1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. It is Christina of Sweden's birthday. She 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: was born on December eighteen six. That is the New 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: style calendar date, which was December eight in the old style. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: Christina is sometimes called King Christina, both because she was 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: raised as the heir to her father's throne and also 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: because when she was born, the midwives who attended her 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: birth initially reported that she was a boy. There are 8 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: lots of different ways that her story is interpreted today, 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: but she is a clear example of somebody who lived 10 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: outside of society's expectations regarding sex, gender, and sexuality. In 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: This episode originally came out on October Enjoy Welcome to 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of I 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the cast. I'm Tracy 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: Vie Wilson. Today we're going back to the world of 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: Swedish royalty. This time it is to Queen Christina. She 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: lived about a hundred years after previous podcast subject Eric 17 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: the fourteen, and she, like him, was also part of 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: the House of Vassa and her story has a lot 19 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: of our favorite running podcast themes. Most of them really 20 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: started with previous hosts, but they've carried on until today. 21 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: We have a sad royal childhood, we have an abdication, 22 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: and we even had an exhumation. All in all, Queen 23 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: Christina was not known for being a particularly great ruler 24 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: of Sweden, and she abdicated her throne only about a 25 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: decade into her reign. But she was extremely learned. She 26 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: spoke a lot of languages. Apart from her native Swedish, 27 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: there was also Greek, Latin, German, French, Flemish, Italian, Spanish 28 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: and Finnish, along with a little Hebrew and Arabic. And 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: she helped start the first Swedish newspaper in sixteen forty five, 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: as well as Sweden's first public opera house and its 31 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: first universal public school program. She amassed a huge collection 32 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: of arts and literature, and her collection of books and 33 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: manuscripts later went on to become part of the Vatican 34 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: Library uh And a sort of a side note, her 35 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: life became a movie starring Greta Garbo in nineteen thirty three. 36 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: So her whole life was marked by being this kind 37 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: of contradictory, restless character, and that started basically from the 38 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: moment that she was born. So Christina was born to 39 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: King Gustav Adolf and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. Before she 40 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: was born, her parents had had two stillborn babies, and 41 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: they also had a daughter who had died before she 42 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: reached the age of one, so people were really starting 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: to be concerned about the kingdom having an air. Gustav 44 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: had an illegitimate son who was aimed Gustav Gustafsson, and 45 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: he was not eligible for a lot of reasons, including 46 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: his illegitimacy to be on the throne. King. Gustav's Catholic cousin, 47 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: uh Seismund, was king of Poland and he had two 48 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: sons of his own, and people were quite worried that 49 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: if something had happened to Gustav before he produced a 50 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: legitimate air, uh Sismund was going to take over and 51 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: make Sweden, which at that point was a staunchly Lutheran country, 52 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: into a Catholic country, and since since Sigismund had two sons, 53 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: it seemed like that had the potential to turn into 54 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: a lasting Catholic dynasty, so it would really have upended Sweden. 55 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: Maria Eleonora, so Christina's mother, also seemed to to have 56 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: developed some kind of mental or emotional disorder over the 57 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: course of her previous pregnancies and the children she had lost. 58 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: She had always been really affectionate with her husband, but 59 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: she became just desperately attached to him. She would get 60 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: really agitated and distressed whenever he was away, which he 61 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: had to be away quite a lot because he was king. 62 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: Her language skills and her handwriting started to deteriorate, and 63 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: her behavior became really erratic. People started to worry about 64 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: her ability to conceive and to carry a healthy child 65 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: to term. However, despite all of those potential issues UH. 66 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: Five years into Gustave and Maria Eleanora's marriage, Maria became 67 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: pregnant with Christina, who was born on December eighth of 68 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: sixty six, that's in the Julian calendar uh, which would 69 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: be December eighteenth under the modern Gregorian calendar. And she 70 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: was a little early and born in Call, so that 71 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: means her amniotic membrane was still intact and covering her 72 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: once she was born, and so the midwives removed the 73 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: membrane and they declared her initially to be a boy 74 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: uh and words spread around the castle to a great 75 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: deal of celebration. However, once the excitement was over and 76 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: they took a longer and more careful look at her, 77 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: they almost immediately realized she was actually a girl, and 78 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: everybody was sort of afraid how the King would react. 