till den aflidnes minne. Tecknet var ett krönt guldhjerta. På ena sidan sågs likkistan med de bekanta bokstäfverna G. A. R. S., och till omskrift: Föraktad af många har jag utfört stora bragder, segrat i döden, triumferat efter döden; på andra sidan följande äfven af henne författade verser:

»Jag med min död bevisat har

Den trofasthet mitt hjerta bar.

Och nu, J hjeltar, följen mig,

Till blodig hämnd, på ärans stig.«

Den ovilja, som sedermera uppkom emellan Maria Eleonora och svenska regeringen, hade sin grund uti flere omständigheter. Efter konungens död lät enkedrottningen förnimma sin önskan att under Christinas minderårighet deltaga uti regeringen. Detta hade deremot Gustaf Adolf flere gånger både muntligen och skriftligen afstyrkt; en varning, som en hvar med närmare kännedom om drottningens personliga egenskaper icke kunde annat än gilla. Rådet och ständerna kommo också enhälligt öfverens om att densamma efterfölja. Redan i förväg hade Maria Eleonora fått underrättelse om detta deras blifvande beslut, och upptog det med förbittring. Hon hade hört, sade hon, att svenska rådet ämnade skicka henne och hennes dotter med hvit käpp och hundebröd utur landet. Dessa ord, yttrade åt en af riksråden, blefvo snart framburna till de öfriga.

Sådant kunde ej annat än väcka ovilja hos dessa Gustaf Adolfs minne och att så tillgifna herrar, serdeles hos Axel Oxenstjerna, hvilken, trogen sitt löfte åt den aflidne konungen, med ansträngande af hela sin jättekraft bemödade sig att på Christinas barnsliga hufvud bibehålla faderns krona och det i oförminskad glans. Att för alla dessa dagsklara bevis af trohet och tillgifvenhet mötas med ovärdiga misstankar och otack väckte kallsinnighet. Den ökades genom drottningens uppförande vid begrafningen och allt sedermera. Hon omgaf sig med Tyskar och kunde i allmänhet icke lida svenska folket, icke ens deras land. Det var så förskräckligt kallt. Der voro så många och förfärligt fula berg o. s. v. Dessa klagomål, i tid och otid upprepade, verkade slutligen samma känslor tillbaka, och Maria Eleonora blef föremålet för svenskarnes, om icke hat, åtminstone motvilja och förakt. Man började till rättfärdigande af sådana tänkesätt omtala och åberopa konungens omdömen, af honom någon gång i enrum och förtroliga ögonblick yttrade. Han hade en gång sagt: »Äfven jag har min husliga olycka, som trycker och hindrar mig från att blifva öfvermodig öfver mina många framgångar.« Det var, mente man, Maria Eleonora, som dermed åsyftats. En annan gång berättade Claes Fleming, huru konungen straxt före utresan till Tyskland hade haft följande utlåtelse: »För all den trohet, som J mig beständigt visat, beder jag eder, bröder, att i händelse jag skulle falla undan, se min hustru till godo, att hon icke lefver mig, eder och sig sjelf till vanära.«

Andra orsaken till det ömsesidiga missnöjet var frågan om drottning Christinas uppfostran. Så länge Gustaf Adolf lefde, hade Maria Eleonora visat bestämd motvilja för sin dotter [sic], uppgifvande som skäl, dels att barnet icke enligt önskan var en gosse, dels också dess utseende, då Christina i sjelfva verket var vid spädare år mörklagd och föga behaglig. Konungen lemnade derföre den lilla prinsessan att vårdas och uppfostras af pfalzgrefvinnan Catharina, dock icke utan Maria Eleonoras missnöje, ty hon älskade icke sin svägerska [sic], man vet nu mera icke af hvad orsak. Förhållandet till dottern ändrades efter konungens död. Den lilla Christina mötte sin mor uti Nyköping, och blef nu emottagen med utbrott af den gränslösaste kärlek. Maria Eleonora kunde icke se sig mätt på det älskade barnet, betraktande detsamma såsom den förlorade makens minne och afbild. Icke ett enda ögonblick ville hon släppa det från sin sida, hvarken dag eller natt. Den lilla lifliga prinsessan fann det dödande ledsamt att vara innesluten i det svartklädda rummet med sin oupphörligt gråtande mor, men det hjelpte ej. Så förflöto nio månader, eller hela den tid, som liket stod uti Nyköping. Också efter begrafningen fortsatte Maria Eleonora samma lefnadssätt och förklarade, att hon icke ville lemna Christina ifrån sig, aldraminst åt pfalzgrefvinnan. Det gick den tiden ett rykte, att nämnde furstinna af sin man hemtat någon benägenhet för reformerta läran, hvarföre Maria Eleonora brukade kalla henne den kalvinska qvinnan. Hon sökte nu att med slughet begagna dessa misstankar till vinnande af sin afsigt, och försäkrade biskoparne, att hon aldrig skulle tillåta, det hennes dotter lemnades åt den kalvinska qvinnan, och derigenom utsattes för vådan att blifva lockad från evangelii oförfalskade ljus. Man fruktade väl i detta, likasom i andra hänseenden, ingenting af den allmänt högaktade Catharina; men rådet tyckte det vara svårt att med våld åtskilja dotter och mor, och denna sednare behöfde någon tröst, efter sina förut lidna motgångar. Christina lemnades i moderns vård till en del mot rådets öfvertygelse, och till outsäglig smärta för henne sjelf, som nu för åratal såg sig innestängd likasom i ett rysligt fängelse. Den enda derifrån lemnade frihet var under lärotimmarna, hvilka hon derföre betraktade som sina gladaste stunder, och småningom förökade ända till 6 timmar för- och 6 timmar eftermiddagen, högeligen förnöjd öfver hvarje minut hon kunde slippa ur det svarta rummet. Så fortgick det uti trenne år, och det var under denna tid, som Christina grundiade [sic] sina sedermera så allmänt beundrande och ovanliga kunskaper. Rådet blef emedlertid mer och mer missnöjdt med detta uppfostringssätt. De fruktade icke utan anledning, att moderns underliga lynne och uppförande skulle inverka på dottern; serdeles betänkligt syntes det också, att lemna Sveriges blifvande regentinna i händerna på en mor, som beständigt lärde henne förakt och ovilja mot samma land. Likväl kunde de icke förmå sig till det svåra steget att skilja dem åt. Men år 1636 kom ändtligen Axel Oxenstjerna hem och lade allvarsam hand vid saken. Christina blef tagen från sin mor och öfverlemnad uti pfalzgrefvinnan Catharinas vård. Maria Eleonora var utom sig. »Heldre«, sade hon, »vill jag lefva af vatten och bröd uti fremmande land, än sitta vid konungsligt bord uti Sverige.«

Till dessa oenighetsfrön kom hennes förvända hushållning, uti hvilken det fanns hvarken måtta eller beräkning. Stora summor förslöstes på byggnader och hofhållning. Så snart vid hennes resor någon serdeles vacker belägenhet upptäcktes, beslöt hon att pryda densamma med byggnader och slott, och en för sådant ändamål medförd konstnär skulle straxt uppsätta ritningen; stundom börjades äfven förberedande arbeten, ehuru icke ett enda bland dessa företag hunnit fulländas. Hennes hof var både talrikt och dyrt, innefattande äfven dvergar och narrar, till icke ringa harm för de vid sådant hofsällskap ovana Svenskarne. Med gränslös frikostighet utdelade hon dyrbara skänker samt bortlemnade sina oundgängligaste inkomster. Denna gifmildhet begagnades samvetslöst af de fala smickrare, som snart uteslutande vunnit hennes förtroende. Ehuru lifgedinget var ganska tillräckligt, kom hon likväl innan kort på fullkomligt obestånd, så att rådet måste betala flere skulder och ordna hennes angelägenheter. Axel Oxenstjerna åtog sig det sednare bestyret, och reste i sådan afsigt till Gripsholm. I början vägrade drottningen att framlemna sina räkenskaper, tills Oxenstjerna med lugn och vigtiga skäl lyckades öfvertyga henne om nödvändigheten af en sådan öfversigt, äfven för henne sjelf. Hans öfvade blick upptäckte och afskaffade genast de flesta missbruken, samt ordnade ånyo hofhållningen, så att Maria Eleonora sjelf derföre på det hjertligaste tackade honom.

English translation (my own):

MARIA ELEONORA'S LATER FATE.

The warm love and deep reverence that Maria Eleonora harboured for Gustav Adolf had, as long as he lived, restrained all the more conspicuous outbursts of her peculiar temper. She neither wanted nor dared to give free rein to it, and in general her whole soul, her very being, was occupied with only one feeling: her love for her consort. He was her husband, her friend, her leader, her all in all. He fell and left her alone, staggering and weak, without the ability to support herself, without the understanding to be supported by others. The boundless grief increased her eccentricities still more and hastened their outbursts. Thus was caused the sad fate that befell the surviving wife of the great Gustav Adolf.

The burial was scarcely over before her delusions were renewed. Already the second day the Dowager Queen felt an irresistible longing to go down into the sepulchral vault and, as before, to open the coffin and console herself with the sight of the dead King; and she asked for the key with this intention. But the governor considered it proper to report the matter to the Council, which, after having obtained the opinion of the bishops, gave a negative answer, both for the nature of the matter itself and for the attention it would arouse among the now assembled estates of the kingdom, especially among the public and the peasants, who, unaccustomed to such acts, would regard them as an impious idolatry with the bones of the dead.

