Editing Christina, Queen of Sweden

{{Short description|Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654}}
{{About||other Swedish royalty named Christina|Christina of Sweden (disambiguation)|other queens named Christina|Queen Christina (disambiguation){{!}}Queen Christina}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Christina
| image        = Swedish queen Drottning Kristina portrait by Sébastien Bourdon stor.jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Sébastien Bourdon]], who<br>exaggerated her eyes.<ref name="Popp 2010">{{cite thesis |last1=Popp |first1=Nathan Alan |title=Beneath the surface: The portraiture and visual rhetoric of Sweden's Queen Christina |type=MA thesis |publisher=University of Iowa |date=2010 |doi=10.17077/etd.8ii490wt}}</ref>
| succession   = [[Monarchy of Sweden|Queen of Sweden]]
| reign        = {{nowrap|{{OldStyleDate|16 November|1632|6 November}}}} <br /> – {{nowrap|{{OldStyleDate|16 June|1654|6 June}}}}
| coronation   = 20 October 1650
| cor-type     = [[Coronation of the Swedish monarch|Coronation]]
| predecessor  = [[Gustavus Adolphus]]
| successor    = [[Charles X Gustav]]
| regent       = [[Axel Oxenstierna]] (1632–1644)
| birth_date   = {{OldStyleDate|18 December|1626|8 December}}
| birth_place  = [[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor Castle]], Stockholm, Sweden
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1689|4|19|1626|12|18|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| burial_date  = 22 June 1689
| burial_place = [[St. Peter's Basilica]], Vatican City
| full name    = Christina Augusta, Christina Alexandra
| house        = [[House of Vasa|Vasa]]
| father       = [[Gustavus Adolphus]]
| mother       = [[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg]]
| religion     = [[Church of Sweden|Lutheran]] (1626–1654)<br />[[Catholic Church|Catholic]] (1654–1689)
| type         = monarch
| signature    = Christina, Queen of Sweden signature.svg
}}

'''Christina''' ({{langx|sv|Kristina}}; 18 December [<nowiki/>[[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] 8 December] 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the [[House of Vasa]], was [[Monarchy of Sweden|Queen of Sweden]] from 1632 until her [[abdication]] in 1654.<!-- NOTE -->{{efn|With the titles of Queen of the [[Swedes (Germanic tribe)|Swedes]], [[King of the Goths|Goths]] (or [[Geats]]) and [[King of the Wends|Wends]]<ref name="J. Guinchard 1914 188">{{cite book |author=J. Guinchard |title=Sweden: Historical and statistical handbook |year=1914 |location=Stockholm |publisher=P. A. Norstedt & Söner |page=188 |url=https://runeberg.org/sweden14/1/0218.html}}</ref> <!--(or [[Vandals]])--> (''Suecorum, Gothorum Vandalorumque Regina'');<ref name="academia.edu">[https://www.academia.edu/232566/Der_K%C3%B6nig_der_Schweden_Goten_und_Vandalen._K%C3%B6nigstitulatur_und_Vandalenrezeption_im_fr%C3%BChneuzeitlichen_Schweden  Stefan Donecker/Roland Steinacher (2009) Der König der Schweden, Goten und Vandalen. Königstitulatur und Vandalenrezeption im frühneuzeitlichen Schweden.] In: Vergangenheit und Vergegenwärtigung. Frühes Mittelalter und europäische Erinnerungskultur. Ed. by Helmut Reimitz and Bernhard Zeller (= Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 14; Wien 2009).</ref> [[Grand Princess of Finland]], and Duchess of [[Estonia]], [[Livonia]] and [[Karelia]],<ref>Stolpe 1974 pp. 142 & 145</ref> [[Bremen-Verden]], [[Stettin]], [[Swedish Pomerania|Pomerania]], [[Kashubia|Cassubia]] and Vandalia,<!-- NOTE --><ref name="Roland Steinacher 2006">Stefan Donecker/Roland Steinacher, Rex Vandalorum. The Debates on Wends and Vandals in Swedish Humanism as an Indicator for Early Modern Patterns of Ethnic Perception. In: Der Norden im Ausland – das Ausland im Norden. Formung und Transformation von Konzepten und Bildern des Anderen vom Mittelalter bis heute, ed. Sven Hakon Rossel (Wiener Studien zur Skandinavistik 15, Wien 2006) 242–252</ref> Princess of [[Rugia]], Lady of [[Swedish Ingria|Ingria]] and of [[Wismar]].<ref name="gutenberg.org">{{cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17407?msg=welcome_stranger |title=A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. by Whitlocke |access-date=10 July 2017 |via=Project Gutenberg |date=2005-12-28}}</ref>}} Her conversion to [[Catholicism]] and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her throne and move to Rome.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

