Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
Maria Eleonora | |
---|---|
Queen consort of Sweden | |
Tenure | 25 November 1620 – 6 November 1632 |
Born | 11 November 1599 Königsberg, Duchy of Prussia |
Died | 28 March 1655 Stockholm, Swedish Empire | (aged 55)
Burial | |
Spouse |
Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden (m. 1620; died 1632) |
Issue More.. | Christina, Queen of Sweden |
House | Hohenzollern |
Father | John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg |
Mother | Duchess Anna of Prussia |
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655) was
In 1620, Maria Eleonora married Gustavus Adolphus with her mother's consent, but against the will of her brother George William, Elector of Brandenburg, who had just succeeded her father. She bore her husband a daughter, Christina, in 1626, who later became the Queen of Sweden.
Early life
Born on 11 November 1599 in Königsberg, in the Duchy of Prussia, Maria Eleonora was the third child and second daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife, Duchess Anna of Prussia, the Electress of Brandenburg. Maria Eleonora's upbringing, and that of her siblings, was largely governed by their mother.[1]
Engagement
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023) |
In 1616, the 22-year-old
Maria Eleonora had additional suitors in the young
He had the rooms of his castle in Stockholm redecorated and started making preparations to leave for Berlin to press his suit in person, when a letter arrived from Maria Eleonora's mother to his mother. The Electress demanded in no uncertain terms that the Queen Dowager should prevent her son's journey, as "being prejudicial to Brandenburg's interests in view of the state of war existing between Sweden and Poland".[citation needed] Her husband, she wrote, was "so enfeebled in will by illness that he could be persuaded to agree to anything, even if it tended to the destruction of the country".[citation needed] It was a rebuff that verged on an insult.
Queen of Sweden
The Elector John Sigismund, Maria Eleonora's father, died on 23 December 1619, and the prospect of a Swedish marriage seemed gone with him. In the spring of 1620, however, stubborn Gustavus Adolphus arrived in Berlin. The Electress Dowager Anna maintained an attitude of reserve and even refused to grant the Swedish king a personal meeting with Maria Eleonora. All those who were present, however, noticed the princess's interest in the young king. Afterwards, Gustavus Adolphus made a round of other Protestant German courts with the professed intention of inspecting a few matrimonial alternatives.
On his return to Berlin, the Electress Dowager seems to have become completely captivated by the charming Swedish king. After plighting his troth to Maria Eleonora, Gustavus Adolphus hurried back to Sweden to make arrangements for the reception of his bride.
The new Elector, George William, who resided in Prussia, was appalled when he heard of his mother's independent action. He wrote to Gustavus Adolphus to refuse his consent to the marriage until Sweden and Poland had settled their differences. It was the Electress Dowager, however, who, in accordance with
On 7 October 1620, Maria Eleonora, her mother and her sister
Gustavus Adolphus shared Maria Eleonora's interest in architecture and her love of music, while she was sentimentally devoted to her husband. Often, she lamented that she never had her hero for herself. Foreign ambassadors found her gracious and beautiful and she had good taste, although her character showed some extravagant traits. Maria Eleonora had a definite liking for entertainment and sweetmeats, and she soon succumbed to the current fashionable craze for buffoons and dwarfs. She spoke French, the court language of the age, but never bothered to learn to write German or Swedish correctly.
Within six months of their marriage, Gustavus Adolphus left to command the siege of
A year after their wedding she had a miscarriage and became seriously ill. She was tempestuous, excessive, neurotic and jealous. She was often given to harsh language, and she did not spare her husband, even when strangers were present.[citation needed] Her emotional life lacked balance, and everything Maria Eleonora undertook on her own initiative needed careful watching.[citation needed] Soon Gustavus Adolphus' intimates knew that his married life was a source of grief and anxiety.
In the autumn of 1623 Maria Eleonora gave birth to a daughter, Christina, but the baby died the next year. At that time, the only surviving male heirs were the hated king of Poland and his sons. With Gustavus Adolphus risking his life in battles, an heir to the throne was anxiously awaited. In the autumn Maria Eleonora was pregnant for a third time. In May 1625 she was in good spirits and insisted on accompanying her husband on the royal yacht to review the fleet. There seemed to be no danger, as the warships were moored just opposite the castle, but a sudden storm nearly capsized the yacht. The queen was hurried back to the castle, but when she got there she was heard to exclaim: "Jesus, I cannot feel my child!". Shortly afterwards the longed-for son was stillborn.
Birth of Christina
With the renewal of the war with Poland, Gustavus Adolphus had to leave his wife again. It is likely that she gave way to depression and grief, as we know she did in 1627, and it is probably for this reason that the king let his queen join him in Livonia after the Poles had been defeated in January 1626. By April, Maria Eleonora found she was again pregnant. No risks were taken this time and the astrologers predicted the birth of a son and heir.
During a lull in the warfare, Gustavus Adolphus hurried back to Stockholm to await the arrival of the baby. The birth was a difficult one. On 7 December, a baby was born with a fleece (
Shortly after the birth, Maria Eleonora was in no condition to be told the truth about the baby's sex, and the king and court waited several days before breaking the news to her. She screamed: "Instead of a son, I am given a daughter, dark and ugly, with a great nose and black eyes. Take her from me, I will not have such a monster!" She may have suffered from a
In Christina's early childhood, she had frequent accidents. Once a beam fell mysteriously upon the cradle. Another time, she fell from a flight of stairs, apparently by accident. On another occasion the nursemaid was blamed for dropping the baby onto a stone floor, injuring a shoulder that ever afterwards remained a little crooked.