The Queen was quite embittered by this refusal, and when the Council continued with its decision, she returned the greeting that she also intended to continue in hers, and thus contrary to their wishes, to visit the tomb. But when the government firmly declared that in such a case it intended to meet force with force, and when the Dowager Queen was presented with the discomfort of being turned away from the church door, she finally gave up her defiance, but instead requested to be allowed to visit the tomb just once more; she offered never to make such a request again, and also to place the King's heart in the coffin on the same occasion.

This request was also refused on the pretext that the government should not break its once-made and openly stated decision, and that, moreover, such conduct could entail dangers for the Queen's already weakened health. Meanwhile, both the councilmen and the bishops sought to calm and guide her by means of serious ideas.

"As a Christian she should be content with what God has decided. He knows best what is beneficial for us, and in Him alone we shall trust, but not in dead bodies. — God is the God of the living, not of the dead. — To disturb the rest of the deceased, moreover, is contrary to the words of Scripture, the commandments of reason and true love, and finally to the customs of all nations", etc.

It was finally possible to overcome her stubborn resistance. She gave up the heart, which with a gold box and surrounding velvet pouch was quietly placed in the King's coffin; and thus this unpleasant dispute came to a long-awaited end.

The Queen's grief, however, seemed never to want to cease. From her first arrival at Nyköping, she had the walls, ceiling, furniture and floor in her room covered with black cloth. The windows were similarly closed, so that the chamber was only lit by torches and wax candles. In this gloomy environment the Queen sat constantly confined, herself dressed in the deepest mourning clothes, weeping almost night and day, occasionally bursting into such violent wailing that everyone who heard and saw it felt pity for her unhappy condition.

Some change was hoped for after her arrival in Stockholm and the King's burial, but in vain. Maria Eleonora continued her former way of life, and only gradually and after several years did her heart calm down to a more calm sorrow. But Gustav Adolf was still and always her only thought. As soon as his name or exploits were mentioned, she exclaimed with a sigh: "My happiness is over!" She wrote the following lines for his epitaph:

"His exploits and his virtue with imperishable glory,

In death as in life, wear wreaths of triumph."

At the time she surrendered his heart, she founded for some relatives and affectionate ladies an order in memory of the deceased. The emblem was a crowned golden heart. On one side was seen the coffin with the familiar letters G. A. R. S., and the inscription: Despised by many, I have performed great feats, conquered in death, triumphed after death; on the other side the following verses also written by her:

"I have proven with my death

The loyalty my heart bore.

And now, ye heroes, follow me,

To bloody revenge, on the path of honour."

The dislike that later arose between Maria Eleonora and the Swedish government had its basis in several circumstances. After the King's death, the Dowager Queen made known her desire to participate in the government during Kristina's minority. Gustav Adolf, however, had repeatedly denied this both verbally and in writing; a warning that anyone with a closer knowledge of the Queen's personal qualities could not but approve. The Council and the Estates also unanimously agreed to follow suit. Maria Eleonora had already been informed in advance of their impending decision, and took it with resentment. She had heard, she said, that the Swedish Council intended to send her and her daughter out of the country with a white stick [in humility] and dog biscuits. These words, uttered to one of the councilmen, were soon conveyed to the others.

Such a thing could not but arouse displeasure in these Gustav Adolf's memory and in such devoted gentlemen, especially in Axel Oxenstierna, who, faithful to his promise to the deceased King, with all his enormous strength endeavored to maintain her father's crown on Kristina's childish head, and that in undiminished splendour. To be met with unworthy suspicions and ingratitude for all these clear proofs of fidelity and devotion aroused coldness. It was increased by the Queen's behaviour at the funeral and all that followed. She surrounded herself with Germans and generally could not stand the Swedish people, not even their country. It was so terribly cold. There were so many and terribly ugly mountains, etc. These complaints, repeated at times and in times of trouble, finally had the same feelings return, and Maria Eleonora became the object of the Swedes', if not hatred, at least aversion and contempt.

In justification of such ways of thinking, people began to mention and invoke the King's judgements, which he had once expressed in private and confidential moments. He had once said:

"I too have my domestic unhappiness, which oppresses and prevents me from becoming overconfident over my many successes."

It was, it was thought, Maria Eleonora who was referred to.

Another time, Claes Fleming told how the King had made the following statement just before his departure for Germany:

"For all the fealty that you have constantly shown me, I beg you, brothers, that in the event that I should perish, see to it, for my wife's own good, that she does not live to dishonour me, you and herself."

The second reason for the mutual discontent was the question of Queen Kristina's upbringing. As long as Gustav Adolf lived, Maria Eleonora had shown a definite dislike for her daughter [sic], giving as reasons, partly that the child was not a boy as desired, and partly also her appearance, since Kristina herself had a dark complexion and not very pleasing at an early age. The King therefore left the little princess to be cared for and raised by the Countess Palatine Katarina, but not without Maria Eleonora's displeasure, because she did not love her sister-in-law [sic], it is now no longer known for what reason.

Her relationship with her daughter changed after the king's death. Little Kristina met her mother in Nyköping and was now received with an outburst of the most boundless love. Maria Eleonora could not get enough of the beloved child, considering it as the memory and image of her lost husband. Not for a single moment did she want to let her go from her side, neither day nor night. The lively little princess found it deadly tedious to be confined in the black-clad room with her incessantly weeping mother, but it did not help.

Thus nine months passed, or the entire time that the body stood in Nyköping. Even after the funeral, Maria Eleonora continued the same way of life and declared that she did not want to give Kristina up, at least not to the Countess Palatine. At that time there was a rumour that the said princess had inherited from her husband some inclination for the Reformed doctrine, which is why Maria Eleonora used to call her that Calvinist woman. She now sought to cunningly use these suspicions to her advantage, and assured the bishops that she would never allow her daughter to be left to that Calvinist woman, and thereby exposed to the danger of being lured away from the unadulterated light of the Gospel.

In this, as in other respects, they feared nothing from the generally highly esteemed Katarina; but the Council found it difficult to forcibly separate daughter and mother, and the latter needed some consolation after her previous adversities.

Kristina was left in her mother's care, partly against the advice of the Council and to her own unspeakable pain, who for years had seen herself confined as if in a dreadful prison. The only freedom she had left from it was during the lessons, which she therefore regarded as her happiest hours, and gradually increased to 6 hours in the forenoon and 6 hours in the afternoon, greatly pleased with every minute she could escape from the dark room. This continued for three years, and it was during this time that Kristina formed the foundations of her later so universally admired and unusual knowledge.

The Council, however, became more and more discontent with this method of upbringing. They feared, not without reason, that the mother's strange disposition and behaviour would affect her daughter; it also seemed very doubtful to leave the future ruler of Sweden in the hands of a mother who constantly taught her contempt and dislike for the same country. Nevertheless, they could not bring themselves to take the difficult step of separating them. But in 1636 Axel Oxenstierna finally came home and took a serious hand in the matter. Kristina was taken from her mother and handed over to the care of the Countess Palatine Katarina. Maria Eleonora was beside herself. "I would rather", she said, "live on water and bread in a foreign land than sit at a royal table in Sweden."

Added to these seeds of discord was her perverse household management, in which there was neither moderation nor calculation. Large sums were wasted on buildings and court maintenance. As soon as during her travels any particularly beautiful location was discovered, she decided to adorn it with buildings and castles, and an artist brought for such a purpose would immediately draw up the sketch; sometimes preparatory work was also begun, although not a single one of these undertakings had time to be completed.

Her court was both numerous and expensive, including dwarfs and buffoons, to no small annoyance to the Swedes, who were unused to such court society. With boundless generosity she distributed precious gifts and left her most indispensable income. This generosity was used unscrupulously by the few flatterers, who soon exclusively won her confidence. Although the dower estate was quite sufficient, she nevertheless soon came to complete insolvency, so that the Council had to pay several debts and arrange her affairs.

Axel Oxenstierna undertook the later administration and travelled to Gripsholm for that purpose. At first the Queen refused to hand over her accounts until Oxenstierna, with calm and weighty reasons, succeeded in convincing her of the necessity of such an oversight, even for herself. His practiced eye immediately discovered and eliminated most of the abuses, and reorganised the court, so that Maria Eleonora herself thanked him most heartily for it.

Above: Maria Eleonora.

Above: Kristina.

Henry Woodhead on Kristina's education and upbringing, her life with Maria Eleonora, and her removal from her

Source:

Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden, volume 1, pages 47 to 58, by Henry Woodhead, 1863; original at the University of Michigan

https://books.google.com/books?id=XI02AAAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=maria+euphrosyne&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The account:

In March, 1635, the States gave some general directions regarding Christina's education. They announced they had had a friendly conference with the Regents on the subject.

"And though this matter has been committed to the same High Regents, and though there is no reason to doubt that these high noblemen will attend to their charge without being reminded of it, nevertheless it is of the greatest importance to Her Majesty, to the kingdom in general, and to every subject in particular, that it should be often mentioned. We have therefore not considered it superfluous, but on the contrary our bounden duty, to add again these very humble and faithful exhortations, which we believe to be worthy of serious attention[.]

