In a similar way to
Mary Stuart, this lady also relinquished her throne.
But unlike the Scottish queen who then fled and would end up in prison.
This Swedish ruler left by her own choice
and spent the rest of her life travelling around Europe.
Born in Stockholm on 6 December
1626, she was the only surviving daughter of the famous warrior king
Gustav Adolphus and his wife, Maria Eleanora.
The Swedish queen is remembered as one of the most learned women
of the 17th century.
A woman who led an unconventional lifestyle.
Yet one of faith which would cause her eventual downfall.
Let's now look at the complex life of Christina of Sweden
In 1630
the king marched with the strongest army he had ever raised.
He had let his nobles know in advance that his daughter
must become ruler if he didn't return.
Within two years, his comments came to the fore
when he was killed leading a cavalry charge at the battle of Lutzen.
The country led by Maria Eleanora would mourn the loss for the next two years,
with Maria at times described as hysterical and eccentric.
In her bedroom hung a gold casket holding the king's heart, her apartments
were draped in black, and the only light permitted was from candles.
Her daughter Christina was given only the company of dwarfs;
it's quite remarkable that this young princess managed to endure
such weird surroundings.
In 1636 Oxenstierna came to the rescue; he had been the king's
closest friend and could see the troubling developments at court.
The nervous Christina was moved away to her aunt Catherine, and
Christina's mother was banished to a country estate,
clearly out of sight and mind.
It would be now that preparations would begin to place
Christina in the position her father wanted.
By 1638 Christina entered a new world,
one male-dominated but one she liked.
She had her hair cut short, would wear boy's clothes
and learned to handle not only a horse but a gun.
Her studying continued, and she became adept,
especially at listening to her generals talk about military manoeuvre's.
As she grew older, her masculine traits continued to intensify;
she had always adored her father but loathed her mother.
She would spend much of her time exercising,
and instead of royal food, she would indulge in army rations.
Christina was described as a trooper rather than a queen in the making.
By the time Christina was 16, her mother was allowed to visit
her daughter at the palace but was shocked at how Christina now looked and said,
"nobody will want to marry a princess who looks and behaves like a man."
Although attempts were made to create a more feminine Christina, they all failed.
Christina was torn between two personalities,
and her focus was always to remain masculine.
At the age of 18, Christina would become queen,
a young woman who by now was determined to rule in her way.
She wrote saying, "I can judge by your procedure
that you have completly understood my will."
Christina's first act was to send her mother back to the country,
and her second was to attempt peace to end the ongoing war in Westphalia.
Her critics were not happy, and they thought she had given everything
away, the complete opposite of what her father would have done.
And by now, the ageing Oxenstierna also had reservations
about this young girl and blamed her for ruining his life's work.
In the summer of 1648,
her subjects felt genuine sympathy towards Christina.
She was in the chapel kneeling when a madman burst in wielding
two knives, he advanced, but Christina pushed her captain
onto the attacker and quelled the situation.
Christina took this in her stride but realised the dangers now
associated with her position.
Her love
life was always debatable, and she had found what she thought
was real love for a man called Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie.
He had been a childhood friend and one she adored through life.
She showered him with gifts and much favour,
making him ambassador to France, but because he lacked any privilege of rank,
he could never be considered as husband material.
Oh, plus the fact he didn't love her anyhow!
Christina remained single, and it's said she cherished her freedom.
Having admirers was good; no ties,
and she could remove them once they had outlasted their stay.
Christina had a much broader interest than just the odd admirer;
she was called the 'Minerva of the North' a formidable intellect and a lady
that used her educational skills to make things happen.
She found communicating with other scholars, authors
and philosophers much sexier than a one night acquaintance.
Her coronation would finally take place in 1650,
and the early years of her reign were peaceful.
During this time, the country boomed, industry was on the up,
towns grew, and trading brought in money.
All looked rosy for the queen.
She had also reduced the privy council to a lower position
favouring the restored Vasa monarchy.
Yet not everyone was happy as you can imagine.
Christina wanted Charles Gustavus to become the hereditary prince,
which began to alienate some of the lower estates;
she had given many gifts to the nobility and favourites.
It was a well planned and clever manipulation by the queen
to stir some unrest to get her way.
It all resulted in a settlement, Christina's plan had worked,
and after much deliberation, it was agreed, and the nobles sealed the deal.
In 1651, Christina had developed a severe nervous condition.
Her doctor at the time was a French man named Bourdelot.
Many accused him of being a charlatan, but the queen was infatuated
with him to the point they became inseparable.
The powers that be did not encourage this man;
he was accused of slander, and suits were attempted to remove him.
This rising tide of opposition was becoming unbearable for the queen.
She eventually bowed and resigned herself to losing her doctor.
Other distractions would come along; she formed
close ties with many swashbucklers of the day
that she would include in her inner circle of intimate friends.