Christina is remembered as one of the most erudite women of the 17th century, wanting Stockholm to become the "Athens of the North"<ref name="vam-2014">{{cite web |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/creating-new-europe-1600-1800-galleries/born-on-this-day-queen-christina-of-sweden |title=Born on This Day: Queen Christina of Sweden |last=Hoskin |first=Dawn |date=December 18, 2014 |website=The V&A |publisher=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]]}}</ref> and was given the special right to establish a university at will by the [[Peace of Westphalia]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/finde/langDatensatz.php?urlID=740&url_tabelle=tab_quelle| title = Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugensis| date = 25 March 2014}}</ref> She is also remembered for her unconventional lifestyle and occasional adoption of masculine attire, which have been depicted frequently in media; [[gender]] and [[cultural identity]] are pivotal themes in many of her biographies.<ref name="Zimmermann">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6zFXgm6CnAC&pg=PA40|title=Frauenbiographik: Lebensbeschreibungen und Porträts|first=Christian von|last=Zimmermann|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Gunter Narr Verlag|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9783823361626}}</ref>

At the age of five, Christina succeeded her father [[Gustavus Adolphus]] upon his death at the [[Battle of Lützen (1632)|Battle of Lützen]], though she only began ruling the [[Swedish Empire]] when she reached the age of eighteen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Sweden.html|title=Sweden|publisher=World Statesmen|access-date=19 January 2015}}</ref> During the [[Torstenson War]] in 1644, she initiated the [[History of copper currency in Sweden|issuance of copper in lumps]] to be used as [[currency]]. Her lavish spending habits pushed the state towards bankruptcy, sparking public unrest. Christina argued for peace to end the [[Thirty Years' War]] and received [[indemnity]]. Following scandals over her converting to Catholicism, and not marrying, she relinquished the throne to her cousin [[Charles X Gustav]] and settled in Rome.<ref name="Script from Clark.edu">[http://web.clark.edu/afisher/Examples/example%20253.pdf Script from Clark.edu by Anita L. Fisher] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402121349/http://web.clark.edu/afisher/Examples/example%20253.pdf |date=2015-04-02 }}</ref>

Pope [[Pope Alexander VII|Alexander VII]] described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame."<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsG7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17-IA80|title=The History of Loot and Stolen Art: from Antiquity until the Present Day|first=Ivan|last=Lindsay|date=2 June 2014|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781906509576}}</ref> She played a leading part in the theatrical and musical communities and protected many [[Baroque]] artists, composers, and musicians. Christina, who was the guest of five consecutive popes<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/vaticanswomen0000hofm|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/vaticanswomen0000hofm/page/42 42]|title=The Vatican's Women: Female Influence at the Holy See|first=Paul|last=Hofmann|date=8 October 2002|publisher=St. Martin's Press|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Internet Archive|isbn=9781429975476}}</ref> and a symbol of the [[Counter-Reformation]], is one of the few women buried in the [[Vatican Grottoes]].

