Kristina, Queen of Sweden (1626-1689)


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Josefine

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facts from this webbiste


1626 December 8, Kristina Wasa was born in Sweden of King Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. Her mother was disappointed that she was a girl, especially since the court soothsayers and wise women predicted the child would be a boy. Consequently, she had little or nothing to do with the child. Her father, however, said "She will be a clever girl. She has already deceived all of us." Some reports claim that Kristina accompanied her father on journeys even as an infant and showed delight at the sound of cannon fire.

1630 King Gustav presents Kristina to the Estates as his successor. Kristina is acknowledged as legal sucessor by the states general and the army. Chancellor Oxenstiern installed as head of regency to oversee Sweden until Kristina reaches eighteen and a select group of scholars headed by theologian Johannes Matthiae is chosen to oversee her education. King Gustav commands that Kristina be trained as a prince and then leaves for battle against Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria.

1632 King Gustav is killed at the battle of Lutzen. Kristina's mother confines herself to her room, completely hung in black, reportedly with the King's heart in a golden container. Kristina is crowned queen before the council of rengents and her education commences. All sources agree on her intellectual brilliance. It is reported that Kristina spent twelve hours a day, six in the morning and six in the evening in study. During her minority, she learns to speak German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish and to read Latin. Kristina is also well-trained in the philosophy and leadership of the Stoics through readings of Tacitus, Epictetus, Seneca as well as others. She is also trained in the art of horsemanship, swordwork, and all other aspects of battle and sports.

1640 Queen Kristina, although still a minor, is admitted to council meetings and begins to participate in governance of Sweden.

1644 Kristina comes of age and is crowned again as queen. She begins to oppose Oxenstierna who had already attempted to remove Kristina's power when she was a minor.

1645 Under Kristina's leadership, the first Swedish newspaper is created.

1646 Kristina questions Descartes through letters written by French ambassador, Chanut. She begins the conversation by asking Descartes' about the relative evil of misused love and hate. Chanut adds that this is not in reference to the normal "girl" type of love, but that love ascribed to by philosophers. Descartes replies with an eight page explanation which Kristina dismisses, choosing instead to question his ideas of an infinite God and creation. (see quote at beginning of timeline.)

1648 Kristina was a driving force in ending The Thirty Years' War. This is alternately lauded and condemned by modern scholars, as it was in her time. Some felt she was an advocate for peace; others felt she did her country an extreme injustice by ending the war before they could obtain sufficient war booty. Kristina also begins to assemble a group of scholars at her court. One of the first was Isaac Vossius, who organised the extensive library attained through war booty from the Prauge. Other intellectuals assembled in Kristina's court from 1648-165 3 were Nicholas Heinsius, Claudius Salmsius, Johannes Scheffer, Samuel Bochart and Christian Ravius.

1650 Kristina invites Descartes to Stockholm. He resides with the French Ambassador Chanut and travels an hour each morning to meet with the Queen at 5:00. Chanut contracts pnuemonia and Descartes nurses him back to health. Although Chanut recovers, Descartes falls ill and dies. Kristina is blamed because of her demands on Descartes without consideration of his poor health.

1651 Kristina begins a series of clandestine communications with Jesuits Malines and Casati in which she confesses profound scepticism in the tenants of Lutheran religion. She begins to seriously consider abdicating her throne.

1652 Kristina has a nervous breakdown.

1654 Kristina decides to abdicate. The exact date varies among sources from June 6 to June 16. She names her cousin, Charles X Gustav as her successor. One story says that her adherents in court refuse to remove her crown, so she removes it herself and places it on Gustav's head. She leaves Sweden immediately with her personal possessions and court women. As soon as Kristina crosses out of Sweden, she sends her women back, dons men's clothing, and according to one romantic account, rides a "white charger" throughout her lengthy tour of Europe.

1655 Kristina converts to Catholicism. In December, she is received by Pope Alexamder VII in Rome. There are several accounts, however, that indicate Kristina maintained a deep scepticism regarding religion.

1656 Kristina holds an academy in France to discuss problems concerning the nature of love.

1657 Kristina attempts to seize Naples with the intention of becoming Queen. She visits Fontainebleau, and conducts chemcial experiments. Also while in Fontainebleau, Kristina learns that her servant, Marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi betrayed her plans to seize Naples to the Pope. She has Monaldeschi killed in her presence after having last rites of absolution given to him. The European world is horrified, but Kristina claims her sovereign authority. Consequently, the Pope does not welcome Kristina upon her return to Rome.

