Historical royal figures like Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great have long captivated the imagination because of their extraordinary longevity as powerful female leaders in a male-dominated world. When Sweden’s first female monarch came to the throne in the early 17th century, she appeared to possess all the attributes required to achieve similar success, but Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne early, at just 27 years of age.
A huge celebrity during her own lifetime because of her patronage of the arts and willingness to defy social convention, she has largely become a footnote in history. Yet Christina’s story is, in many ways, just as extraordinary as that of those two more celebrated female monarchs.
Born in early December 1626, Christina was the daughter of the influential Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, and his German wife, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. A staunch advocate of Lutheran Protestantism, Gustavus is credited with spearheading Sweden’s early 17th-century development into one of Europe’s military superpowers, as well as laying the foundations for the modern Swedish state.
At birth, Christina is reported to have been covered in hair and was initially mistaken as a boy. The King was accustomed to risking his own life on the battlefield and the royal couple had already suffered the loss of three children in infancy. When it became known that the new baby was female and not the desired son and heir, any disappointment was therefore accompanied by relief that at least the Swedish royal line of succession was now secured.
A month before Christina’s sixth birthday, her father was killed at the Battle of Lützen. Over the course of the following decade, Sweden was governed by a council of five male regents, headed by Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, who also oversaw Christina’s preparation to take on the role of sovereign. The young royal had little contact with her mother, who reportedly suffered a mental breakdown and was exiled from court.
Reflecting her unique status, Christina’s education was like that of no previous Swedish royal princess, bearing more resemblance to that of a male heir to the throne. She was schooled in philosophy, politics and the sciences, learnt several foreign languages and even participated in stereotypically masculine sports like fencing, hunting and shooting.
Upon coming of age in 1644, Christina was proclaimed “King of Sweden”, a title which was presumably intended to promote confidence and stability. Like her earlier English counterpart, Queen Elizabeth I, Christina appears to have deliberately adopted certain masculine traits to create a public persona that matched the era’s stereotypical view of monarchy. Several historical accounts of her life highlight this aspect of Christina’s personality, not always in the most sympathetic of terms.
Christina shared another striking similarity with the English Queen. Both women came under enormous pressure to marry and produce an heir but refused to forego the personal independence which they so prized. In October 1646, Christina wrote to her cousin Charles, who was one of her suitors: “Do not take it ill that I owe it to myself not to let anything in the world disturb my peace”.
The young Swedish Queen became known for her patronage of the arts and sciences. Many of the 17th century’s leading artists and scholars were encouraged to visit Stockholm during her reign and for a while the Swedish capital became the de facto cultural capital of Europe, earning the nickname the Athens of the North.
She became particularly intrigued by the work of French philosopher, René Descartes, and in late 1649 personally invited him to visit the Swedish capital. The eminent Frenchman was requested to attend the royal palace at the unearthly hour of 5am each morning to instruct Christina, a notoriously early riser, in the finer points of philosophy. Unaccustomed to the extreme cold of a Swedish winter, Descartes tragically died of pneumonia only a matter of weeks later.
Despite still only being in her early twenties, the Swedish Queen played a key role in the negotiations that led to the Peace of Westphalia, the treaty which finally ended the Thirty Years’ War. She displayed considerable political acumen during the negotiations, but her efforts did not meet with universal approval at home.
Christina came under increasing fire too for her extravagant spending at a time when the country’s finances had taken a big hit because of its prolonged participation in the war. Doubtlessly motivated by the recent overthrow of King Charles I in England, some Swedish noblemen openly spoke of limiting Christina’s power and an attempt was made on her life whilst she was attending a church service. As a result, the Swedish Queen’s health came under increasing strain.
In 1649, Christina formally proposed her cousin and former suitor, Charles Gustavus, as her successor. She is believed to have held early discussions with her senior advisors regarding abdication soon afterwards, but it took five years for arrangements to be finalized.
Eventually, in an emotionally charged abdication ceremony held at Uppsala Castle on June 6, 1854, Christina formally handed over her stately regalia, item by item, ending with her crown. Charles Gustavus was crowned as King later the same day and Christina left her native land soon afterwards. She was still just 27 years of age.
Only a few months later, Christina converted to Roman Catholicism. This sheds further light on her decision to abdicate, as such a course of action would have been unthinkable for a monarch of a country that obliged its citizens to be Lutheran Protestants.
In her pursuit of intellectual enlightenment, she had frequently debated the topic of religion with the scholars whom she invited to her court, including Descartes, the leading philosopher of the day. However, one Jesuit priest, named Antonio Macedo, is often cited as being the key figure in her conversion to Catholicism. From 1651 onwards, Christina was in frequent contact with Macedo, an interpreter at the Portuguese embassy in Sweden, and even tasked him with arranging for two leading Jesuit scholars from Rome to visit her secretly so that she could quiz them on aspects of their faith.
The jury remains out as to whether Christina’s decision to abdicate was ultimately motivated by an overwhelming desire to convert to Catholicism. Other factors were certainly also at play, including the continuing pressure to marry and produce an heir, as well as her personal health and well-being. Her later biographer, Henry Woodhead, provides some interesting insight into the issue, concluding that: “She would probably never have openly renounced the Protestant faith as long as she wore the crown of Sweden, but at the same time there is great doubt whether the various causes which led to her abdication would have been sufficient unless she had already been secretly inclined to become a Catholic”.
Christina led a largely peripatetic existence in the months immediately following her abdication, sometimes disguised in men’s clothing as she journeyed around Northern Europe. However, the conversion of such a prominent Protestant figure to Roman Catholicism represented a huge publicity coup for the Counter-Reformation movement. When she eventually travelled to Rome in late 1655, her conversion was officially marked in a lavish ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica, at which Pope Alexander VII officiated.
Thereafter, at the invitation of the Pope, Christina settled in Rome, where she enthusiastically resumed her patronage of the arts at her home in the Palazzo Riario. Baroque composers Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli, and Bernini, the leading sculptor of the age, were just three of those who benefited from her backing. She also revealed a continued interest in politics, making failed attempts to claim the thrones of Naples and Poland.
Upon her death in April 1689, Christina was laid to rest in the Vatican, remaining one of only a tiny handful of women to be awarded that honor. As in life, so in death, her conversion to Catholicism continued to be used for propaganda purposes.
Christina of Sweden’s decision to abdicate and then effectively swap religious sides caused shockwaves in her own era and has continued to divide opinion ever since. Historical accounts of her life vary wildly, depending on whether they were written from a Catholic or Protestant perspective, meaning that it remains frustratingly difficult to form a definitive conclusion as to her motives and influences. The enigmatic Christina does, however, unquestionably remain one of the 17th century’s most fascinating monarchs and an inspirational early intellectual female role model.
Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, Library of Congress