==Early life==
[[File:Gustav II Adolph & Mary Eleanor portraits.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Christina's parents, King Gustav II Adolph and Queen Maria Eleonora]]
[[File:Slottet Tre Kronor 1661.jpg|thumb|350 px|[[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor]] in Stockholm by [[Govert Dircksz Camphuysen]]. Most of Sweden's national library and royal archives were destroyed when the castle burned in 1697.]]
Christina was born in the royal castle [[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor]]. Her parents were the Swedish king [[Gustavus Adolphus]] and his German wife, [[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg|Maria Eleonora]]. They had already had three children: two daughters (a stillborn princess in 1621, then the first Princess Christina, who was born in 1623 and died the following year) and a stillborn son in May 1625.{{efn|The three were buried in [[Riddarholmskyrkan]] in Stockholm.}} Excited expectations surrounded Maria Eleonora's fourth pregnancy in 1626. When the baby was born, it was first thought to be a boy.  It was "hairy" and screamed "with a strong, hoarse voice."<ref>Zirpolo, Lilian H. (2005) [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3566533 ''Christina of Sweden's Patronage of Bernini: The Mirror of Truth Revealed by Time''], Vol. 26, No. 1 pp. 38-43</ref>{{Efn|"I was born covered with hair from my head to my knees, only my face, arms and legs were free. I was shiny all over and I had a rough, strong voice".}} She later wrote in her autobiography that "Deep embarrassment spread among the women when they discovered their mistake." The king, though, was very happy, saying, "She'll be clever, she has made fools of us all!"<ref>[[Elisabeth Aasen|Aasen, Elisabeth]] ''Barokke damer, dronning Christinas europeiske reise'' (2005) (edited by Pax, Oslo. 2003, {{ISBN|82-530-2817-2}})</ref> Gustavus Adolphus was closely attached to his daughter, whereas her mother remained aloof in her disappointment at the child being a girl.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In the year after Christina's birth, Maria Eleonora was described as being in a state of hysteria owing to her husband's absences. She showed little affection for her daughter and was not allowed any influence in Christina's upbringing. The king was worried that her instability might pass on to their daughter.<ref name="TsG7BAAAQBAJ p. 17">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsG7BAAAQBAJ&dq=She'll+be+clever,+she+has+made+fools+of+us+all!+Christina+Sweden&pg=PA17-IA78|title=The History of Loot and Stolen Art: from Antiquity until the Present Day|first=Ivan|last=Lindsay|date=2 June 2014|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-1-906509-57-6 |accessdate=19 February 2024|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The Crown of Sweden was hereditary in the [[House of Vasa]], but following the reign of Christina's grandfather (r. 1604–11), it excluded Vasa princes descended from a deposed brother ([[Eric XIV of Sweden]]) and a deposed nephew ([[Sigismund III of Poland]]). Gustavus Adolphus's legitimate younger brothers had died years earlier. <!--his only surviving half-brother was [[Carl Gyllenhielm]], his father's extramarital son--> The one legitimate female left, his half-sister [[Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg|Catharine]], came to be excluded in 1615 when she married [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg]], a non-Lutheran. <!--or his daughter. There were no eligible living female lines descended from elder sons of King Gustav I Vasa, so--> Christina became the undisputed [[heir presumptive]]. From Christina's birth, King Gustav Adolphus recognized her eligibility even as a female heir, and although she was called "queen," the official title the Riksdag gave at her coronation in February 1633 was "king".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6354&context=etd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418171209/http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6354&context=etd|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2016|title=Expressions of power: Queen Christina of Sweden and patronage in Baroque Europe, p. 57 by Nathan A. Popp.|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

== Regency ==
In June 1630, when Christina was three years old,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfbn/0740.html|title=1415-1416 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 14. Kikarsikte - Kroman)|date=19 February 1911|website=runeberg.org|accessdate=19 February 2024}}</ref> Gustavus Adolphus left for Germany to defend [[Protestantism]] and became involved in the [[Thirty Years' War]]. He secured his daughter's right to inherit the throne, in case he never returned, and gave orders to Axel Gustafsson Banér,<ref name="Script from Clark.edu" /> his marshal, that Christina should receive an education of the type normally only afforded to boys.<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Christina Alexandra}}</ref>

