Christina Augusta Vasa was an extraordinary, controversial person. She amassed a stunning collection of books and art objects, her life was full of unexpected turns, and her actions shocked Europe of the XVII century. This woman always acted on her own accord and did not care about propriety - astonishing behavior for the time.
A princess's childhood
QueenChristina was born
in Stockholm on December 8, 1626. Her parents were King
Gustav II Adolf and
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. It was their fourth child - the previous two daughters had been stillborn, and the third had not lived long at all. Christina was born "with her shirt on".
The midwives decided from the baby's voice that it was a boy, and announced it in the palace to the rejoicing of all. Soon it turned out that it was a girl, but the king did not show his disappointment, although he dreamed of a son. Swedish law allowed an unmarried royal daughter to inherit the throne.
Gustavus Adolphus was always leaving the capital to lead the army in another battle. But when he was at home, little Christina spent all her time with him. She was there when her father was dealing with governmental matters, inspecting troops and ships.
The king wished from an early age to teach the heiress everything necessary to rule the state, and ordered that Christina was brought up like a prince, and even dressed accordingly.
As for Maria Eleanor, she thought the girl was ugly and paid little attention to her. Even when Christina broke her arm because a nanny dropped her on the floor, her mother showed little sympathy. Since then, one shoulder of the princess has forever been lower than the other.
Photo: dzen.ru
When Christina was six years old, the royal family was deafened by the terrible news that Gustav Adolf had been killed on the battlefield. His daughter was far from coming of age, and the country was now ruled by a Council of State headed by Chancellor Axel Oxenscherna. This powerful nobleman managed to remove the king's widow from power.
However, Mary Eleanor, after the death of her husband, was in a state close to madness. She ordered to hang the heart of the deceased over her bed and all day long sat in the bedroom with her daughter, sobbing without interruption. This terrified the child.
Russian Embassy Reception
The first foreign ambassadors Christina met as head of state were Russian boyars. Tsar
Mikhail Fedorovich decided to propose to Gustav II to make an alliance against Poland, for this purpose an embassy led by boyar
Boris Pushkin was sent to Sweden. The journey was long, the news of the Swedish king's death caught up with the envoys on the way.
According to Christina's own memories, when she was being prepared for the ceremony, she was warned about the long beards and unfamiliar clothes of the Moscow guests and asked not to be afraid of them. "Why should I be afraid of their beards?" the girl wondered. At the reception, the six-year-old queen sat with an important and serious face while the Swedish nobles spoke to the ambassadors on her behalf.
Gustavus Adolphus himself had desired an alliance with the Russian Czar, but now the matter had to be dealt with Chancellor Oxenscherna, who was opposed, and the negotiations were wasted.
Parenting and growing up
In 1636, the chancellor got Christina to stop communicating with her mother "for the good of the state". The girl herself was only too happy to do so - her hysterical and nagging mother was an unpleasant example to her of what lack of control over emotions leads to.
However, she developed a wonderful relationship with her aunt Katarina, half-sister of Gustav II. In her palace, Christina enjoyed the warmth of the family home, playing with her cousins, including Karl Gustav, her future successor to the throne.
The young queen was carefully prepared for the throne. The education she was given was something only men could get in those days. Politics, math, history, foreign languages, fencing, shooting and horseback riding were all things she mastered perfectly.
The princess was characterized by high intelligence and took any science with great interest. But she was contemptuous of the typical female activities of the time and could not tolerate ladies' society at all.
Years on the throne
At the age of 18, Christina was officially proclaimed Queen of Sweden and immediately became actively involved in all spheres of state life, surprising her contemporaries with her deep knowledge. She deeply respected the powerful Chancellor Oxenscherna, but did not hesitate to argue with him at council meetings and refused to indulge his numerous relatives when they broke the law.
Meanwhile, the Thirty Years' War was raging in Europe, in which Sweden, France, England and other allies opposed the Habsburg Empire. In addition, Sweden was at war with Denmark. Christina insisted on making peace with Denmark, and this was accomplished on terms very favorable to Sweden.