"Her Majesty being one day to govern the kingdom herself, and the duty of her subjects requiring not only their obedience, but also that they should preserve her power and royal authority, the happiness and welfare of both parties and of the whole kingdom is concerned in the exercise of reciprocal duties.

"It is necessary that, as her subjects are bound to observe towards Her Majesty an entire devotion and fidelity, even to the sacrifice of their lives and property, so in return she should feel for them the utmost solicitude and affection; she should be accustomed to regard and esteem every one according to his rank and character; to speak well of her country and of the Regents; to pay proper respect to her tutors and to the Senate; to behave affably to all her subjects; and to protect everyone in the enjoyment of his rights and liberty, according to law."

The document goes on to recommend that Christina should be instructed in the manners and languages of other countries, but should carefully preserve her own; that persons of the best character should always be kept about her; and that she should be carefully excluded from any intercourse with Papists or Calvinists.

After the King's death, in accordance with his alleged desire, it was proposed to take Christina from her mother's care, and to place her altogether under the superintendence of the Princess Catharine. It appears that, notwithstanding his affection for Maria Leonora, Gustavus had a poor opinion of her understanding. He knew she had never been very fond of Christina, and also that she was obnoxious to the nobles. Still it is difficult to believe that Gustavus intended her child to be taken from her. There is no doubt that he entertained a sincere affection for her. She brought reinforcements of men and supplies of money to him in Germany, and when he parted from her at Erfurt, shortly before the fatal battle of Lutzen, he addressed the magistrates of Erfurt as follows: —

"You know, gentlemen, that uncertainty and sublunary affairs are synonymous terms, and that war particularly, the visitation of heaven for human depravity, is precarious above all things. It is possible that something unfortunate may soon happen to this my person, and if such be the will of the Supreme Being, transfer to my dear Consort the affection and obligation which you owe to me. On these conditions I pray Providence to prosper you."

Yet it would appear that about the same time Gustavus wrote to Oxenstiern ordering him to serve, honour, and console the Queen in case of his death, but not to suffer her to take any part in the management of public affairs, or in the education of Christina.

When, however, the Queen Dowager returned to Sweden with her husband's remains in 1634, her former indifference for her child was changed to extravagant affection, and she would hardly allow her to remain out of her sight.

The situation of the council was difficult. It would have been too cruel to deprive the widow of her only consolation, so Christina was allowed for the present to remain with her mother.

Most of the Swedish accounts speak unfavourably of Maria Leonora, but it is doubtful how far their statements can be depended upon, for many of the accusations against her look like pretexts, and it is certain that she was treated with great harshness. The Senate were very jealous of her influence, and they showed the same feelings towards Catharine's husband, the Count Palatine, John Casimir. In his case, at least, they acted in contradiction to the late king's will, by removing the Count from his office of High Treasurer.

Maria Leonora's manners were gentle and feminine, and in this respect she might have had a beneficial influence upon Christina. The dislike she expressed to Sweden, though certainly very injudicious, was provoked by the treatment she received there.

Her attachment to Gustavus was unbounded; she never left his body from the time it was brought to her, until she arrived with it in Sweden. After her return the extravagance of her grief was one of the charges against her; but though her conduct may have been weak, it was not unamiable. She kept the heart of Gustavus in a gold box, according to a custom which had at one time not been very unusual, but the senate and clergy interfered, and obliged her to place the gold box in her husband's coffin.

Their disposal of the king's remains was more reasonable than hers; but the same thing can hardly be said of their pertinacity about a subject of no real importance. Poor Maria Leonora, thwarted in her harmless fancy, now instituted an order, the insignia of which was a medal in the shape of a heart, with a coffin engraved on it and the letters G. A. R. S. "Gustavus Adolphus, Rex Sueciæ." She no doubt recollected the time when he had visited her incognito under the name of Captain Gars.

It is certain that Christina led a very dull life with her mother. The rooms were hung with black, hardly any light was admitted, and even the cheerfulness of a good fire was not allowed. Christina's studies became a relief rather than a labour to her, and she always returned unwillingly from her tutor's lecture rooms to those dismal apartments. Her tutors took advantage of this feeling, and it is said that her studies were often prolonged to twelve hours a day. If it is remembered that at this time she was only nine years old, we shall not be surprised to hear some years later that her mind had lost its balance, and that her judgment was not equal to her learning. It must be confessed that her own temperament was a principal cause of this excessive study; she had a perfect contempt for dolls and playthings, she was not amused with her mother's jesters and dwarfs, but her relaxation was to talk with foreigners about their country, and particularly about their libraries.

The mother and daughter quarrelled about trifles. Christina had all her life a particular aversion to wine or beer. Maria Leonora said water was unwholesome, and allowed none to be given her. The child was obstinate, and sometimes passed whole days without drinking. She attributed her subsequent ill-health partly to this cause; but never seemed disposed to lay the blame to her own temper. One day, exploring her mother's dressing-room, she discovered a tempting supply of fresh water. Maria Leonora thought that the morning dew was good for the complexion, and a large bottle was always filled with it for the purpose of washing her face.

Christina soon found that it was good to drink, and from this time the morning dew constantly disappeared. The queen scolded her servants, but still the bottle diminished. Was one of her maidens so rash and so vain as to risk dismissal for the chance of improving her beauty with the queen's cosmetic?

At last the mystery was explained; the Princess was caught with the bottle in her hands, in the very act of drinking.

Maria Leonora, wounded in two tender points at once, her vanity and her love of authority, administered a whipping on the spot, which Christina recorded years afterwards in her memoirs, and of which she evidently had a very unpleasant recollection.

Meanwhile disputes were arising daily between the Queen Dowager and the Regents, of which the cause was generally money. She asked for extra grants, for pensions for her ladies, for extra allowances for her table. Nearly all these demands were refused by the Regents, who reminded her of the pecuniary difficulties and embarrassments caused by the war. A more serious charge against Maria Leonora was, that she habitually spoke with dislike of Sweden and the Swedes, and that she had adopted the exaggerated notions of the princely dignity which were now becoming prevalent.

The Council frequently discussed the question, whether they should, in accordance with the will of Gustavus, entrust Christina to the Princess Catharine. Every time, however, that the subject was hinted to the Queen Dowager she burst into such floods of tears that they were at a loss how to act.

While matters were in this state, Oxenstiern returned from Germany in 1636, and Maria Leonora chose this unpropitious moment to renew her applications for more money, and added the haughty demand, that Christina should be waited upon by two of the Council at her meals; a desire the more unreasonable, because she was understood to be subject to the Council until her majority.

Matters were now brought to a crisis. Oxenstiern went to the point at once, and put the question in the council — whether Christina was properly brought up by her mother, and if not, whether she ought to remain with her.

Twelve Councillors were present at the debate, and they agreed unanimously that Christina should be taken from her mother.

Axel Banér said: "My love and allegiance to Christina and to my country oblige me to offend the Queen Dowager. The separation is unnecessary, but it should be brought about prudently."

Ake Natt och Dagg said, "It is necessary for our Fatherland that the young Queen should be educated in royal virtues: this cannot be done while she is with the Queen Dowager, therefore they must be separated."

Klas Fleming said: "I give my opinion unwillingly, but for two years we have waited and hoped for improvement, instead of which things get worse. It is better to stem the brook than the flood. I remember how the King, of glorious memory, often, both openly in the council as well as in private, desired us not to give the Queen Dowager any part in the Government. The general welfare is the supreme law. I vote for the separation."

Gyllenhielm was more attached to the Queen Dowager than any other member of the Council, and his speech on the occasion showed more good intention than good taste. He said: "I hoped the matter would have been settled without being put to the vote, I am so bound to both sides that I know not what to say. We often see parents, out of love to their children, send them away for their benefit", and rather clumsily added, "as even monkeys do with their young."

It can hardly have been soothing to the Queen Dowager's feelings to be compared by her friend and advocate to a she-monkey, nor does it appear where this old Polonius of the Swedish Court gained the information in natural history which he displayed so unseasonably. He ended by giving his vote for the separation, but begged that some expressions might be modified, which stated that the Queen Mother taught Christina bad habits, and dislike for her own country.

The Chancellor answered that the real reasons of so important a measure ought to be given, for the justification of the Council in future times.

The gallant old Jacob de la Gardie said: "It touches my heart to vote against the Queen Mother in this matter: we have left the young Queen with her, in the hope of some improvement, but things get worse and worse. Christina is brought up, if not in actual bad habits, at least not in such a way or among such men as she ought to be. Neither fear of God nor love of her country is instilled into her mind, nor is she taught the duties of government. She must therefore be separated from her mother.

"If the young Queen should die, evil-speakers will certainly lay such a misfortune to our charge, but we must leave the result in God's hand, with the hope and prayer that all will be for the best. As to the manner, we must first try the most conciliatory means, but if they fail, we must do what we are bound by our oath and our duty to do."

The Queen Dowager had no choice but to submit, and Christina returned to her aunt, much to her own satisfaction.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Maria Eleonora.