1660 Kristina visits her estates in Sweden and studies the theory of the philosopher's stone.

1666 Kristina studies astronomy with Lubenitz.

1667 Kristina returns to Sweden to attempt to gain the right to rule Poland. She fails in her attempt and returns to settle permanently in Rome.

1668 Kristina installs an observatory in her palace complete with two astronomers. She publishes a letter on tolerance of the French Huguenots in Pierre Bayle's Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres and writes a manifesto defending the Jews of Rome.

1670 Les Sentiments Heroiques and L'Ouvrage de Lisir: Les Sentiments Raisonnables, a two set collection of maxims begin in letter form. They are posthumously published along with her unfinished autobiography.

1674 Kristina holds Academia Reale which included physiologist Giovanni Borelli and astronomer-mathematician Cassini. She becomes and remains a strong patroness of the arts. She founds an academy for philosophy and literature, is an instigator in the opening of the first public opera house in Rome, and sponsors Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli.

1680 Kristina commissions art historian Filippo Baldinucci to write a biography on sculptor and architect, Giovanni Bernini to refute a campaign to discredit him. Kristina continues to support the arts and philosophy until her death.

1689 April 19. Kristina dies and is buried in Rome.
 
MOTTOES OF THE QUEEN OF SWEDEN
Kristina 1632 - 1654
Wisdom is the prop of the realm
 
Nice photo of Greta. Too bad the film was in black and white. Okay. The other photos are in black and white.
 
wasnt she buried in the Vatican if so are any other royals buried there
 
Royal Fan said:
wasnt she buried in the Vatican if so are any other royals buried there
Queen Christina is buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, alongside the remains of the popes. She is the only woman to have received this great honour.

There's a great article about Christina and her life which I really recommend (published on the website of the official gateway of Sweden), you can find it here.
 
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I saw movie with Greta Garbo and became interested in this Queen:lol:
This thread is great help to me in my research:flowers: Thanks!
 
queenofcelts said:
I saw movie with Greta Garbo and became interested in this Queen.
I've seen that movie too, and interestingly enough, Greta Garbo managed to look a whole lot like Christina (who by the way is the woman in my avatar), even though you wouldn't think so from the beginning. But I think their noses looked kind of similar. LOL. Other than that, I'm just going to say, that the movie was historically correct sometimes and at other times not.
 
Interesting Furienna. Queen Christina was one of my favorite movies and I always wondered how close it came to reality.

What do you think were the big deviations the movie took from real life?
 
Well, of course, the only big deviation was the love affair with that Spanish ambassador, which became a big part of the movie. Other than that, it was correct enough.
 
Queen Christina- wouldn't want to mess with her!

I was jsut reading about Queen Christina who ruled Sweden for 10 years I think, in the 1600's. What a strange woman!

She abdicated her throne to become Catholic and was reported to be very rude and outrageous. She also dressed in mens clothes. She had one of her 'counts' murdered in front of her and apparently murdered all her lovers once she tired of them.

I know she also outraged King Louis mother Queen Anne of France by her manish and outrageous behavior. I read she would yawn during plays much to the french queens anger. Christina also would sit down and slump her loeg over the arm of the chair like a man might do.

Apparentley she had a lesbian relationship with a woman named Madamemoselle who was to marry the French prince. She also was thought to hasten Descartes death by making him appear at court at 5 in the morning in the cold to teach her philiosophy and he was clearly not well and Christina didnt care. He died soon of pnemonia.

She also wanted to seize Naples and Poland and become their Queen but her plan was ruined by one of her aides.

What a character!
Christina of Sweden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Queen Christina of Sweden by Torrey Philemon, Tracy Marks

the book i read was just called Queen Christina.
 
Out of all the Swedish monarchs of the past Christina is the only one I know about.
I remember reading about and how she abdicated to convert to Roman Catholicism but
did not know she had male characteristics or she was unthoughful and very mean to
other people.
 
I watched a TV program "Devil's Bible" (also known as the Codex gigas), which is kept in the National Library of Sweden, on National Geographic Channel. I found it amazing that Queen Kristina made drastic changes in her life such as renouncing her faith and self-exile in Rome after she received the Codex gigas as a part of the looted things that belonged to Rudolf II. It was suggested that the above-mentioned book might have had an impact on Queen Kristina's actions.
 
