Women in History Christina of Denmark
A woman of strong affections and resolute will. She was courted by princes and
kings, yet remained faithful to her true loves. Her grasp of power would be
given then taken away. But men and women of all descriptions adored her. We
now take a look at the extraordinary life of Christina of Denmark.
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Christina was born in 1521 in the small city of Nyborg in Denmark.
Yet just two years later, she was taken into exile after some nobles had
rebelled against her father and had now offered the throne to Duke Frederick
of Holstein. For Christina and her family, this meant moving away to safety.
The Netherlands would be the resulting destination. It was here that she and
the rest of the family would stay. Christina would now be brought up by
Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary. They were her grandaunt and aunt. This
was due to the death of her mother in 1526. By 1532, her father had been
imprisoned in Denmark following an attempt to regain his throne. These were
troubling times for the remainder of the family, especially as in the same
year her brother also died. But her brother's death now elevated Christina to
second in line to the throne behind her elder sister Dorothea.
Christina continued to grow in stature. She was now under the supervision of
Madame de Fiennes, her governess and apart from the obligatory education she was
taught to become an active equestrian with hunting being a favourite pastime.
As Christina matured, she was described as a great beauty and one of
intelligence. These traits would make her a good catch and a valuable asset to
her uncle, the Emperor Charles the fifth. In 1527, Thomas Wolsey made a
request, he was an English Archbishop and Catholic clergymen at the court of
Henry the Eighth. His plan was to betroth Henry Fitzroy, the king's
illegitimate son to Christina, but this request was refused, mainly because no
one wanted Christina married to someone born out of wedlock. By 1531,
Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, asked if he could marry any
of the sisters. This seemed at the time a strange request, but one that
Charles the fifth took seriously enough to deny the Duke a marriage to
Dorothea, but he did agree he could have Christina.
So on September the
23rd 1533, the couple were married by proxy. The following year on May the
third, Christina made her way to Milan, she was greeted with much
appreciation, and the couples cemented their marriage on May the fourth.
The relationship between Christina and the Duke was said to be pretty good. She
was regarded as a symbol of peace and hope, and not to mention her beauty.
Although she was still only a child. Over time, Christina would be given her
own court. It was here she first met Francesca Paleologa of Montferrat,
her lady in waiting together, the two of them would go on to have a lifelong
friendship. Although Christina was riding the crest of a wave right now, the
same couldn't be said of her husband. Francesco was very weak, and his health
was a significant concern. The problems started when someone tried to poison
him a few years earlier, and this affected his ability to have children and
now with a real fear he could die without any possible succession. Yet,
although the marriage was successful, the couple never had any children, and
Francesco Sforza passed away October 1535. This now left Christina a widow at
the tender age of just 13. Charles the fifth granted a request by Christina to
continue to live in Milan. She had become a popular figure and was loved by
all, yet suggestions and recommendations started to come in about the
possibility of a new marriage. But overall, these were all discarded. It would
be in 1536 that Christina would leave Milan and now head off to Pavia. By
1537, Christina moved again, this time to stay with her aunt at the court of the
Dowager Queen Mary of Hungary, who was the governor of the Low Countries.
Back in England, Henry the Eighth have recently lost his third wife, Jane Seymour,
who had died in 1537. It would be now that Christina was to be considered as a
potential new partner for the king. Hans Holbein Henry's most accomplished
artists would set out to Brussels to meet with and paint a portrait of
Christina. The painting shows Christina in a mourning dress. But for Christina,
this was nothing more than a painting
She had little interest in becoming Henry's new wife after word had got around
about how he treated, or should I say, mistreated his previous wives. It
wasn't only Christina, who was against this, Mary of hungry was far from
prepared to hand her over and herself was no admirer of the king. But this
didn't stop Henry. He continued to attempt to entice Christina over to
England. But all this proved fruitless, and by the end of January 1539, he
gave up the chase, he realised no matter what he said or did would change her
mind. Thomas Wriothesley, an English diplomat, would break the final straw by
saying "the king should fix his stomach in some other place." Christina
continued to attract suitors, but due to politics, these would come to
nothing. However, Christina was in love, she had fallen for René of Chalon;
The couple had courted and their feelings were described as mutual.
Christina's sister Dorothea and her brother in law, Frederick said they would
welcome seeing Christina marry for love and not used as a political pawn or
asset. But as with all matchmaking of the day, it would not be love that saw
Christina married but an act by Charles the fifth, he had more concerns about
alliances than the silly notion of love. So René was forced to marry Anne of
Lorraine; as for Christina, she was forcibly engaged to Anne's brother Francis.