Note: "If it is remembered that at this time she was only nine years old, we shall not be surprised to hear some years later that her mind had lost its balance, and that her judgment was not equal to her learning." = Looking at this statement with the consideration and perspective of the theory that Kristina was autistic, a corroboration might be found in that the stresses she had to deal with years later as a young adult during the last years of her reign, — such as public unrest, her own poor physical health, her knowing that there was strong opposition to the abdication which she already regarded as an eventual inevitability, and still having to rule the country through it all, — might have taken such a toll on her that they sometimes exceeded her mental or emotional energy to cope with them and that her "eccentric" behaviour, activities and social approach and different way of thinking might have partly been conscious ways to escape and distract herself from it (added to the fact that these were natural parts of any neurodivergence she might have had); which, to (neurotypical) people both literally and figuratively on the outside looking in, — and at that time when there was no concept of autism or neurodivergence, — might have made it seem like Kristina was sometimes lacking in good judgement or even sanity.

Francis Henry Gribble on "Christina's childhood; her morbid life with her mother; her education taken out of her mother's hands; brought up like a boy; her precocity; her scepticism; her training in political philosophy"

Sources:

The court of Christina of Sweden and the later adventures of the Queen in exile, pages 28 to 42, by Francis Henry Gribble, 1913; original at the University of Toronto

https://archive.org/details/courtofchristina00grib/page/28/mode/2up

Drottning Kristinas hof och hennes senare äfventyr efter tronafsägelsen: bemyndigad öfversättning, pages 26 to 37, by Francis Henry Gribble, published by Wahlström & Widstrand, 1914; original at the University of Wisconsin, Madison

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89079889937&seq=56

The account:

There was no affectation in Marie-Eléonore's grief, — if it was hysterical, it was also sincere. It might almost be said that she was in love with sorrow as some women are in love with love. There are two classes of shallow persons, — those who are callous, and those who lack the power of self-control; and Marie-Eléonore was of the latter sort. A funeral was as welcome an emotional occasion to her as a wedding, — a memorial service as welcome an emotional occasion as a funeral. Two years after her husband's death she was still revelling in the luxury of woe, — refusing to look forward to the responsibilities of the years to come, — prolonging lamentation with the obstinate intensity of the neurotic.

She demanded that Gustavus Adolphus's body should lie in state in a Stockholm church, in a place where she could always see it. She had his heart enshrined in a box and placed at the head of her bed, so that she could weep before it daily. The Senate and the Clergy felt that they must interfere if only for the sake of her peace of mind; but even so their trouble with her was not ended. She stormed and screamed at the proposal to deprive her of the charge of her child; and her Ministers yielded, for a time at least, to her unceasing supplications. Christina's own period of mourning was over, — she was only eight, and two years seem an eternity at that age; but her mother nevertheless took her to live in a palace as lugubrious as a mortuary chapel —

"As soon as she arrived, she shut herself up in her apartment, which was draped with black hangings from the ceiling to the floor. The windows were covered with curtains of the same dark material. We could hardly see there; and the wax candles which burned there by day as well as by night revealed only the symbols of her mourning. Day or night, she never ceased to weep. ... I had the highest respect for her and tender affection; but I felt sorely troubled and embarrassed when, in spite of my tutors, she insisted upon monopolising me. ... There were some disputes with the Regents on the subject; but they allowed her to do as she liked for some time, in view of their great regard for her, feeling that, as she had been excluded from the Regency, this indulgence was her due. ... She loved me very tenderly, saying that I was the living image of the late King; but the very force of her love reduced me to despair. She made me sleep with her, and never let me out of her sight. It was with the greatest difficulty that she could be persuaded to let me have a room to myself in which to learn my lessons."

Whereupon Christina, looking back upon her education, and moralising upon it, comments —

"But You, Lord, turned the weaknesses of the Queen, my mother, to my advantage. The constraint and embarrassment which I felt in her society increased my zeal for study, and so were the cause of the great and astonishing progress which I made. For study was my sole pretext for escaping from the Queen, my mother, and from the melancholy apartment for which I conceived so violent a distaste."

She adds an anecdote which further illustrates the indiscretion of her up-bringing. Her mother pressed her to drink wine and beer, — beverages of which she detested the taste, as children of her age so often do. Water was actually withheld from her; and then she refused to drink anything at all, with the obstinacy of a hunger-striking suffrage-seeker. In the end she took to drinking the dew which was collected for her mother to use as toilet water, raiding it secretly every day after dinner. The toilet water was missed; and Christina was spied upon, and caught and whipped —

"The Queen-Dowager" (Christina comments) "had many good qualities; but she had none of the qualities which are necessary for a reigning sovereign, and it was impossible for her to teach me the things which she did not know."

Marie-Eléonore, indeed, showed herself as silly a woman in her amusements as in her methods of education; and Christina was quite as eager to escape from them as from the overwhelming pageantry of woe —

"The Queen-Mother liked to surround herself with jesters and dwarfs, as is the fashion in Germany. Her rooms were always full of them. It was intolerable to me; for I have always had a perfect horror of these ridiculous freaks. So I was delighted when lesson-time called me to the schoolroom. There was never any need to put pressure on me. I went to my lessons with unimaginable joy even earlier than the appointed time, and studied for six hours in the morning and another six in the evening, taking holidays only on Saturdays and Saints' days."

Such were the scenes in which Christina passed her impressionable years, — roughly speaking from her eighth until her tenth birthday: a morbid home from which she escaped only to work (if she does not exaggerate) twelve hours a day. The foundations of a neurotic character could not have been any more surely laid. It is not surprising that the Regents presently realised that something was wrong, and put their heads together in earnest debate to consider what had better be done, — moved thereto, not only by the eccentricities enumerated, but by others also. For in spite of her mourning, which she seemed anxious to prolong for ever, Marie-Eléonore was both extravagant and proud. She clamoured for money at a time when all the resources or Sweden were needed for the expenses of the war; and she also demanded that two members of the Council, under whose authority Gustavus Adolphus had placed her, should be required to wait on her at table.

That was too much for them. In particular, it was too much for the haughty Grand Chancellor, Oxenstiern, who had now, in 1636, returned from Germany. At his instance, therefore, the question of carrying out to the letter the instructions which Gustavus Adolphus had given was formally posed; and the course of the discussion was uncomplimentary, as well as unfavourable, to Marie-Eléonore —

"It is necessary for the young Queen to be educated in royal virtues. This cannot be done while she is with the Queen-Dowager. Therefore she must be separated from her."

"It is better to stem the brook than the flood. The general welfare is the supreme law. I vote for the separation."

"We often see parents, out of love for their children, send them away for their benefit. Even monkeys do so with their young."

"We have left the young Queen with the Queen-Mother in the hope of some improvement; but things get worse and worse. Christina is brought up, if not in actual bad habits, at least not in such a way, or among such men, as she ought to be. Neither fear of God nor love of her country is instilled into her mind, nor is she taught the duties of government. She must, therefore, be taken away from her mother."

Such were a few of the typical sentiments expressed: some of them less discourteous than others, but none of them positively cordial or respectful. Marie-Eléonore, from the point of view of the Council, was not only a silly woman and a bad mother, but also a bad patriot. So they put her aside by a unanimous vote, and took Christina's education into their own hands. From the age of ten onwards, she was to be educated strictly on the lines which Gustavus Adolphus had prescribed. What those lines were she herself tells us —

"The King had enjoined them to educate me as a man, and to teach me everything that a prince ought to know, if he is to reign worthily. He declared emphatically that he did not wish me to be inspired with any of the characteristic sentiments of my sex, except in so far as honour and modesty were concerned. For the rest, he wished me to be a prince, and to receive the instruction which is proper for princes."

A system which, Christina says, suited her perfectly, and enabled her to develop on the lines most natural to her —

"My personal inclinations seconded his designs in the most marvellous manner; for I had an unconquerable antipathy to all women's sayings and doings. Women's clothes and women's ways were alike insupportable to me. I never wore their head-dresses. I never took any care of my complexion, my figure, or my person generally; and, save in the matters of cleanliness and honourable conduct, I cherished a profound contempt for everything appertaining to my sex. I could not endure dresses with trains, but much preferred short skirts, especially in the country. I was so clumsy at all kinds of needlework that it was quite impossible to teach me how to do it. But, on the other hand, I was marvellously quick at learning languages and lessons of every kind."

She was hardy, too, as well as clever; or, at all events, she tried to be, and made believe to be. She could ride and handle the weapons of sport and war. She could dispense with sleep, and did not care what she ate; she was indifferent to heat and cold; she was fond of horses and dogs; she took long walks, and nothing could tire her —

"The gentlemen and ladies in attendance on me were made desperate by the way in which I tired them out. I gave them no rest either by day or by night; and when my ladies tried to dissuade me from living such a fatiguing life, I laughed at them, and said: 'If you are feeling sleepy, go to bed. I have no need of you.'"

There are not wanting those who have inferred from the boyishness of the girl and the subsequent mannishness of the woman that Christina was, in actual physiological fact, a boy in petticoats; but that is nonsense which may safely be ignored. No motive existed for the deception; though a motive might be found for the opposite pretence that the girl was a boy. The autobiography is, throughout, feminine, if not womanly; and there are medical proofs — a physician's daily reports on the state of Christina's health — which remove all possible doubt.