Could you tell us more about the book? I've never heard of it. Kristina was pretty unconventional all her life so though the book may have had an impact on her actions, her actions also fit with her previous life. She was never a typical queen of that era.
 


That's a nice portrait of her I hadn't seen. It makes her look prettier than usual, indeed she wasn't a beauty but this portrait is perhaps idealized. It shows her in the typical women's clothing for the era which the other portraits I've seen of her such as Furienna's profile pic don't show so much. Typically, she liked to wear plainer clothing than seen here I believe. Thanks for the info on the book, Al_bina.
 
I watched a TV program "Devil's Bible" (also known as the Codex gigas), which is kept in the National Library of Sweden, on National Geographic Channel. I found it amazing that Queen Kristina made drastic changes in her life such as renouncing her faith and self-exile in Rome after she received the Codex gigas as a part of the looted things that belonged to Rudolf II. It was suggested that the above-mentioned book might have had an impact on Queen Kristina's actions.

I've watched the same documentary few days ago! Christina was supposedly amazed by the Codex gigas, but she didn't take it with her when she left Sweden. It's true that she left in a hurry, but she did take lots of other Bibles with her. So why did she leave Codex gigas?
 
I've watched the same documentary few days ago! Christina was supposedly amazed by the Codex gigas, but she didn't take it with her when she left Sweden. It's true that she left in a hurry, but she did take lots of other Bibles with her. So why did she leave Codex gigas?

I have a German Bible printed in 1649 that has handwritten Latin on the back of the title page that I am in the process of translating. The translation makes me think that it must have belonged to Christina or her Library at some point in time. Here are the first three lines and my crude translation:
"Hac Christina Regina Swecia quesam Lutheran ac Sector prop gratia"
Here Christina Queen Sweden investigation Lutheran and Sector to extend thanks

"clam sanieum fidem edocta. Vindico prius conjugio Proli Gustavi Lalatini in 1653."
in secret sound mind true informed. Delivered before wedlock Proli Gustavi Lalatini in 1653. (Illegitimate half brother Gustav died in 1653)


"deim abdico patern’s Ergro a June 54, ut liberise 5 orbnode am resigionena amplur"
next abdicated father’s throne in June 1654, (with children 5) on the 5th day (sum) resigning honorablely

Does anyone know anything about Christina having this Bible and did it travel to Rome with her (it is a Martin Luther translation so it might not have been welcome there)?:bang:
 
That's interesting. I don't know what to believe. You should show it to some experts.
 
That's interesting. I don't know what to believe. You should show it to some experts.
I have contacted the Royal Library in Sweden and asked them to compare the handwriting with their samples, so maybe I will learn something from that. Also getting a graduate student at Indiana University to help me with translation as I am stalling out.
red_ella
 
That's good.

How did you get your hands on that bible anyway? Such old bibles can't be easy to find.
 
That's interesting. I don't know what to believe. You should show it to some experts.

That's good.

How did you get your hands on that bible anyway? Such old bibles can't be easy to find.
I sell many things on eBay, see ended listing for Seller red_ella. After selling some large ticket items for a friend I walk with every morning, he came up with this old Bible to sell. At first he told me that it was Queen Isabella's Bible, so I started doing research on her. It was possible I thought as she championed the Book of Hours. Well when he delivered the Bible to me he thought that it was in Latin, but I soon found that it was a German Bible. A call to "The largest ancient Bible seller in the world" (I won't name the company) told me that the most I could get for a old German Bible was a few hundred dollars and go sell it on eBay. So I listed it there with no offers for some time. Then with more investigation found that it was a early edition 1649 printing date (MCDXLIX) of the Bible, a Martin Luther translation Bible that was authored by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha and printed by Wolfgang Endterin in Nuremberg Germany. 14 versions of this Bible were to be produced in the years between 1641 and 1758. The Bible we have may be called the Detmold edition of 1649.
See the ended Ebay listing and you will see the photos I took.
So as we started to translate the owner's notes and other writing in the Bible (notes are in Latin), we discovered the Queen was Kristina of Sweden and so I took it off eBay until we sort it all out. The owner I am selling it for had purchased it of a guy who was facing serious surgery and needed the cash. Do not know how much was paid, but it was probably not a large sum.
red_ella
 
Wow... I can't believe you can sell and buy old bibles on E-bay!
 