Life would now change again for Christina. On July the 10th 1541, she would marry
Francis. For Francis though he must not have known whether he was coming or going.
He had been proposed to Anne of Cleves, but she became the fourth wife of
Henry the Eighth. And so Francis was now on the arm of Christina. France was
at war with the Emperor, and so diplomacy came to the fore. But in 1544,
Christina and her sister Dorothea had pleaded with the Emperor to make peace
with France, but the request fell on deaf ears. On June the 19th 1544, Francis
had succeeded his father and became the Duke of Lorraine, and by July, the
couple were now entertaining the Emperor with hopes of getting him to agree to
a new peaceful settlement. In August, the Emperor ordered that there was to be
no major intervention upon the Guise family. This was at the request of
Christina. However, a counter request was then made that Christina's husband
would not go to the French court, as this could be misconstrued as a way to
engage in peace talks. By the end of the year, the war had finally ended, and
there was much joy for Christina and Francis. It certainly boosted their
relationship to new heights. Both were very happy with Christina claiming that
now she was the happiest woman in the world. But her joy was short lived. On
June the 12th 1545, Francis died, and she was widowed once again, but she
retained the title of Regent of Lorraine. Francis, although dead would still
be the cause of much argument, mainly due to his last well. Count Jean de Salm
claimed that Christina was nothing more than a puppet to Charles the fifth,
and due to this, he wanted to place her brother in law as her co-regent.
Christina was unhappy at the proposal. The request came at the same time as
her being pregnant. In a fury, she postponed Francis's funeral, withdrew her
dower estate and wrote to Charles the fifth. After what some call mediation
and others the will of Charles it was decided that Christina must place her
brother in law as co-regent. It was now time once again when the merry go
round of potential new suitors would be discussed not by Christina, but by the
men with power. Several names were mentioned but Christina would not be
budged, and she showed little interest. When the fuss had died down,
Christina would visit Brussels to be a part of a welcoming committee to the
Spanish Prince, Philip. But Philip gave her so much attention. It made
Christina distraught, not to mention unhappy at the events. She left as quickly
as she could and set out for Lorraine. Throughout the rest of that year. She
maintained good relations with the Guise family, and she also once again
returned to the Diet of Augsburg. The Diet was a type of forum where the
meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire
were held in the German city of Augsburg.
By 1551, war became the norm and the
French were preparing to fight the Emperor. This brought Lorraine into
conflict and quite possibly it would become a hotspot in the upcoming battles.
Christina turned to ask others for help, firstly, the Guise family than the
Emperor himself, along with Mary of Hungary, as the French were now forming
along her border. Things were now looking quite bad for Christina. Lorraine
had no army of its own, so would never manage to quell any threat. Yet no help
came from anyone, including the Emperor. Eventually, Henry the second of
France agreed to her appeal with assurances that no attack would occur upon
her land. But as per usual, with most statements of the day, the truth was so
different to reality. On April the 13th 1552, French forces entered the Duchy
of Lorraine and the king captured the capital. Christina was told her son
would be taken away and brought up at the French court, she would also lose
all rights to rule the Duchy, along with any of her officials. Christina was
now at a crossroads. She couldn't do anything to prevent this travesty. Her
Kingdom had been taken, and a new ruler, the Duke of Vaudemont, would make
an oath of loyalty to the French. Although she begged the king to take
whatever he required, but to leave her son. He stated that Lorraine was too
close to the border for him to do that. And so with that, Christina was
escorted away. There wasn't anything Christina could do. And she was
eventually told to leave Lorraine due to the gathering build-up of soldiers now
across all fronts. It would be her uncle, the Emperor, who would subsequently
escort her from the area. She gathered her daughters and former sister in law,
Anne, and they all managed to make it to her aunt Mary in Brussels, where at
long last they settled and found peace. Christina's time in exile would once
again bring the usual proposals from men who quite possibly promised the world
but had little substance to their pleas. She refused to marry and instead put
all her attention into regaining her son from the King of France. When Emperor
Charles the fifth abdicated in 1555, and her aunt Mary of Hungary stepped down
from the Regency of the Netherlands, it was suggested that Christina should
now marry Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. He would go on to become the
governor of the Netherlands and replace Mary. As for a marriage to Christina,
this was something that would never happen. When the war ended between France
and the Emperor, Christina asked for permission to return to Lorraine and be
reunited with her son. But the king refused this. He also refused her
permission to leave Brussels, mainly because he enjoyed her company.