The doubt, indeed, could only have been entertained in an age in which exceptional as well as normal women acquiesced, as a matter of course, in the well-defined, old-fashioned limitations of womanly activity, accepted, without a murmur, their confinement to the domestic sphere, or only revolted against it, if they did revolt, in order to become polyandrous. From the point of view of later ages, — from the point of view, in particular, of a Girton-going, suffrage-seeking, hockey-playing, hunger-striking generation, — Christina is intelligible enough. To such a generation neither her intellectual nor her athletic interests present any mystery. It can understand her temperament — of which more presently — as well as her tastes; and it may be supposed to know something also of those avenging nerves through which sex is apt to reassert its claim to a consideration which it has not received.

We must think of Christina, therefore, in her youth at all events, as a sort of tomboy, who was also exceedingly clever, devoured by an intense curiosity to know whatever there was to be known; and we must picture her educated somewhat as girls are educated at the Bedford College for Women, — but without any sort of home life, and without any girl companions. She was taken away from her mother when she was ten. Her aunt, who, in some degree — but only in a slight degree, — was allowed to take her mother's place, died when she was thirteen. She was not then allowed to return to her mother; and Marie-Eléonore, indignant at what seemed to her the denial of her natural rights, shook the dust of Sweden off her feet, and paid a long visit to Denmark. Thereafter — and perhaps even before that date — Christina's education was almost entirely in the hands of men.

They naturally did not teach her to cook, or to embroider tapestry, or to sing, or to play the harpsichord; they did not even teach her to do her hair prettily, or to be the best-dressed woman in Sweden, or to protect her complexion with cosmetics. On the contrary, they taught her to ride, to shoot, to hunt, and even to swear; and in the schoolroom they forced her, as children are forced nowadays when everything seems to depend upon their passing difficult examinations, — endeavouring to make her, prematurely, a theologian, a linguist, and a political philosopher.

The programme was drafted by the Nobles and Clergy when she was nine. A letter which she wrote when she was ten shows that no time had been lost in carrying it into execution —

"We, the undersigned, promise and bind ourselves hereby to speak Latin with our tutor in future. We made the promise before, but we did not keep it. Henceforth, with God's help, we will do as we have promised; and we will, God willing, begin on Monday. In order that there may be no doubt about it, we have written this letter with our own hand, and we sign it.

CHRISTINA.

Given at Stockholm, October 28, 1639 [sic]."

It may not have been the best kind of education for her, — it was too purely intellectual, and it left too little to Nature; but it was a kind of education which she liked, — in which she may almost be said to have revelled. And she was a credit to her instructors, — they would have thought very highly of her at the Bedford College for Women, or even at Girton, or Newnham, or Somerville Hall. She saluted her troops, on horseback, like a soldier, and sustained the rôle by twirling an imaginary moustache. She mastered an incredible number of languages: French, German, Italian, Latin, and, ultimately, Greek. She read Livy, Terence, Cicero, Sallust, Tacitus, and even Polybius and Thucydides; and she could write both the dead and the living languages as well as read them.

Her theological tutor was the only one of her instructors who had any reason to be dissatisfied with her. Though she learnt what he taught her, she was indisposed to take everything for granted, — especially when she found that the mysteries of dogma were wrapped in clouds of uncertainty quite different from those which enveloped the obscure points of grammar. She was very indignant when she failed to get plain answers to her direct questions concerning the details of the programme for the Day of Judgment. She suggested that, as these matters could not be properly explained to her, there might be some mistake about them; and then there was trouble —

"He administered a severe rebuke, saying that it was an awful sin and an act of impiety even to entertain such thoughts, and that, if ever I said anything of the sort to him again, he would ask my governess to birch me."

Whereupon Christina, according to her own account, replied with dignity —

"I promise not to say anything of the sort again; but I am not going to be birched. If anything of that kind is done to me, you will all be sorry for it."

"I said that", she concludes, "with such a queenly air that he trembled before me", — which may, or may not, be true.

There was no similar trouble, however, — and no need for any equipment reprimands, — at the hours given to the study of politics. That subject was taught to Christina by the Grand Chancellor, Oxenstiern, himself; and, if she was to be instructed in such matters at all at such a tender age, she could not have had a better tutor. He was possibly the ablest, and certainly the most honest, statesman of his period. Twice, in the course of that Thirty Years War, to which we are continually being brought back, he had saved the fortunes of Sweden when they seemed at a low ebb: once immediately after the death of Gustavus Adolphus, and then again after the disastrous battle of Nordlingen. He had resisted all attempts to bribe and corrupt him; he had negotiated with Cardinal Richelieu on equal terms; he had been addressed by the King of France as "my cousin."

Of his policy and his conduct of the war we will say what needs to be said presently; for the moment, we will only consider him in the character of Christina's tutor. Day after day, from the time when she was ten, or a little more, he came daily to her schoolroom to talk to her about politics and contemporary history, and train her in statecraft; teaching her to speak of "my" armies, "my" victories, "my" policy, — and then, by a natural transition, of "my" greatness and "my" glory. Never, one imagines, has so young a Queen been so coached in her royal duties and responsibilities by so great a man, before or since; for Queen Victoria was much older when Lord Melbourne rendered her similar services, while Isabella of Spain was in the hands of men of far inferior capacity and influence. Christina's own account of the lessons may fittingly conclude the record of her education —

"I took the keenest pleasure" (she writes) "in hearing him talk. There was no other lesson, and no amusement, which I did not gladly leave in order to listen to him. He, on his part, if I may say so without doing violence to modesty, took the greatest pleasure in instructing me. We often spent three, or four, or more hours together. More than once this great man had to express his admiration for a child in whom You, O Lord, had implanted such talents, such a desire to learn, and such an aptitude for learning, — qualities which he admired without understanding them, for they are very rare at such a tender age."

Whence it seems clear that, if Oxenstiern helped Christina to become brilliant, he did not prevent her from becoming vain; and, indeed, it would have been hard for her to help being vain when, at the age of thirteen, she was allowed to attend Cabinet Councils and give her opinion on the highest matters of State.

Swedish translation (by Wahlström & Widstrand):

Det fanns ingenting tillgjordt i Maria Eleonoras sorg; — om den var hysterisk, så var den i alla fall också uppriktig. Man kan nästan säga, att hon förälskat sig i sorgen liksom somliga kvinnor förälska sig i kärleken. Det finnes två slags ytliga personer — sådana som äro känslolösa och sådana, som saknar själfbehärskning. Maria Eleonora tillhörde de senare. En begrafning var ett lika välkommet tillfälle till rörelse som ett bröllop — en åminnelsegudstjänst lika välkommen som en begrafning. Två år efter sin makes död frossade hon ännu i sin sorg, ville icke tänka på de ansvarsfulla år, som stundade, och förlängde sin veklagan med en nervsjuk människas hela envishet.

Hon fordrade, att Gustaf Adolfs lik skulle ligga på parad i en Stockholmskyrka på en plats, där hon alltid kunde besöka det. Hon förvarade hans hjärta i en dosa, som hon ställt vid hufvudändan af sin säng, så att hon dagligen kunde gråta vid det. Rådet och prästerskapet fann, att de måste ingripa, om icke för annat så för hennes själslugn, men trots detta var det icke slut med de bekymmer hon gjorde dem. Hon stormgrät vid förslaget, att hennes barns uppfostran skulle fråntagas henne, och förmyndarregenterna gåfvo åtminstone för en tid vika för hennes oupphörliga böner. För Kristina själf var sorgtiden förbi — hon var blott åtta år, och vid den åldern äro två år en evighet, men detta oaktadt lät hennes moder henne lefva i ett slott, lika dystert som ett grafkapell.

"Så snart hon anlände, stängde hon in sig i sina rum, som voro draperade med svarta förhängen taket till golfvet. Framför fönstren hängde gardiner af samma dystra material. Vi kunde knappast se i rummen, och vaxljusen, som brunno om dagen lika väl som om natten, förhöjde endast symbolerna af hennes sorg. Hvarken dag eller natt upphörde hon att gråta... Jag hade den största aktning för henne och hennes ömma kärlek; men blef mycket upprörd och besvärad, då hon, trots mina förmyndare, envisades att ensam råda öfver mig... Några tvister med regenterna förekommo också om denna sak; de läto henne för någon tid göra som hon ville, därtill förmådda af den stora vördnad de hyste för henne och i känslan af att, som hon uteslutits ur förmyndarregeringen, de voro skyldiga att ha öfverseende med henne... Hon älskade mig ömt och sade, att jag var den aflidne konungens lefvande afbild; men själfva styrkan af hennes kärlek bragte mig till förtviflan. Hon lät mig sofva hos sig och lämnade mig aldrig ur sikte. Endast med största svårighet kunde hon förmås att låta mig få ett rum för min egen del för att i detta läsa öfver mina läxor."

Kristina kastar därpå en återblick på sin uppfostran, och detta ger henne anledning till följande betraktelse:

"Men du, Herre, vände min moder drottningens svagheter till min fördel. Det tvång och den förlägenhet, jag kände i hennes sällskap ökade min lust och ifver att studera, och detta blef sålunda orsaken till de stora och förvånande framsteg jag gjorde. Studier voro nämligen min enda förvändning för att slippa ifrån min moder drottningen och från det melankoliska rum, för hvilket jag hyste en sådan häftig motvilja."