79 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: I mean, they had had all of these previous strategy 80 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: tragedies and all this build up, and they had just 81 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: told him joyfully that he had a son. Now. Um, 82 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: so nobody told him about the mistake until the next day. 83 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: That kind of cracks me up. Uh. There's been a 84 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: great deal of speculation about what may have caused this 85 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: misidentification on the part of the midwives to believe that 86 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: Christina was a boy rather than a girl. There have 87 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: been theories bandied about that she had an intersex condition 88 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: and some kind of chromosomal disorder, and that her external 89 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: genitalia may have exhibited both male and female traits. Another 90 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: theory is that her body was simply ambiguous and that 91 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: the lighting was poor, and that there could have been 92 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: a little wishful thinking in the mix, and that the 93 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: midwives saw initially what they wanted to see, which would 94 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: have been a male heir. There are a lot of 95 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: family memoirs from this time who portray the King is 96 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: being just enormously and immediately welcoming and accepting of the 97 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: fact that he actually had a daughter. Uh, And some 98 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: of that is kind of glossing over the initial shock 99 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,119 Speaker 1: and upset that he did have. Um having a daughter 100 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: instead of a son was a big upset. They had 101 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: been trying for a long time to have a male 102 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: heir and now they didn't. But he did quickly warm 103 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: to the idea of having a daughter and of raising 104 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: his daughter like a prince. Christina's mother, on the other hand, 105 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: was devastated that after so many attempts, now she had 106 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: a daughter and not the son that she had been, 107 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: you know, basically tasked with providing for the kingdom. So 108 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: she basically shunned her daughter for a lot of her 109 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: early life. Uh. And Gustav decided that Christina, in spite 110 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 1: of being female, would indeed be his heir, and he 111 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: wanted her, as Tracy said just a moment ago, to 112 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: have a princely upbringing. And this was not just in 113 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: terms of her agication and her intended role as as 114 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: the leader of the country, but also in terms of 115 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: her sort of day to day exercise and the pastimes 116 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: that that they would kind of nurture her into as 117 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: she grew up. This suited her just fine. She was 118 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: not at all fond of the duties and pastimes that 119 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: genuine that generally fell to women at the time. Her 120 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: father wanted her to learn to ride and to fight 121 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: and to handle a bow, and she did all that, 122 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: and she did it well, and her demeanor was not 123 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: at all typically feminine. I think today people would have 124 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: called her a tomboy. And just for clarity, it really 125 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: was not unheard of for girls to have the same 126 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: education as boys, especially when they were in line for 127 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: the throne, and so Christina's schoolmates were part of her 128 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: childhood were actually two female cousins. The fighting and the 129 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: hunting and the bow work, however, we're not really typical 130 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: pursuits for girls or women. So the idea of Christina 131 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: as his air was not just an idle fancy on 132 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: Gustav's part. He started making real plans to confirm her 133 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: as his successor while she was still a baby. The 134 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: Thirty Years War had been going on for about eight 135 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: years by the time Christina was born, and Adolf knew 136 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: that it was very possible that he would be killed 137 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: in battle. So in addition to officially naming her as 138 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: his successor. He started looking for suitable candidates for her 139 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: to marry when she got older to cement the hereditary 140 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: line to the throne. The primary candidate was a cousin 141 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 1: of hers named Carl Gustav. He also had his chancellor 142 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: named Axel Oxenstierna, along with five regents to rule in 143 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: his and his daughter's stead. However, he didn't really have 144 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: an active part in raising his young heir. He was 145 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: needed in the war and Christina's mother wanted nothing to 146 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: do with her. So Christina spent most of her early 147 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: childhood living with cousins, except for being dropped once she 148 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: was a baby, and that was possibly on purpose by 149 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: someone with Catholic leanings. It was mostly a happy few years. 