Obviously, this was not what Christina wanted to hear. Christina would take a
visit over the channel to England in 1555. Her first visit, but her second
tour would take place in 1557. When she was a guest of Mary the first.
Christina was welcomed by the Royals and courtiers alike, but she would be
completely overwhelmed by Mary's husband, Philip of Spain. He was showing
Christina quite a lot of attention, and his affections would not go amiss from
Mary's eyes. By May, Christina decided it was time to return home. After years
of trying, Christina finally had a breakthrough in being reunited with her
son, and it was agreed she could do this. A meeting took place at a border
village called Marcoing in 1558. To top this, she was also invited to his
wedding, but this was declined as she was now in mourning as her aunt Mary of
Hungary had died, and Christina and not knowing about the marriage had already
made plans and accepted a role at a peace conference to be held between France
and Spain. In May 1559, the Duke of Savoy resigned from his position as
governor in the Netherlands, there was now undoubtedly a change in the air,
and Christina became a popular choice to take over the role. She had great
connections with the nobility and her success at negotiating had been well
received. But once again, although supported by some the king of Spain, Philip
regarded her popularity as suspicious. Instead, he arranged that Margaret of
Parma would fill the vacant position. This would leave Christina in no man's
land, and by October, she had gone to join her son and his wife in Lorraine.
For now, Christina was busy helping her son and trying to repair the broken
finances that had thwarted the Duchy through the events of the war. By 1560,
she returned to her role as Regent of Lorraine, as her son and daughter in law
had now left for the French court.
Although her son Charles would build a life away from his mother, he always
relied upon her to assist with affairs of the state. This was a great position
for Christina as she had always ably managed diplomacy and other political
matters with great composure. Yet, she's still worried about what others
thought. The Queen Dowager, Catherine de Medici, was one who she thought of trying
to influence and disturb her ongoing relationship with her son. After the
death of her father and the rise of Dorothea, her sister, who now became queen
of Denmark, another problem rose up. It wasn't that Dorothea shouldn't hold
the crown, but that she was now too old to bear children.
This could of course cause problems going forward. Christina was now asked to
speak with Dorothea and try to persuade her to surrender the throne. Dorothea
agreed, and in February of 1563, Christina became the queen of Denmark. Again,
this, as you might expect, would not be the end of the matter. In 1566,
Christina would have a medal struck this referred to herself as the queen of
Denmark, but politics as they were at the time, and the people of power around
Europe would not take this lightly. She had planned marriage alliances and
ways of bringing new deals to the political table, but Emperor Ferdinand
called her plans destructive and strongly opposed them. Although Christina
continued to find ways forward, she was hitting a brick wall at every turn.
Christina was now in a place of desolation. She tried, she really tried to
turn things around, but every avenue seemed to be blocked, and so her
attention now turned to help others. She petitioned Philip of Spain in 1568,
asking for mercy on behalf of the Count of Egmont. This was the same year
her daughter Renata had married Duke William of Bavaria, and in 1574, she took
part in the Mornay Plot, a scheme to remove John the third of Sweden and
provide Charles de Mornay, a conspirator, with funds to make this possible.
Yet by 1578, Christina headed back to Italy and Tortona. She became known as the
Madame of Tortona. It was her reputation that would guide her success over the
coming years. Christina made reforms along with new rights against the much
disliked Spanish rule. But you can guess what happened in 1584? Once again,
she was told her right as sovereign was over, although she could remain and
live in the area if she wanted to. The following summer, Christina had spent
some time with her daughter in the hills, the weather was hot, and the peace
and tranquillity was something she yearned for. But after only a short period,
she would start to feel ill. It got to the point where Christina became even
too ill to travel. And in her haste to return home, she sadly died on August
the 10th 1590.
Christina grew up under absolute obedience to the Emperor, a
temperament that would follow her around all her life. Even in the darkest
moments when she lost her son and state. Her greatest sorrow was not being
able to be of further service to the Emperor. Christina was born in troubling
times, crime and bloodshed were commonplace, and religion, as usual, caused
much consternation and heightened men's passions for war. Yet her name remains
unblemished on these counts. She was a naturally impulsive lady. Yes, she made
mistakes, and had failures but would bounce back every time. She was generous,
highly motivated to do good, and her affections for family and friends were
second to none. Along with her delight in helping others through charity.
Christina led a full life. Her directive was to ensure peace and bring harmony
to everyone who came into contact with her. It earned her great recognition
from her contemporaries. And although we may never know her secret, it
certainly outlived her youthful days and through to the last hours of her life.
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