Hon tillägger en anekdot, som ytterligare belyser det förvända i hennes uppfostran. Hennes moder tvang henne att dricka vin och öl — drycker, som hon afskydde, såsom barn vid hennes ålder ofta göra. Vatten undanhölls henne till och med, och då vägrade hon att dricka alls med samma halsstarrighet som en hungerstrejkande suffragett. Slutligen tog hon sig till att dricka den dagg, hvilken samlades åt hennes moder för att af henne brukas såsom tvättvatten, och tog i hemlighet bort det hvarje dag efter middagen. Tvättvattnet saknades, man gaf akt på Kristina, som ertappades och agades.

"Änkedrottningen", anmärker Kristina, "hade många goda egenskaper; men ingen enda af de egenskaper, som äro nödvändiga för en regerande monark, och det var henne omöjligt att lära saker, som hon icke kunde."

Maria Eleonora visade sig i själfva verket vara en lika stor fjolla i sina förströelser som i sitt uppfostringssätt; och Kristina var lika ifrig att komma undan dem som undan den öfverväldigande sorgeståten.

"Drottningen-modern tyckte om att omgifva sig med narrar och dvärgar, såsom det var vanligt i Tyskland. Hennes rum voro också fulla af sådana personer. För mig var detta alldeles outhärdligt. Jag har nämligen alltid haft en riktig fasa för dessa löjliga nycker. Därför var jag också glad, då lektionstimmen kallade mig till skolrummet. Tvång behöfde aldrig användas mot mig. Jag gick till mina lektioner med oblandad glädje, till och med före den bestämda tiden och studerade sex timmar på morgonen och ytterligare sex timmar på aftonen, och tog mig ledigt endast om sön- och helgdagar."

Sådan var den omgifning, i hvilken Kristina tillbragte sina mottagligaste år —, ungefär från sin åttonde till sin tionde födelsedag; ett osundt hem, från hvilket hon flydde endast för att arbeta — om hon icke öfverdrifver — tolf timmar om dagen. Grunden till en nervsjuk karaktär kunde icke ha lagts säkrare. Det kan icke förvåna, att förmyndarregenterna slutligen funno, att något var på tok och slogo ihop sina hufvuden till en allvarsam öfverläggning om hvad som bäst borde göras, — härtill förmådda icke blott af änkedrottningens omtalade besynnerligheter, utan äfven af andra hennes infall. Oaktadt sin sorg, som hon tycktes vilja förlänga i evighet, var Maria Eleonora både slösaktig och stolt. Hon begärde penningar vid en tid, då Sverige alla tillgångar behöfdes för krigets utgifter, och fordrade dessutom, att två af rådets medlemmar, under hvars myndighet Gustaf Adolf satt henne, skulle anmodas uppvakta henne vid bordet.

Detta var för mycket, särskildt för den stolte rikskanslären Oxenstierna, som nu 1636 återkommit från Tyskland. På hans yrkande företogs till behandling frågan att efter bokstafven tillämpa de instruktioner Gustaf Adolf gifvit i sin skrifvelse; och öfverläggningen var lika ogynnsam som föga smickrande för Maria Eleonora.

"Det är nödvändigt, att den unga drottningen uppfostras till kungliga dygder. Detta kan icke ske, så länge hon är hos änkedrottningen. Fördenskull måste hon skiljas från henne."

"Det är bättre att stämma i bäcken än i ån. Det allmännas väl är högsta lag. Jag röstar fördenskull för skiljsmässa."

"Vi se ofta föräldrar af kärlek till sina barn sända bort dem till deras egen nytta. Så göra också apor med sina ungar."

"Vi lämnade den unga drottningen hos hennes moder, drottningen, i förhoppning, att detta skulle lända till hennes bästa; men sakerna bli allt värre. Kristina uppfostras om icke till rentaf dåliga vanor, åtminstone på ett sådant sätt och bland sådana personer, som hon icke borde. Hvarken gudsfruktan eller fosterlandskärlek inpräglas i hennes hjärta, och icke heller får hon lära en regerings plikter. Hon måste fördenskull tagas ifrån sin moder."

Detta är några prof på de känslor, som uttalades: några mindre oartiga än andra, men ingen hjärtlig eller vördnadsfull. Ur rådets synpunkt var Maria Eleonora icke blott en fjollig kvinna och dålig moder, utan också en dålig fosterlandsvän. Fördenskull sköt detta henne enhälligt åt sidan och tog Kristinas uppfostran i sina egna händer. Från hennes tionde år skulle hon uppfostras strängt efter de linjer Gustaf Adolf föreskrifvit. Själf berättar hon hvilka dessa linjer voro.

"Kungen hade uppmanat dem att uppfostra mig som en man och lära mig allt hvad en prins bör veta, om han skall bli en värdig regent. Han hade uttryckligen förklarat, att han icke önskade, att jag skulle bibringas någon af de för mitt kön betecknande känslorna, utom hvad heder och blygsamhet angick. För öfrigt hade han önskat, att jag varit prins och kunnat erhålla den för prinsar lämpliga uppfostran."

Ett system, som Kristina förklarade passa henne förträffligt och som satte henne i tillfälle att utveckla sig efter de linjer, som för henne voro de naturligaste.

"Mina personliga böjelser understödde hans afsikt på det förträffligaste sätt; jag hade nämligen en oöfvervinnelig motvilja mot allt hvad kvinnor sade och gjorde. Kvinnokläder och kvinnliga vanor voro lika odrägliga för mig. Jag bar aldrig deras hårklädsel. Jag vårdade aldrig min hy, mitt ansikte eller min person i allmänhet; och utom hvad renlighet och anständigt uppförande angick, hyste jag ett djupt förakt för allt, som tillhörde mitt kön. Jag kunde icke tåla klädning med släp, utan föredrog afgjordt korta kjortlar, särskildt ute på landet. Jag var så fumlig i allt slags sömnad, att det var alldeles omöjligt att lära mig sy. Men å andra sidan hade jag märkvärdigt lätt att lära språk och läxor af alla slag."

Därtill var hon bildad lika väl som begåfvad; i alla händelser sökte hon bli det och ingaf tron att också vara det. Hon kunde rida och handtera både jaktens och krigets vapen. Hon kunde undvara sömn och brydde sig aldrig om hvad hon åt; för värme och köld var hon likgiltig; hon tyckte om hästar och hundar, gjorde långa promenader, och ingenting kunde trötta henne.

"De ädlingar och fröknar, som tillhörde min uppvaktning, voro förtviflade öfver det sätt, hvarpå jag tröttade ut dem. Jag lämnade dem ingen ro, hvarken natt eller dag; och då mina fröknar sökte afråda mig från att föra ett så ansträngande lif, skrattade jag åt dem och sade: 'Om I ären sömniga, så gån till hvila. Jag behöfver eder icke.'"

Författare saknas icke, som af flickans pojkaktighet och de manliga later, som utmärkte Kristina såsom kvinna, dragit den slutsatsen, att Kristina fysiologiskt sedt verkligen var en gosse i kjortlar; men detta är orimligt och kan tryggt lämnas å sido. Ingen anledning fanns till det misstaget; ehuru all anledning kunde ha funnits för det motsatta påståendet, att flickan var en gosse. Hennes själfbiografi är emellertid alltigenom feminin, om icke kvinnlig, och medicinska bevis — en läkares dagliga berättelser om Kristinas hälsotillstånd — finnas, som aflägsna hvarje möjligt tvifvel.

Tviflet kunde i själfva verket endast uppstå på en tid, då såväl ovanliga som vanliga kvinnor såsom en själfklar sak nöjde sig med de noga bestämda, gammalmodiga gränserna för kvinnlig verksamhet och utan knot funno sig i att instängas i den husliga sfären eller endast uppreste sig häremot, om de reste sig, för att dela med sig åt flera män. Ur senare tiders synpunkt — särskildt enligt den under vår generation rådande uppfattningen med dess suffragettrörelse, hockeyspel och hungerstrejk — är det lätt nog att förstå Kristina. För denna generation äga hvarken hennes intellektuella eller estetiska intressen något hemlighetsfullt. Den kan förstå hennes temperament — hvarom snart mera — lika väl som hennes tycken; och den kan också antagas veta något om den hämnande energi, som sätter könet i stånd att häfda sina anspråk på en hänsyn, som förut icke visats detsamma.

Vi måste fördenskull föreställa oss Kristina, i alla händelser under sin ungdom, såsom ett slags "pojkflicka", som också var mycket begåfvad och brann af den ifrigaste lust att lära allt, som kunde läras. Hon togs ifrån sin moder, då hon var tio år. Hennes faster, som till en viss grad — men endast till en viss grad — fick intaga hennes moders plats, dog, då hon var tretton år. Hon fick emellertid icke återvända till sin moder; och i sin harm öfver hvad hon ansåg vara att förneka henne hennes naturliga rättigheter, skuddade änkedrottningen Sveriges stoft af sina fötter och gjorde ett långvarigt besök i Danmark. Dädanefter — kanhända redan förut — låg Kristinas uppfostran nästan helt och hållet i händerna på män.

De lärde henne naturligtvis icke att laga mat eller brodera eller sjunga eller spela harpa; de lärde henne icke att kamma sitt hår prydligt eller att vara den vackraste kvinnan i Sverige eller att skydda sin hy med toalettmedel. De lärde henne däremot rida, skjuta, jaga äfvensom svärja; och i skolrummet tvungo de henne att plugga, liksom barn ännu i våra dagar nödgas plugga, då allting synes bero på att de gå igenom i en svår examen — och sökte i förtid göra henne till teolog, linguist och statsrättslärd.