150 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: She was surrounded by other children close to her own age. 151 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: She had playmates and friends, and other girls who were 152 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: studying with her, so this part of her earlier life, 153 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: in spite of being separated from her parents, was not 154 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: all that bad. But when she was just five, so 155 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: still very young, her father was killed in the Battle 156 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: of Lutzen, and Christina's mother, of course completely distraught. Uh 157 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 1: We talked about how clingy and sort of almost obsessive 158 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: she had become with king, so her mother had the 159 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: king's heart removed and placed in a golden casket so 160 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: that she could keep it with her. Her behavior continued 161 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: to become increasingly bizarre, and she spent a lot of 162 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: money on a really elaborate funeral. She also did not 163 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: bury the king's body right away. Now this was not 164 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: entirely a heard of at the time, especially when it 165 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: was wintertime and the ground was frozen and it was 166 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: difficult for people to travel for that sort of thing. 167 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: But Gustav's body wound up being buried nineteen months after 168 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: his death, and this was over the fierce objections of 169 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: his wife, who had kept it lying in state and 170 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: spent hours and hours at a time viewing it. At 171 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: some point she even kept the coffin in her own 172 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: bedroom so she could have it close by. So, as 173 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: we said, not a typical for there to be a 174 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: long delay at this point between when king was when 175 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: the king died, and when the king was buried. But 176 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: this was a really long time, and Maria Eleanora's displays 177 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: of grief were not at all typical for the time. 178 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: So the king was finally buried, and once that happened, 179 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: Maria Eleanora took custody of Christina, and she took her 180 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: out of the home where she had been and had 181 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: friends and playmates, and she moved her into a much 182 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: more lonely and erratic and just sort of cold existence 183 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: that was largely just the two of them together. And 184 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: this is where Christina's royal childhood became kind of sad. 185 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:11,959 Speaker 1: She started having these really sudden illnesses, and the general 186 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: agreement is that these were brought on by the stress 187 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: of the situation. She generally got better pretty quickly, but 188 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: she got sick over and over again. It was a 189 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:25,319 Speaker 1: frequent occurrence. In part to get some distance from her mother, 190 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: she really threw herself into her education and into training 191 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: and into exercise. She sort of dove even farther into 192 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: the more masculine parts of her upbringing. And before we 193 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: move into when she actually ascended to the throne, Holly, 194 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: would you like to take a minute for a brief 195 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor. It sounds like a capital idea. 196 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: And now let's get back to Christina of Sweden and 197 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: now when she's going to actually become queen, and becoming 198 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: queen and her ascension to the throne really was not 199 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,239 Speaker 1: as simple as just being the king's daughter and surviving 200 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: to adulthood to be crowned. Sweden was an elective monarchy, 201 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: so even if someone had inherited the throne, they still 202 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: had to be accepted by the Reek's Dog, which was 203 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: Sweden's parliament, as well as the Swedish senators. This meant 204 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: that the four estates of the reeks Dog, which were 205 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: the clergy, the nobles, the burghers and the peasants, all 206 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,079 Speaker 1: had to be in favor of Christina's presence on the 207 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: throne in order for her to actually become the queen. 208 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: And the end they were and Christina became the Queen 209 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Great Princess of Finland, 210 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: Duchess of Estonia and Karelia, and Lady of Ingria, and 211 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: she basically carried herself as a ruler right from the beginning. 212 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: The Chancellor began to allow her to attend council meetings 213 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: and participate as early as the age of fourteen. She 214 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: was officially crowned at the age of eighteen, so she 215 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: was kind of doing the work of this job for 216 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 1: several years before it was made official. She was at 217 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: that point simultaneously. A diminutive young woman, she had very 218 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: fine hands and beautiful blue eyes, but she was also 219 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: a very masculine, for she walked the walk, she talked 220 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: to talk, and she swore like a soldier. Christina and 221 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: Chancellor Axel Oxensternia did not see eye to eye. The 222 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: Chancellor had done a really good job of ruling between 223 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: the death of her father and her age of majority, 224 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: and even when the king was still alive, the two 225 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: men had really worked together to run the kingdom and 226 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: to plan and make decisions. Axel had been an efficient 227 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: and pragmatic diplomat, and he was well respected among the Reeks, 228 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: dog and among Sweden's military leaders. But Christina was a 229 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: proud and arrogant eighteen year old, and she really felt 230 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: like it was her time to shine, and so she 231 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: and Axel butted heads. They did so repeatedly and often. 