[[File:Axel Oxenstierna2.jpg|thumb|200px|Axel Oxenstierna]]
When Gustavus Adolphus did not come home as expected after the summer campaign of 1630, Maria wrote to [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg|John Casimir, her brother-in-law]] that she could not stand it; she wanted to die. She begged him to try to persuade the king to come home. It was decided that Maria would travel to Germany the following spring.<ref name="sok.riksarkivet.se">[https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=9106 Maria Eleonora, queen of Sweden, urn:sbl:9106, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art by Maureen Kromnow) from 2022-12-02]</ref> She arrived on 10 July 1631, to [[Wolgast]] in Pomerania. On 11 January 1632, she met with her spouse near [[Hanau]]. The couple were spotted for the last time on 28 October 1632 at [[Erfurt]]. The very next day, Gustavus Adolphus broke camp and left. On 3 November, Maria wrote to Axel Oxenstierna: "without [[His Royal Majesty|H.R.M.]]'s presence, I am worth nothing, not even my life."<ref name="sok.riksarkivet.se"/>

[[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg]], her mother, the member of the [[House of Hohenzollern]], was said to be the most beautiful queen in Europe, but she was also considered hysterical, unstable and overly emotional.<ref name="TsG7BAAAQBAJ p. 17"/><ref>Peter H. Wilson (2010) Europe's Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years' War, p. 16</ref> It has been suggested that [[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg|she]] inherited madness, from both the paternal and maternal lines.<ref name="sok.riksarkivet.se"/> However, this image of the hysterical, depressive and profligate queen dowager, which has become part of [[historiography]], has been put into perspective in more recent research, first in the 1980s by the archivist Åke Kromnov,<ref name="sok.riksarkivet.se"/> among others, and more recently in the monograph "Drottningen som sa nej" by [[Moa Matthis]], published in 2010.

After the king died on the battlefield on 6&nbsp;November 1632, Maria Eleonora returned to Sweden with the embalmed body of her husband. The 7-year-old Queen Christina came in solemn procession to [[Nyköping]] to receive her mother. Maria Eleonora declared that the burial should not take place during her lifetime - she often spoke of shortening her life - or at least should be postponed as long as possible.<ref name="sok.riksarkivet.se"/> She also demanded that the coffin be kept open and went to see it regularly, patting it and taking no notice of the [[putrefaction]]. They tried to persuade Maria not to visit the corpse so often. [[Axel Oxenstierna]] managed to have the corpse interred in [[Riddarholmen Church]] on 22&nbsp;June 1634, but had to post guards after she tried to dig it up.<ref>Peter Englund: ''Sølvmasken'' (s. 159), edited by Spartacus, Oslo 2009, {{ISBN|978-82-430-0466-5}}</ref>

Maria Eleanora had been indifferent to her daughter, but after Gustavus Adolphus's death, Christina became the center of her mother's attention. Gustavus Adolphus had decided that in the event of his death, his daughter should be cared for by his half-sister, [[Catherine of Sweden (1584-1638)|Catherine of Sweden]]{{efn|She was married to [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg]] and moved home to Sweden after the outbreak of the Thirty Years' war. Their children were [[Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken|Maria Eufrosyne]], who later married one of Christina's close friends [[Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie]], and [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden|Karl Gustav]], who inherited the throne after Christina.}}  and half-brother [[Carl Gyllenhielm]] as regent. This solution did not suit Maria Eleonora, who had her sister-in-law banned from the castle. In 1634, the [[Instrument of Government (1634)|Instrument of Government]], a new constitution, was introduced by Oxenstierna. The constitution stipulated that the "King" must have a [[Privy Council of Sweden|Privy Council]], which Oxenstierna himself headed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christina-queen-of-Sweden|title=Christina Queen of Sweden|last=Stephan|first=Ruth|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2015-12-07}}</ref>
Maria Eleonora was considered very difficult,<ref>Dr. Severin Bergh in ''[[Historisk Tidskrift]]'' 1902 [https://libris.kb.se/bib/1966566 Libris listing] p. 13 ff</ref> and in 1636 she lost her parental rights to her daughter.  The [[Riksråd]] justified its decision by asserting that she neglected Christina and her upbringing and that she had a bad influence on her daughter. <ref>Maria Eleonora, drottning, http://www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/MariaEleonoradrottning, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Karin Tegenborg Falkdalen), retrieved 2022-12-17.</ref> Chancellor Oxenstierna saw no other solution than to [[exile]] the widow to [[Gripsholm]] castle, while the governing regency council would decide when she was allowed to see her daughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.windweaver.com/christina/people.htm#Maria |title=Who's Who in Queen Christina's Life by Tracy Marks |publisher=Windweaver.com |date=2001-03-30 |access-date=2012-03-09}}</ref>{{Efn|Maria Eleonora complained to [[George William, Elector of Brandenburg|her brother]] about her treatment. In July 1640, she secretly left Sweden to escape to her family. With the consent of King [[Christian IV of Denmark]], under adventurous circumstances, she first fled to [[Gotland]] and then stayed at the Danish court in [[Nykøbing Falster]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BFbAAAAcAAJ&dq=maria+eleonora++Gotland+1640&pg=PA214|title=Gotland och dess fornminnen: Anteckningar rörande öns historia, folksägner, språk, seder och bruk samt minnesmärken|first=Maria Octavia|last=Carlén|date=19 February 1862|publisher=S. Flodin|accessdate=19 February 2024|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1648, she returned to Sweden and lived at [[Nyköping]].}} For the subsequent years, Christina thrived in the company of her aunt Catherine and her family.