Undervisningsprogrammet uppsattes af adel och prästerskap, då hon var nio år. Ett bref, som hon skref vid tio års ålder, visar, att ingen tid försummades för att bringa det till verkställighet:

"Vi undertecknade lofva och förbinda oss härmed att för framtiden tala latin med vår lärare. Vi hafva förut lofvat detta, men icke hållit vårt löfte. Hädanefter skola vi med Guds hjälp hålla hvad vi lofvat och skola, om Gud så vill, börja om måndag. För att intet tvifvel skall råda härom, hafva vi egenhändigt skrifvit detta bref och undertecknat det[.]

Kristina.

Gifvet Stockholms slott den 28 oktober 1639 [sic]."

Det torde nog icke ha varit den bästa slags uppfostran för henne — därtill var den alldeles för uteslutande intellektuell och lämnade alltför litet utrymme åt naturen; men den var den uppfostran, hon tyckte om och i hvilken hon nästan kan sägas fråssade. Hon gjorde också heder åt sina lärare. Hon hälsade sina trupper till häst som en soldat och gaf färg åt saken genom att vrida en inbillad mustasch. Hon behärskade en otrolig mängd språk: franska, tyska, italienska, latin och slutligen äfven grekiska. Hon läste Livius, Terentius, Cicero, Sallustius, Tacitus äfvensom Polybius och Thukydides, och kunde skrifva både de döda och de lefvande språken lika bra som läsa dem.

Hennes lärare i teologi var den ende, som hade något skäl till missnöje med henne. Ehuru hon lärde sig hvad han undervisade henne, hade hon ingen lust att taga allting för afgjordt, i synnerhet då hon fann, att dogmernas mysterier voro insvepta i sådana moln af ovisshet, som helt och hållet skilde sig från dem, hvilka omgåfvo dunkla punkter i grammatikan. Hon blef också mycket förtretad, då hon icke kunde få tydliga svar på sina direkta frågor angående enskildheterna i programmet för yttersta domen. Hon förklarade, att som dessa saker icke kunde riktigt förklaras för henne, måste det vara något misstag; och detta gaf anledning till ett uppträde:

"Han gaf mig en sträng tillrättavisning och sade, att det var en svår synd och en ogudaktighet att ens hysa något tvifvel, och att, om jag åter yttrade något dylikt till honom, skulle han be min hofmästarinna 'ge mig en risbastu'."

Hvarpå Kristina enligt sitt eget påstående med värdighet svarade:

"Jag lofvar att icke mera säga något sådant; men en risbastu skall jag icke ta emot. Om man ger mig en, skolen I alla få ångra det."

"Detta sade jag", slutar hon, "med en så drottninglik hållning, att han darrade inför mig" — hvilket kan eller icke kan vara sant.

Ett liknande uppträde förekom emellertid icke — och inga förebråelser af samma slag behöfves heller vid de lektionstimmar, som voro ägnade åt politikens studium. I detta ämne undervisades Kristina af rikskanslären Oxenstierna själf; och skulle hon vid så unga år undervisas i ett sådant ämne, kunde hon aldrig fått en bättre lärare. Han var sannolikt den skickligaste och för visso den hederligaste af sin tids statsmän. Två gånger under loppet af trettioåriga kriget, till hvilket vi ständigt återföras, hade han räddat Sveriges öde, då detta syntes ha nått sin lägsta ebb; ena gången omedelbart efter Gustaf Adolfs död och därnäst efter det förlorade slaget vid Nördlingen. Han hade motstått alla försök att muta och korrumpera honom, underhandlat såsom jämlike med kardinal Richelieu och tilltalats af konungen af Frankrike med "min kusin".

Om hans politik och sätt att leda kriget skola vi snart säga allt som behöfver sägas; för tillfället skola vi skildra honom endast i hans egenskap af Kristinas lärare. Från den tid, då hon var tio år eller något mer, kom han dagligen till hennes skolrum för att tala med henne om politik och samtidens historia samt undervisa henne i statskonst. Han lärde henne tala om "mina" arméer, "mina" segrar, "min" politik — och därnäst, såsom en naturlig öfvergång, om "min" storhet och "min" ära. Aldrig har en så ung drottning hvarken förr eller senare fått sin kungliga plikt och sitt kungliga ansvar så inskärpt af en så stor man. Drottning Victoria var mycket äldre, då lord Melbourne gjorde henne samma tjänst, medan Isabella af Spanien befann sig i händerna på män af mycket mindre duglighet och inflytande. Kristinas egen redogörelse för dessa lektioner kan tjäna till ett passande slut på berättelsen om hennes uppfostran:

"Jag erfor det största nöje" — skrifver hon — "att höra honom tala. Ingen annan lektion och intet nöje fanns, som jag icke med glädje lämnade för att få lyssna till hans ord. Om jag får säga så, utan att våldföra mig på blygsamheten, hade han å sin sida också det största nöje af att undervisa mig. Vi tillbringade ofta tre eller fyra eller flera timmar med hvarandra. Mer än en gång uttryckte denne store man sin beundran för ett barn, som du, O Herre, förlänat sådana gåfvor, en sådan ifver att lära och en sådan fallenhet för lärdom — egenskaper, som han beundrade utan att förstå dem, ty de äro ganska sällsynta vid så unga år."

Häraf framgår tydligt, att om Oxenstierna hjälpte Kristina bli lysande, hindrade han henne icke från att bli fåfäng. Det skulle verkligen också varit bra svårt för henne att icke bli fåfäng, då det tilläts henne att vid tretton års ålder bevista rådets öfverläggningar och uttala sin mening i de viktigaste statsärenden.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Maria Eleonora.

Above: Francis Henry Gribble.

Carl Grimberg on Maria Eleonora's mourning for Gustav Adolf and on the custody battle over Kristina, part 3

Source:

Svenska folkets underbara öden, III: Gustav II Adolfs, Kristinas och Karl X Gustavs tid, pages 204 to 208, by Carl Grimberg, 1924

https://runeberg.org/sfubon/3/0204.html

The account:

Men med helt andra ögon än den spirituelle fransmannen sågo de berömda fem män, som skötte Sveriges regering vid denna tid, på den sköna änkedrottningen. Riksförmyndarne, som voro Axel Oxenstierna, hans broder Gabriel och hans kusin med samma namn, samt Jakob De la Gardie och Karl Karlsson Gyllenhielm, hade alltför mycket besvär med den sköna för att icke andra synpunkter än hennes fägring skulle bli övervägande. Anledningarna till de bekymmer Maria Eleonora beredde regeringen voro flere än de, som hittills berörts. Dit hörde även frågan om den späda drottningens uppfostran. Lika litet som Maria Eleonora med all sin lidelsefulla kärlek kunnat göra sin make fullt lycklig, lika litet dugde denna nyckfulla kvinna att uppfostra sitt eget barn.

Vad det förra beträffar, säges Gustav Adolf en gång ha yttrat till sin förtrogne vän Axel Oxenstierna: »Även jag har mitt malum domesticum, som trycker och hindrar mig att bliva övermodig över mina framgångar.» Med tanke på att något dödligt kunde hända honom skall konungen en gång ha lagt sin kansler på hjärtat »att tjäna, hedra, hjälpa och trösta drottningen men aldrig lämna denna prinsessa del varken i regeringen eller i dotterns uppfostran». Före sin resa till Tyskland säges konungen ha yttrat till Klas Fleming: »För all den trohet, I till mig haven haft, beder jag Eder förmana Edre stallbröder att tillse — och själv göra detsamma —, att min hustru ej lever mig, sig själv och eder till vanheder.»

Maria Eleonoras förhållande till sitt enda barn företer de besynnerligaste kastningar, som visa, hur fullkomligt obehärskad hon var i sina känslor. Så länge Gustav Adolf levde, lär hon icke ha tålt att se den lilla Kristina — som det påstås därför att barnet icke var en gosse. Men vid återkomsten från Tyskland med makens stoft var dottern henne till mötes i Nyköping och mottogs då av sin moder med lidelsefulla ömhetsbetygelser. Ty Maria Eleonora tyckte sig i dottern se sin hädangångne makes avbild. Nu ville hon icke för ett ögonblick släppa henne ifrån sig. Där fick den livliga lilla sjuåringen med de stora, frågande barnaögonen sitta instängd med sin djupt sorgklädda moder, som blott grät och klagade natt och dag, och som, för att göra intrycket ännu dystrare, hade låtit överdraga väggar, tak och golv, möbler, ja till och med fönstren med svart kläde. Blott det irrande skenet från facklor och vaxljus lyste upp denna tillvaro i svart.