232 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 1: If this were a modern day film, you would maybe 233 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: expect them to end up falling in love somehow, but 234 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: things that would work out that way in real life. Yes, 235 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: that would definitely be the romantic comedy version version of 236 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: Christina of Sweden. They also started to have financial problems 237 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: in the kingdom Pretty early in her reign, she tried 238 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: to continue her father's generosity with the royal coffers, but 239 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: she wasn't nearly as careful about it as he had been. 240 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: She got into this cycle of giving away too much 241 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: and then selling noble titles to try to earn some 242 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: more money, and then raising taxes on the people she 243 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: had just promoted. It did not work out well. It 244 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: was it was not an efficient way of ridging the gap, 245 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: kind of like a cascading circle of bad decisions. Um Naturally, 246 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: in the midst of all of this, everyone wanted her 247 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: to marry Uh. In addition to Carl Gustav, another suitor 248 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: was Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg, who ended up marrying someone else, 249 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: and Christina had a not all that clandestine affair with 250 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: one of the ladies of her court, which led to 251 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: some speculation about her sexual orientation, her sex, and her gender, 252 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: which of course tied back into that initial Uh mistake 253 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: in identifying her sex. In the midst of all of this, 254 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: popular opinions started to turn against her, and when she 255 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: was twenty a man armed with daggers tried to kill 256 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: her while she was at prayer. Her life being apparently 257 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: legitimately at risk put a lot more pressure on her 258 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: to get married, which was an idea that she continued 259 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: to resist. And about this same time, the Thirty Years 260 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: War was drawing to a close, which was something she 261 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: herself was greatly in favor of, but not everyone felt 262 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: the same. Many Protestant clergy wanted the war to continue 263 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: until there could be a decisive Protestant victory over Catholicism. 264 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: Others wanted it to continue just so that Sweden could 265 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: continue to act additional war booty to potentially supplement their 266 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: their money situation. Yeah, the Thirty Years War was this 267 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: massive and obviously very lengthy conflict, and different nations had 268 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: different motivations for being involved in it. We haven't really 269 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: talked about that part of it because it's kind of 270 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: ancillary to this podcast. But yeah, for Sweden in particular, 271 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: there were people who felt like ending the war at 272 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: that point was too soon. But to Christina, as long 273 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: as the war went on, she could never really be 274 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: in charge. While she had been accepted as Sweden's queen 275 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: and she was making lots of decisions for herself as 276 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: the ruler, she really had no authority over military matters. 277 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: War was pretty much exclusively a man's game, especially when 278 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: it came to running the show. So as long as 279 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: the war went on, the Chancellor and the regents continued 280 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: to have a major hand in making decisions that Christina 281 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: could have no control over. Ending the war would and 282 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: did put an end to one of their sources of 283 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: power and gave Chrisdna more direct control over pretty much 284 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: everything that was going on in the kingdom. So the 285 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: Thirty Years War did indeed end with the Peace of 286 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 1: Westphalia in sixty eight, and once the war had concluded, 287 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: Christina turned her attention to her own court, and she 288 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: began inviting artists, writers and thinkers to the Swedish court. 289 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: The most famous among all of these was mathematician and 290 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: philosopher reneed A Cart, who she invited to stay in 291 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: the palace at Stockholm. He did not really want to go. 292 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: Sweden was too cold and it was too far away, 293 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: and he really doubted that the Lutheran court was going 294 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: to welcome him with open arms since he was Catholic. 295 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,439 Speaker 1: But in the end he was convinced to come, and he, 296 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: in a translator, went to Sweden in September of sixteen 297 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: forty nine. His misgivings about going and about staying once 298 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,880 Speaker 1: he got there were unfortunately prescient. He got the flu 299 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: the following January and died. Uh Some people blamed Christina 300 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: both for bringing him there and for putting huge demands 301 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: on his time and effort while he was visiting courts. 