Photo: dzen.ru
The young queen also played an important role in the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years' War. The Chancellor of Oxenshorn bargained for huge monetary compensation for Sweden and territorial concessions from the German principalities, which delayed the negotiations.
Christina demanded that the chancellor end all disputes and agree to a peace treaty, which was done. Sweden reduced its demands, but still received some German territories, giving it full control over the Baltic Sea.
Queen Christina was fanatical about the sciences, the arts, amassed a collection of books and manuscripts, established several academies and the first Swedish newspaper, and Stockholm became a haven for actors, singers and musicians from all over Europe.
At the invitation of the ruler, scientists, historians and philosophers, including the famous Decartes, also came to the Swedish court. In Europe, Christina was called the Scandinavian Minerva, after the Roman goddess of art and wisdom.
Unrequited love
Christina was in love with her cousin Carl Gustav in her younger years and wrote him tender letters, then her feelings faded. Carl continued to love her and hoped that one day they would marry. But the queen's favorite was a charmingly handsome man, Count Magnus Delagardie. Christina completely lost her head over him. She promoted the young man in the service, made luxurious gifts and paid his debts. However, there was no love affair between them - Delagardi loved Christina's cousin, Maria, but deliberately took advantage of the queen's reckless infatuation.
It should be noted that the lord of Sweden did not look like an attractive girl. She was not pretty, she did not look after herself at all, her gait and manners were masculine. Christina realized the hopelessness of her love, but she could not help herself. She herself had arranged Magnus's marriage to Maria, and even after that she continued to pay him indecent attention.
Christina promised her advisors that it would be in the public interest to marry Carl Gustav sooner or later, even though she did not love him. Later she announced that she would never marry at all, and that she would appoint her cousin Carl as her heir. There were many suitors for her hand, but the very thought of marriage and pregnancy seemed unnatural to her. Moreover, she was so disgusted with pregnant women that she called them "cows" and forbade them to show themselves to her in that state.
Having cooled to Magnus Delagardie, the queen found a new object of adoration. She made a very beautiful girl named Ebba Sparre her maid of honor, and rumors of their indecent liaison spread among the courtiers. The Queen's letters confirm that she did indeed have strong feelings for Ebba. But it remains a mystery whether they had physical intimacy, or whether it was merely platonic.
Disillusionment with religion
Christina came to the conclusion early on that none of the religions were true. As a child, she expressed such thoughts, for which she was scolded and punished. As she studied the sciences, she had more and more questions about church dogma. All of Sweden espoused the teachings of
Martin Luther, in which any freethinking in matters of faith was unacceptable.
Christina gradually considered converting to Catholicism, which allowed more freedom of thought and encouraged celibacy, which suited the queen just fine. In Christina's opinion, any religion was just a political tool, and she found Catholicism the most comfortable and pleasant of all.
Photo:runivers.ru
Rumors of the queen's interest in Catholicism reached the active Jesuit order. The Vatican was eager to bring Sweden back into the fold of the Catholic Church, and its envoys began to actively work with the august intellectual.
Abdication and traveling through Europe
Christina first talked about her decision to abdicate when she was 25 years old. She felt incredibly tired of her duties as ruler, she was constantly unwell, and she wanted to change her faith and leave the country.
The Swedish nobility was in panic and confusion, everyone tried to dissuade her from this step, and she pretended to abandon her scheme. But in 1654 the abdication did take place, and Karl X Gustaf became king of Sweden. Shortly before this, the queen had quarreled with Delagardie, sent him into exile, and took from him some of the lands he had donated.
Freed from her royal duties, Christina and a group of her entourage set off for Antwerp, dressed in men's clothes to make her feel more free. She was in high spirits as she traveled, anticipating a free life full of adventure and fun, but it would not last long.
The high-born wanderer faced a shortage of money rather quickly and began to become disillusioned with her decision to leave the throne. She used to think that out of mere admiration for her outstanding personality, the European rulers would always support her.
These illusions were quickly shattered by the reality that she was no longer queen of a powerful country with a strong army. Her offer to take over the Spanish Netherlands was met with bewilderment by Emperor Ferdinand's ambassador.
In exchange for financial support, Christina even offered to reveal Swedish state secrets to the emperor, stooping to betraying her homeland just months after her departure.