In the year after Christina's birth, Maria Eleonora was described as being in a state of hysteria owing to her husband's absences. In 1632 Gustavus Adolphus described his wife as being "a very sick woman". There was some excuse for her; she had lost three babies and still felt herself an isolated foreigner in a hostile land, even more so after 1627 when her brother joined Sweden's enemies. Meanwhile, her husband's life was constantly in danger when he was on campaign. In 1627 Gustavus Adolphus was both ill and wounded. Two years later he had a narrow escape at
Gustavus Adolphus was devoted to his daughter and tried to raise Christina like a boy. At the age of two, she clapped her hands and laughed with joy when the great cannons of Kalmar Castle boomed out the royal salute. Afterwards, Gustavus Adolphus often took his daughter with him to military reviews. Maria Eleonora showed little affection for her daughter and was not allowed any influence in Christina's upbringing. The princess was placed in the care of Gustavus Adolphus' half-sister Catherine and the Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna.
In 1630 Gustavus Adolphus concluded that
Queen dowager
During the next two years Gustavus Adolphus marched across a devastated Germany, conquering Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In early November 1632 he went to Erfurt to say goodbye to Maria Eleonora, who had been in Germany since the previous winter. In the Battle of Lützen, the 37-year-old Gustavus Adolphus was shot in the back. He fell and was dragged for some distance by his horse. He managed to free himself from the stirrup, but while lying on the ground "The Lion of the North" was killed by another shot through his head. By nightfall both armies were exhausted, but Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and the Swedes had captured all the Imperial artillery and were in possession of the key position. The king's body was found lying face downwards in the mud, plundered of everything but his shirt.
Maria Eleonora was not included in the regency government during the minority of her daughter, as the council of the state did not consider her suitable as regent. The king had never actually left any instructions that she should not be included in the case of a minor regency, but they supported their grounds for excluding her by the claim that the late king had said to them that she should never be entrusted with matters of state, though he never left any papers to confirm this.
In 1633 Maria Eleonora returned to Sweden with the embalmed body of her husband. In
Maria Eleonora had plunged into a prolonged period of emotional dysregulation due to grief. She found it more difficult than ever to conceal her dislike of Swedish "rocks and mountains, the freezing air, and all the rest of it". During the rest of her life she preserved the memory of her husband, weeping for hours and even days on end. When the regency council tried to separate Christina from her mother, Maria Eleonora wept and protested so bitterly that nothing was done.
Relationship with Queen Christina
In 1636 Maria Eleonora was taken to Gripsholm castle and officially lost her parental rights to her daughter, because at times she was completely out of her mind. In 1639 a letter written by her and intended for Sweden's archenemy, the King Christian IV of Denmark, was intercepted. After a summons, Maria Eleonora appeared at her daughter's court in a flood of tears in the summer of 1640. Queen Christina, 13 years old, reasoned with her mother and dissuaded her from taking up residence at Nyköping near Denmark. Afterwards, Maria Eleonora returned to Gripsholm. To undertake one of her periodic fasts, she retired to the seclusion of her own apartment, accompanied by only one of her ladies-in-waiting, Anna Sofia von Bülow. Maria Eleonora wrote regularly to her daughter Christina. She and her German court wanted to leave their exile at Gripsholm castle. Christina replied tactfully, knowing that the Council would not permit the queen mother any leave. Eventually her mother asked to leave Sweden altogether. Christina invited her to Stockholm, attempting to persuade her to stay in the country. At night the two ladies let themselves down from a window and were rowed in a boat to the other side of the nearby lake, where a carriage was waiting for them. They drove to Nyköping, where they boarded a Danish ship. King Christian IV had intended the ship to take her home to Brandenburg, but she convinced the captain to bring her to Denmark instead. She was well received by the Danish king, but Maria Eleonora wanted to go home to Brandenburg. The electoral prince there demanded financial compensation from Sweden, where on the contrary the Council expected to withdraw her appanage as well as her properties. Finally the teenage Christina succeeded in negotiating a certain alimony for her mother, adding to this from her own purse.
In Denmark, Maria Eleonora became the guest of King
Queen Christina went to meet her mother's ship. It was delayed by a storm and the young queen slept in the open for two nights and contracted a fever, which kept her in bed for some days. In October 1650 Maria Eleonora attended her daughter's postponed coronation ceremony. Christina then bought the newly erected castle Makalös ("Unequalled") for her, close to the royal castle in Stockholm. It would have been enormously expensive, but Christina never paid. Instead she handed it back in 1652.
In June 1654, Christina shocked everyone when she decided to abdicate in favour of her cousin
Issue
Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
A daughter | 24 July 1621 Stockholm |
Stillborn, buried in Riddarholmskyrkan .
| |
Christina | 16 October 1623 Stockholm |
21 September 1624 Stockholm |
Riddarholmskyrkan .
|
A son | May 1625 Gripsholm Castle |
Stillborn, buried in Riddarholmskyrkan .
| |
Christina | 8 December 1626 Stockholm |
9 April 1689 Rome |
Basilica of Saint Peter .
|
Ancestry
Ancestors of Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- ^ a b c Flantzer, Susan (17 September 2021). "Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, Queen of Sweden". Unofficial Royalty. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- SELIBR 11653883.
- SELIBR 11653883.
- SELIBR 11653883.
- SELIBR 19356927.
- ^ Kromnow, Åke (1985–1987). "Maria Eleonora". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 25. National Archives of Sweden. p. 151. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ "Medal pendant".
Further reading
External links
- Media related to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
- Biography of Maria Eleonore of Brandenburg