302 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 1: Yet another source of pressure for Christina to marry came 303 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: in sixteen forty nine, when her cousin Jan kazim Years 304 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: ascended to the throne in Poland. This was the second 305 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: of Sigismund's two sons who had so worried people before 306 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: Christina was born. Jan succeeded his late brother and married 307 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: his late brother's widow, who was still young enough to 308 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: have children. So once again people were threatened by the 309 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: idea that the monarchy in Poland was going to come 310 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,160 Speaker 1: to power over Sweden. Instead of marrying, though, Christina did 311 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: something completely different. She went to the Reek's Dog and 312 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: said that she wanted her cousin, Count Palatine Karl Gustav, 313 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: the one that she had been intended to marry, to 314 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: be named as her successor. The Reek's Dog pretty much 315 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: scoffed at that entire idea. They were like you're gonna 316 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: marry him anyway, So what's the point. Like, that's the 317 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: guy you're gonna get married to and have babies with, 318 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: so naming him as your successor now seems silly. They 319 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: thought this even though she was still having sudden illnesses. 320 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: Even even though she was sick pretty often, people still 321 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: thought she was young and healthy enough to have a baby. Uh. 322 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: Christina not delighted by this reaction, she went back to 323 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: them and she said it was going to be impossible 324 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: for her to marry. In her words, quote, I am 325 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 1: absolutely certain about it. I do not intend to give 326 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: you reasons. My character is simply not suited to marriage. 327 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: I have prayed God fervently that my inclination might change, 328 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: but I simply cannot marry. This once again, was a 329 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: completely foreign and kind of silly idea to the Reeks, 330 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: dog and they refused her suggestion. Again. They basically thought, 331 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: she's just gonna agree to marry him eventually. They've been 332 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: friends since their childhood, they get along fine. Of course 333 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: they should be married. It seems so clear to them. 334 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: They were. They were really like, well, obviously, you're just 335 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: going to marry him, so why is why is this 336 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: a big thing, are you being fussy? So the thing 337 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: that ended up changing the Reeks Dommas minds on this 338 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: issue was the execution of Charles the First of England. 339 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: When that happened, leaders began to fear rebellion on multiple fronts, 340 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,919 Speaker 1: so they wanted to ensure that the line of succession 341 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: was not going to be interrupted. So in March of 342 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: sixty nine, they finally agreed to officially named Carl Gustav 343 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: as Christina's successor, although at that point they really still 344 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: thought she would end up marrying him and make it 345 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: all a sort of a moot gesture. Yeah, they thought 346 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: they were humoring her. She, on the other hand, thought 347 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,400 Speaker 1: she was getting exactly what she wanted. She was still 348 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: going to get to rule, but she was not going 349 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: to have to get married and produce an air Carl 350 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: was going to have to do that. She was off 351 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 1: the hook. And before we talk about getting further off 352 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: the hook, let's take another brief moment for a word 353 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: from a sponsor that sounds grand. And now let's return 354 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,479 Speaker 1: to the story of how Queen Christina, having fought so 355 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: long and so hard to get total control over the throne, abdicated. 356 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: So although She had started to rule officially at eighteen, 357 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: and that was after she had already been kind of 358 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: involved in some government duties. She still wasn't actually crowned 359 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,120 Speaker 1: until she was twenty three, so it really took quite 360 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: a long time for her to kind of get all 361 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: of the dust settled on her official ascension. By the 362 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: time she was actually planning her coronation, which was scheduled 363 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:44,200 Speaker 1: for October of sixteen fifty, she was already thinking abdicating 364 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: might sound like a good plan. Before she had told 365 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: anyone about this plan, she started trying to convince the 366 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: reeks dog not just to make Carl Gustav her successor 367 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: if she died, but to make him the actual next 368 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: hereditary king of sweet not just someone to sort of 369 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: run things in the event of her untimely death until 370 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,879 Speaker 1: another real king could be found and elected. And they 371 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: said no, um, so she pulled a series of political 372 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: strings until they finally agreed. She basically pitted all of 373 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: the different classes against one another, and like played up 374 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: the you know, the noble sphere of the common people 375 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: taking over and the common people's fear of the nobles, 376 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,239 Speaker 1: until they all agreed that if if she would just 377 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: give them a break, that they would do what she asked. Uh. 378 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: In August of sixteen fifty one, so less than a 379 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: year after her very extravagant coronation, she informed the Senate 380 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: that she planned to abdicate, and she spent the next 381 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: several months trying to convince the Reefs dog to allow it. 382 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,439 Speaker 1: I feel like she spent her entire time trying to 383 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: convince the Reefs dog of things. That is pretty accurate. 