Yet by 1651, Christina, it seemed, was becoming
tiresome of her role, and the queen dropped the first hints
that she may be leaning towards a private life, and abdication
was becoming a real possibility.
The problem was Christina
loved to give, but Sweden was now facing an absolute disaster doing so.
Her lavish entertaining and gifts provided by the crown
could force Sweden into bankruptcy.
Christina had left a very sour taste in most of her subject's mouths.
Economically Sweden was struggling; it wouldn't be long
before a rising rebellion amongst the masses.
Christina had always been a big supporter of the Catholic faith,
even though it was forbidden in her own country,
yet this was one law in which she had no say.
Still undaunted by this, Christina began to focus more on her beliefs.
She had hoped that England
would be tolerant of the Catholics under the current rule of Oliver Cromwell.
She sent word to the king of Spain, Philip IV, for support, but he refused.
There was only one course of action left open to Christina: conversion
and then abdication.
A simple ceremony occurred in June 1654.
The queen dressed in white left the coronation robe, crown
and sceptre to Charles Gustavus.
After a few days in Stockholm, she crossed the border disguised
as a knight with a sword and gun, heading towards Germany and the city of Hamburg.
The following September, Christina renounced her faith
and was taken into the Catholic church.
She would now set off for Rome and a meeting with the Pope.
But while in Innsbruck on her way, a formal announcement was made
and a public statement that shocked many.
She would meet pope Alexander VII who escorted her to the high altar
of St Peters.
Dressed simply in a grey dress, black scarf with a plumed hat,
no jewellery except for a gold ring.
Although at the time, Christina never wanted a return
to the Swedish throne, she was still quite keen on becoming a queen elsewhere.
France, in 1657 she managed to win over the cardinal Mazarin.
He stated that she could have the crown of Naples
if the French could take the city from the Spanish.
However, when one of her officers betrayed this plan, Christina
considered his actions treasonous and arranged to have his throat cut.
It was a murder that turned the whole of Catholic Europe against her.
She once said, "I love the storm
but fear the calm." Yet now, she would fear the storm
and would quickly need to pick up the fragments of her shattering decision
to carry out this crime.
In 1660 Charles Gustavus died,
to be replaced by his sickly four-year-old boy Charles XI.
Christina, fearful of her pension, returned to Sweden.
She was initially cheered into Stockholm, giving her the impression
the people wanted her to return as queen.
Christina, as usual, without much thought, drafted a legal document
to rescind her abdication; little did she know
that people have memories and long ones at that.
The murder of her officer Monaldeschi was very fresh in their minds,
and Christina faced a stone wall of opposition.
The bishop of Abo declared that she had admitted to being sorry
about her change of religion.
But that wasn't going to wash with the people,
and they began to stand against her collectively.
It was an impossible situation for Christina,
and the only way out was literally to be on the way out of the country.
She did and returned to Hamburg, but so strong was the resentment
against her even the Pope indicated he did not wish her to return to Rome.
Christina had to change; her behaviour was a genuine concern.
Could she be trusted and live a life expectant of one who follows the faith?
By 1662 the Pope relented and allowed her back.
She would move into her new home, filling it with books and art.
Her collection was imposing with works by Titian, Holbein and Michaelangelo.
Yet Christina never learnt her lessons well and would again
become the scourge of her own country when she visited again in 1664.
Unfortunately and to her detriment bringing along a priest with her.
Christina was humiliated,
and the people were enraged and let their feelings be known.
Maybe this time, Christina had realised this should end
and quickly retreated away from her homeland.
When Pope Alexander
died in 1667 and to celebrate the accession of Clement
IX, Christina held a party at her Hamburg palace.
Some of the guests got drunk after too much wine, which led to a riot.
Christina calmly ordered her gentlemen to open
fire on the crowd, and eight people were killed.
Around this time, the throne of Poland had fallen.
And once again, Christina believed that the Pope
would support her and offered herself as a candidate.
However, this was refused, although she felt
she'd still be in a for a warm welcome if she returned to Rome.
Christina's life had been one long study, and this continued with her attention now
drawn to such things as astronomy, alchemy and even archaeology.
But her partying life also continued, and her generosity was second to none.
In the 1670's Sweden
once again had a sound economy, this reflected on her position
and gave her more security to her pension, which she still anticipated.
In later years, Christina began to write her autobiography by writing
about some of the most noteworthy moments in her life.
However, this didn't last, and after six years,
her temperament wouldn't allow her to continue.
Christina would now begin to lose her once masculine attributes.
She was now a grey old lady who would appear in beautiful gowns.
Christina died on 19 April 1688.
She referred to herself as "one of the monuments of Rome."
Buried with a crown and half sceptre in a white robe
and after 34 years of self-imposed exile,
this stubborn, fiercely independent woman would always see herself as a queen.