Christina's baptism into Catholicism took place in Innsbruck. She laughed at the ceremony, considering the church rites a theatrical performance. Next, the traveler went to Rome, where Pope Alexander VII met her with great respect. Christina took up residence in the Farnese Palace, owned by the Duke of Parma.
At first she tried to give the impression of a devout Catholic, but she soon tired of it. She hired a theater troupe and began to organize plays and concerts at her house, allowed herself in conversation blatant statements about the saints and relics of the church, and often wore men's clothes. Her habitual coarse manner of speaking horrified Catholics. The Pope was outraged by her arrogance and scandalous behavior.
Christina did not know how to save money, and she was almost out of money. The Swedish king was busy fighting a war with Poland and did not send money regularly. The Pope agreed to give her a loan if she would behave more decently, an offer Christina rejected with indignation. She decided to remedy the situation in another way and conspired with the French Cardinal Mazarini.
In pursuit of a new throne
A cunning minister of Louis XIV planned to raise Christina to the throne of the kingdom of Naples. She was suitable for this role because of her high birth, in addition, she had no planned heirs, and after her death Naples would go to France. But first it had to be wrested from Spain, to which it belonged at the time.
Christina traveled to France to negotiate with Mazarini. There, lavish festivities were held in her honor, and she met the young Louis XIV and his mother, Anne of Austria. French court society was accustomed to strict etiquette, so Christina's manners and appearance caused surprise, but her intelligence and education were appreciated.
Rome was plagued by a plague, and Christina, on her return from France, stayed in the town of Pesaro, dreaming of a new throne. Meanwhile, Mazarini had changed his mind about taking Naples. After receiving a message from him, Christina returned to France uninvited and was horrified to discover that a possible invasion of Naples was already being openly discussed at court. It turned out that the secret had been given away by one of her new friends, the Marquis Monaldeschi.
What happened next caused a loud scandal. While at Fontainebleau on a visit to Louis XIV, Christina ordered her men to execute Monaldeschi for treason, and he was stabbed to death with swords in one of the royal palaces.
Mazarini tried to salvage the reputation of the Minerva of the North and suggested that the story should be framed as if Monaldeschi had died in a duel. But Christina insisted that she was still queen and had the right to administer justice anywhere. Society unanimously condemned her for murder, and it was impossible for her to remain in France.
Pope Alexander VII initially did not want her to return to Rome after hearing about the incident at Fontainebleau, but soon changed from anger to mercy and even granted her a pension from the Vatican. Cristina acquired ownership of the Riario Palace and subsequently lived there. She became friends with almost all the famous scientists, writers and artists of Europe, organized concerts and performances, collected a huge library and a priceless collection of masterpieces of painting and sculpture. In her palace performed Ciccolino - the best opera singer of the time.
Photo: dzen.ru
Christina also had a love passion in Rome - for many years she loved Cardinal Decio Azzolino. He was an intelligent, educated and influential man who often helped her in difficult situations. Their relationship was probably platonic, but the surviving letters make it clear that the queen dreamed of more.
In 1660, Christina's cousin and failed husband, King Charles X, died, and she traveled to her homeland to settle the issue of her entitlements. In Stockholm, Christina demanded that a Catholic mass be celebrated for her in the royal palace, much to the dismay of Lutheran Sweden.
The money issue was resolved only after much arguing and waiting. It is true that after a few years the payment problems resumed, and Christina traveled to Sweden again. This time her former favorite Magnus Delagardie, who became the guardian of the minor Karl XI, did not even allow her to reach the capital.
The restless princess also tried to claim the crown of Poland. In 1667, King Jan II Casimir abdicated, and Christina, who was a distant relative, put forward her candidacy. This desperate attempt was, of course, unsuccessful - one of the Polish nobles was eventually chosen as king.
Christina spent the rest of her life in Rome and died on April 19, 1689 after a long illness, leaving all her property to Cardinal Azzolino. The Queen's tomb is located in St. Peter's Basilica. However controversial her role in European politics may have been, Christina has gone down in history as an outstanding cultural figure and a bright personality who prioritized the pursuit of knowledge and personal freedom.