384 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: There was a lot of her trying to get the 385 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 1: Reeks dog to do what she wanted. Um, they not 386 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,199 Speaker 1: buying this at all. And so after this couple of 387 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: months of really trying to convince them, she dropped the 388 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: matter for a couple of years. But during the interim 389 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: she started meeting with Jesuits and talking about converting to Catholicism. 390 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: So we have talked about up to this point, you know, 391 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: some pretty deep seated um discord between the religions, and 392 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: so for her to want to convert, that's big stuff. Uh. 393 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: Catholicism was a religion that had really appealed to her 394 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: since she was quite young. When she was nine, a 395 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: tutor had told her that Catholicism did not allow lay 396 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: people to read the Bible, it encouraged celibacy, and believed 397 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: in purgatory, and her reaction to all of that was, oh, 398 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: what a lovely religion. In early sixteen fifty four, when 399 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: everyone thought this whole matter of abdicating had just been dropped, 400 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: Christina announced once again that she was going to abdicate. 401 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: She negotiated a settlement that I did her some lands 402 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: and some money, and it kept her as the sovereign 403 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 1: of Sweden, so she didn't have to handle any of 404 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: her royal responsibilities. But she was still a queen regardless 405 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: of how you feel about her her various ways of 406 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: running the kingdom that we're not all that great. This 407 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: was kind of a masterful string pulling to get exactly 408 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: the best possible situation for her to be in. Yeah, 409 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 1: like all of the benefits, none of the responsibilities. So 410 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: she abdicated that may, leaving the palace before midnight on 411 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: the night of Karl Gustav's coronation. She was like the 412 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: person that leaves the wedding reception early in this case, 413 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: she was like, yeah, I have fun, I'm out of here. 414 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,120 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of theories about exactly why 415 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: she was so set on abdicating. Her explanation was that 416 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: she thought that they really needed a man to rule 417 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: the country, in particular to lead the army. So if 418 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 1: you know, there were another future war that the country 419 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: was going to participate in, they would be better off 420 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: with a male king than with a female queen. She 421 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: also said that the pressures of ruling had been too 422 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 1: much for her and that she needed to rest. And 423 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: as we've made pretty clear, she was really deeply opposed 424 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 1: to the idea of marrying and she was under immense 425 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 1: pressure to do so as queen, And as soon as 426 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: she was out of Sweden, she adopted a more masculine dress, 427 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: more masculine mannerisms, and a more masculine demeanor, and she 428 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 1: converted to Catholicism. She took the names Maria and Alexandra 429 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,880 Speaker 1: after Alexander the Great. And I want to make clear 430 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: here she was not living as a man. She tended 431 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: to wear trousers instead of dresses and to just behave 432 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: in a more coarse way than women were expected to, 433 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: but she did not present herself as a man. She 434 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: was still apart from a couple of times as she 435 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: was traveling in disguise, she was still Christina. Her conversion 436 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,360 Speaker 1: to Catholicism was an enormous deal. Sweden was a Lutheran 437 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 1: nation and as Queen Christina was the head of the church, 438 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: and even though she had abdicated her rule, this was 439 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: still pretty monumental on and she was still sovereign, so 440 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: they still had a lot of stock in her religion. 