Wow... I can't believe you can sell and buy old bibles on E-bay!
Yes, I saw two other Bibles just like this one, but like 1710, and 1770, on the Polish eBay and one other eBay that sold for about 650 euros, but this one is older and has the connection to Kristina (I hope). Did you see my photos?
red_ella
 
I got news from Stockholm today on the "Christina Bible". Here is most of the letter:

"The so called Kurfürstenbibel you are curious about was an ambitious project. By including a glossary explaining difficult words and passages it was aimed for the enlightenment of “ordinary people”. It is doubtful whether ordinary people could actually afford this expensive folio volume, but it was nevertheless printed in 14 editions between 1641 and 1768. In our collections we keep we keep at least six of these editions.

You can read more about the history of this Bible here:

Die "Kurfürstenbibel" des Wolfgang Endter aus Nürnberg (1649)

Concerning your question I have been able to establish that the very edition you are asking about was actually owned by Queen Christina. In Isaac Vossius’s handwritten catalogue of her books it is labelled thus under Folio:

“Mart. Luthers Biblis, auff Verordnung Hertzog Ernsts. Nürnberg 1649”

I have also examined the 1649 edition we keep in our collections, which is erroneously catalogued as a 1641 edition http://platen.kb.se/kb-platen/servlet/ipac.util.PictureLoader?ImageId=78161&Scale=1.0. As you might know Queen Christina brought a large part of her book collection to Rome after her abdication and a great deal of the remainder was destroyed when the Royal Castle burnt to the ground in 1697. I have not been able to establish for certain that the 1649 edition we still keep in our collections is the actual volume once owned by Christina, but it does not seem improbable.

Be that as it may, both the 1649 and the 1652 edition that we keep have an engraved portrait of Queen Christina following next to the title page. In other words, it would have been placed on the right-hand side of the very same spread where your note is to be found on the left. I do not know whether the portrait of her was pasted only into copies destined for Swedish consumers, but it was a fairly common practice to customize books for different markets.

You do not mention any portrait in your copy but it could very well have been cut out, also a common practice in old books. The handwritten text of your copy is obviously a discussion on Queen Christina’s life and to me it seems probable that a former owner has written down an account of her deeds as a commentary to a portrait that was once found on the same opening.

I have no way to form an opinion on the hand, besides that it seems quite skilled and that the text is written in italics. However, it could not be the hand of Queen Christina or Isaac Vossius, as you suggest in your other e-mail, since her death in 1689 is recorded in the text and Vossius died already two months before her.

I hope that this answers your questions but please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any more queries.

Sincerely,"

(name omitted)

So it is back to translating the Latin to see what other clues I can get as to who it really belonged to,. or where it has been all these years. I think the next step will be to inquire where it was printed in Germany. They may have records as to how many special "Christina Bibles" were printed. I now know there were at least two printed in 1649 and one in 1652. Anyone else know of any others?
red_ella
 
It's nice to know, that you've gotten a reply. It's all very interesting. :flowers:
 
Translation of the Latin writing in the 1649 Bible

"This Christina, Queen of Sweden, once fought for the Sect of the Lutherans, secretly learned in the holy faith, was intended previously to be the wife of Carl Gustav, Count of the Palatine, until 1653. Then, following the abdication of her paternal dignity in 1654, so that she could more freely embrace and openly confess the orthodox Religion, since she was not sworn to heresy, she publicly professed the Catholic faith. Brought to (Rome?), she went to the sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin, and she completed the remainder of her trip at a slow pace. She was brought before the crown and scepter of the most perfect queen of heaven (?). When this devotion was completed, she moved to Rome, where she laudably spent 34 years altogether, and died piously into the lord at the age 63, in 1689. She was honorably buried in the Vatican sanctuary, which honor is associated to none aside from the highest pontifices, with the exception of the very great virgins, and these were queens: Mathilda and this Christina were given the honor. Therefore, it is not that Lutherans can be proud of such a head, and by their own bibles of the same monarch against something splendid or authoritative, may they obtain by prayer [the path] out of their errors."
Are there any clues as to who may have written this? and when? Ownership of the Bible?
A Catholic after 1689 is about as far as I can go with this.
Red_Ella
 
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