Ej underligt, att man inom regeringen började frukta för att den lilla Kristina, Sveriges blivande drottning, skulle taga allvarlig skada av ett sådant liv. Gabriel Oxenstierna uttryckte sina farhågor i brev till brodern, som då ännu befann sig i Tyskland. Kristina hade visserligen, skriver han, »ett extraordinarie ståtligt ingenium, men hennes umgänge med modern är mycket skadeligt». Riksdrotsen utvecklar närmare sina klagomål i ett senare brev. Han skriver. »Med allt komma vi väl till rätta, men Hennes Maj:t Änkedrottningen bliver mycket orolig; hindrar mycket vår unga frökens uppfostran, informerar henne till all vedervertighet och hat emot våra personer och nation, tillstäder ingen aga, lärer löpa om med fåfängt snack som andra. Hos Fru Modern gälla inga förmaningar. Förskänker och giver bort allt det hon äger. Synes alltså, att dotter och moder måste skiljas åt, vilket väl något av sig föda vill.»

Därtill försummades Kristinas kroppsliga uppfostran. Man klagade över att hon måste vistas i oeldade rum, att »de små trånge kläderne» icke passade för den svenska vintern, och att barnet fick för litet kroppsrörelse. Vid ett tillfälle på våren 1636 uttalades i rådet farhågor för att den unga drottningen till följd därav »lärer få skörbjugg, tagandes liknelse av alltför stillastående vatten, som lätt förskämmas. Hennes Maj:ts preceptor klagar däröver, att Hennes Maj:t haver ful och illaluktande anda: måste ju redan vara en förskämning kommen eller den med första stå till att befara. Det är beklagan värt, att Hennes Maj:t Änkedrottningen är en orsak, att Hennes Maj:t den unga Drottningen så oppfödes; får intet äta, vad Hennes Maj:t lyster.»

Men vad som framför allt annat framkallade ovilja mot Maria Eleonora var det förakt hon öppet visade för allt svenskt. Belysande härför är en reseberättelse, som en sekreterare hos Georg Vilhelm av Brandenburg avgav efter hemkomsten från ett besök hos kurfurstens syster. Den finnes bevarad i preussiska kurfurstehusets familjearkiv, trots författarens enträgna anhållan, att kurfursten måtte kasta den på elden. Här skildras, hurusom änkedrottningen en dag, då sekreteraren var inbjuden till hennes taffel, utgöt sig i beundran över Preussen, som hon kallade »en härlig, luftig och fruktbar trakt, där man kunde vederkvicka sig och njuta av livet. Sverige var däremot», sade hon, »fullt med klippor, fullt med trolöshet och beklämmande dysterhet. Där kunde man icke ha någon glädja, och hon skulle omöjligen kunna stanna där länge.» Upprepade gånger talade hon om sin önskan att komma bort från »de svenska klipporna». De tyckas ha särskilt irriterat hennes känsliga sinne. Och så dessa »baksluga rådsherrar, dessa halsstarriga huvud», som hon innerligt önskade »att djävulen måtte ta».

Dylikt tal var nu icke något gott föredöme för den, som en gång skulle bli Sveriges regerande drottning, och som regeringen önskade skulle uppfostras i kärlek till Sverige, till att »hålla det så före, att vi äro det bästa folk, lära hålla av svenske seder och älska sine undersåtar». Förmyndarne sågo endast en möjlighet att råda bot: att skilja barnet från modern och anförtro Kristina åt hennes faster, pfalzgrevinnan Katarina. Det var rådets enhälliga mening, men på samma gång var man besluten att gå så skonsamt som möjligt till väga. Skilsmässan skulle tillgå under den form, att drottningen flyttade från Stockholm till sin förläning, dock med rättighet att då och då få vistas hos Kristina men utan att befatta sig med hennes uppfostran. Omöjligt var det naturligtvis ändå att undvika, att Maria Eleonora kände sig djupt kränkt, och hennes längtan att komma ifrån »de hatade svenska klipporna» blev allt starkare. Hon berättade själv, att hon mången gång i sin ångest tänkte störta sig ut genom fönstret.

Med Gustav Adolfs bortgång hade hon icke blott förlorat föremålet för all sin gränslösa kärlek. Därigenom undanrycktes henne också den starka arm, som förut alltid lett hennes stapplande steg, så att hon kunnat undvika alla stötestenar på sin väg. Hennes goda genius var borta, och ensam stod hon där, en svag, ovanligt svag stackars kvinna.

English translation (my own):

But with completely different eyes than the sharp Frenchman, the famous five men who ran the government of Sweden at this time looked at the beautiful Dowager Queen. The regents of the realm, who were Axel Oxenstierna, his brother Gabriel and his cousin of the same name, as well as Jakob de la Gardie and Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm, had too many problems with the beautiful woman for other points of view than her beauty to be considered. The reasons for the worries that Maria Eleonora caused the regency were more than those that have been touched on so far. This also included the question of the young Queen's upbringing. Just as Maria Eleonora, with all her passionate love, could not make her husband completely happy, this capricious woman was equally incapable of bringing up her own child.

As for the former, Gustavus Adolphus is said to have once said to his close friend Axel Oxenstierna: "I too have my malum domesticum [domestic cross], which oppresses and prevents me from becoming overconfident about my successes."

Considering that something fatal could happen to him, the King is said to have once heartily charged his Chancellor with "serving, honouring, helping and comforting the Queen, but never leaving this princess a part either in the government or in the upbringing of her daughter."

Before his journey to Germany, the king is said to have said to Claes Fleming:

"For all the loyalty you have had to me, I beg you to admonish your colleagues to see to it — and to do the same yourself — that my wife does not live to dishonour me, herself and you."

Maria Eleonora's relationship with her only child shows the most strange reversals, which show how completely uncontrolled she was in her emotions. As long as Gustav Adolf lived, she is said to have been unable to bear to see little Kristina — as is alleged, because the child was not a boy. But on her return from Germany with her husband's body, her daughter met her in Nyköping and was received by her mother with passionate expressions of affection, for Maria Eleonora thought she saw in her daughter the image of her late husband. Now she did not want to let her go for a moment.

There the lively little seven year old with the large, questioning eyes of a child had to sit confined with her deeply sorrowful mother, who only wept and wailed night and day, and who, to make the impression even more gloomy, had had the walls, ceiling and floor, furniture, and even the windows covered with black cloth. Only the wandering glow of torches and wax candles illuminated this existence in black.

It is no wonder that the regency began to fear that little Kristina, the future Queen of Sweden, would suffer serious harm from such a life. Gabriel Oxenstierna expressed his concerns in a letter to his brother, who was then still in Germany. Kristina certainly had, he writes, "an extraordinarily stately intellect, but her interaction with her mother is very harmful".

The Grand Steward develops his complaints in more detail in a later letter. He writes:

"We are getting on well with everything, but Her Majesty the Dowager Queen is becoming very restless; she greatly hinders our young Lady's upbringing, informs her in all hostility and hatred towards our people and nation, does not administer any discipline, and teaches her to run around with vain talk like others. No admonitions apply with her lady mother. She is giving away everything she owns. It seems, therefore, that daughter and mother must be separated, certainly something will come of it."

In addition, Kristina's physical upbringing was neglected. It was complained that she had to stay in unheated rooms, that "the small, tight clothes" were not suitable for the Swedish winter, and that the child received too little physical exercise. On one occasion in the spring of 1636, fears were expressed in the Council that the young Queen would as a result "get scurvy, attributed to too much stagnant water, which is easily putrid. Her Majesty's preceptor complains that Her Majesty has bad and foul-smelling breath: there must already be a putridity coming, or it is the first thing to be feared. It is regrettable that Her Majesty the Dowager Queen is a reason that Her Majesty the young Queen is brought up in this way; Her Majesty is not allowed to eat anything that she likes."

But what above all else aroused dislike for Maria Eleonora was the contempt she openly showed for everything Swedish. Illustrative of this is a travelogue that a secretary to Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg gave after returning from a visit to the Elector's sister. It is preserved in the family archives of the Prussian Electoral House, despite the author's insistent request that the Elector throw it into the fire.

Here it is described how one day, when the secretary was invited to her table, the Dowager Queen poured out her admiration for Prussia, which she called a lovely, airy and fertile region, where one could refresh oneself and enjoy life. Sweden, on the other hand, she said, was full of rocks, full of faithlessness and oppressive gloom. One could have no joy there, and she could not possibly stay there for long.

She repeatedly spoke of her desire to get away from "the Swedish rocks". They seem to have particularly irritated her sensitive mind. And then these "conspiring councilmen, these stubborn heads", whom she earnestly wished "the Devil might take".

Such talk was not a good example for the one who would one day become the reigning Queen of Sweden, and whom the regency wished to be raised in love for Sweden, to "hold it in mind that we are the best people, to learn to respect Swedish customs and love her subjects". The regents saw only one possibility for a remedy: to separate the child from the mother and entrust Kristina to her aunt, the Countess Palatine Katarina.

This was the unanimous opinion of the Council, but at the same time they were determined to proceed as gently as possible. The separation was to take the form of the Queen moving from Stockholm to her fiefdom, with the right to stay with Kristina from time to time, but without involving herself in her upbringing. Of course, it was impossible to avoid that Maria Eleonora felt deeply offended, and her longing to get away from "the hated Swedish rocks" became stronger and stronger. She herself told that many times, in her anguish, she thought of throwing herself out of the window.

With the passing of Gustav Adolf, she had not only lost the object of all her boundless love. With this she had also lost the strong arm that had always guided her stumbling steps, so that she could avoid all the stumbling stones in her path. Her good genius was gone, and she stood there alone, a weak —unusually weak, — poor woman.

Above: Maria Eleonora.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Carl Grimberg.