441 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: So Christina traveled to Rome, where she was a guest 442 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: at the Vatican, something women were not generally allowed to do, 443 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 1: and she later moved into a palace in Rome, which 444 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: was her permanent home until her death, although at various 445 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,880 Speaker 1: times she was away from that palace in Sweden, in Hamburg, 446 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: and elsewhere. While in Rome, she fell in love with 447 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: Cardinal Ducchio at Alino, who was the Pope's representative and 448 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: a priest, and this seems to have been more like 449 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 1: a romantic friendship than a physical relationship, but he did 450 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: basically break up with her in a letter later in 451 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: their relationship when he quote freed her. In sixteen fifty seven, 452 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: while traveling, she became embroiled in an anti Habsburg plot 453 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: to seize control of Naples. This plot had to be 454 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: abandoned when she learned that one of her officers had 455 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: revealed her plans, so she had last rites administered to 456 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,360 Speaker 1: him and then had him executed in her presence. This 457 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: was a long and gory execution, and the Pope did 458 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: not approve of it, and so when she returned to Rome, 459 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: she was no longer allowed in the Pope's presence. Yeah, 460 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: her conversion had basically been viewed as this giant coup 461 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: among the Catholic Church. They she was sort of their 462 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: golden example of of awesomeness for a while, but not 463 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: anymore after this. Uh. Later in her life, she also 464 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: sort of wanted to rule again. She had hoped to 465 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: take the throne of Poland Lithuania, another elective monarchy, after 466 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: Yan Kazimir's abdicated Um. She really did not have any 467 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: tie to that throne apart from being a cousin of 468 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,959 Speaker 1: the previous king. Um she was, you know, a vassa 469 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: and now she was Catholic and that was really all 470 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: that she had to show for herself on the matter, 471 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: and so that attempt failed. She also hoped, for a while, uh, 472 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: in her sort of mere curial desires, that she would 473 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: become Queen of Sweden again after Karl Gustav's sudden death 474 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,479 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty eight. His own successor at 475 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,360 Speaker 1: the time was only five, But she did not get 476 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: her wish in this case and did not become Queen 477 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: the ruler of Sweden again. She spent her last year's 478 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: mostly keeping to herself, and she was basically broke When 479 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: she died in sixteen eighty nine at the age of 480 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: sixty two. All of her possessions passed to Ducchio Atzelino, 481 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: although there wasn't enough money to pay off her debts 482 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: or to set up legacies for some people who had 483 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: worked with her and deserved them, which normally would have 484 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: been part of what a ruler's estate would have done. 485 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: Her tomb is in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Her 486 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: body was exhumed in nine to try to determine whether 487 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: she had an intersex condition or whether there was some 488 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: other explanation for the midwives early confusion about what her 489 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: sex was, and then whether that might explain her more 490 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: masculine behavior later on. The results of that were totally inconclusive. 491 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,479 Speaker 1: In Christina's description of herself, she said she had quote 492 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: an ineradicable prejudice against everything that women like to talk 493 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: about or do in women's words and occupations. I showed 494 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: myself to be quite incapable, and I saw no possibility 495 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,840 Speaker 1: of improvement in this respect. And that is Christina. She's 496 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: quite a fascinating character. She has kind of fascinating character. 497 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: One of the papers that I read about her, that 498 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: which not a lot from it, made its way into 499 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: this outline because this outline became very long, Uh, was 500 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: about the erotic art in her artwork and how her 501 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,000 Speaker 1: artwork collection, um, and how a lot of the people 502 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: who had previously been owners of this artwork had kind 503 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: of kept that off in the corner, um and not 504 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: really wanted to be associated with the fact that this 505 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: more erotic art was part of their collection. UM. She 506 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: on the other hand, hung it all in her grand salon, 507 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: which was right outside her bedroom, and she would greet 508 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: visitors with these erotic nudes hanging all around her. Um. Yeah. 509 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,440 Speaker 1: She just was a whole pile of contradictions her whole 510 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: her whole life, because she, on the one hand, did 511 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: not seem super interested in, uh, having relationships of a 512 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: romantic sort with people. She You know, she had a few, 513 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: but they didn't really last. But you know, then she's 514 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: greeting visitors in a room with hung with these erotic 515 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: nude paintings. There there are some fascinating juxtapositions there her 516 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: many fay so much for joining us on this Saturday. 517 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: Since this episode is out of the archive, if you 518 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: heard an email address or a Facebook U r L 519 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 520 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: could be obsolete now. Our current email address is History 521 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 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