In 1638, after the death of her aunt and foster mother, the Royal Regency Council under Axel Oxenstierna saw the need to appoint a new foster mother to the underage monarch, which resulted in a reorganization of the queen's household.  To prevent the young queen from being dependent upon a single individual and favorite mother figure, the Royal Council decided to split the office of head lady-in-waiting (responsible for the queen's female courtiers) and the office royal governess (or foster-mother) in four, with two women appointed to share each office. Accordingly, [[Ebba Leijonhufvud]] and [[Christina Natt och Dag]] were appointed to share the position of royal governess and foster mother with the title ''Upptuktelse-Förestånderska'' ('Castigation Mistress'), while [[Beata Oxenstierna]] and [[Ebba Ryning]] were appointed to share the position of head lady-in-waiting, all four with the formal rank and title of ''Hovmästarinna''.<ref name="Marie-Louise Rodén 2008 p. 62">Marie-Louise Rodén: Drottning Christina : en biografi (2008) p. 62</ref>

The Royal Council's method of giving Queen Christina several foster mothers to avoid her forming an attachment to a single person appears to have been effective, as Christina did not mention her foster mothers directly in her memoirs and did not seem to have formed an attachment to any of them; in fact, with only a few exceptions, including [[Ebba Sparre]], [[Lady Jane Ruthven]] and [[Louise van der Nooth]], Christina did not show any interest in any of her female courtiers. She generally mentions them in her memoirs only to compare herself favorably toward them by referring to herself as more masculine than they.<ref name="Marie-Louise Rodén 2008 p. 62"/>

Christina was educated as a royal male would have been. The theologian [[Johannes Matthiae Gothus]] became her tutor; he gave her lessons in religion, philosophy, [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]]. Chancellor Oxenstierna taught her politics and discussed [[Tacitus]] with her. Oxenstierna proudly wrote of the 14-year-old girl that "she is not at all like a female" and had "a bright intelligence." Christina seemed happy to study ten hours a day. Besides [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[German language|German]], she learned at least six more languages: [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].{{efn|Letters still exist, written by her in German to her father when she was five.{{where|date=December 2022}} When the ambassador of France, [[Pierre Hector Chanut]], arrived in Stockholm in 1645, he stated admiringly, ''"She talks French as if she was born in the [[Louvre Palace|Louvre]]!"'' (According to B. Guilliet, she spoke French in a kind of [[Liège]] dialect.)}}

==Reign==
[[File:Queenchristine.jpg|thumb|The 14-year-old Christina as queen, painting by [[Jacob Heinrich Elbfas]]]]

In 1644, at the age of 18, Christina was declared an adult, although the coronation was postponed because of the [[Torstenson War]]. <!--In December 1643, Swedish troops had overrun [[Holstein]] and [[Jutland]] in the [[Torstenson War]]. The Swedes achieved much from their surprise attack. Her first major assignment was to conclude peace with that country.{{Citation needed|From Carolyn Meyer or is there a more reliable source?|date=March 2017}} and at--> She was visited by a group of Dutch diplomats, including [[Johan de Witt]],  to find a solution for the [[Sound Dues]].<ref>[https://www.vriendenvandewitt.nl/assets/files/johan-in-zweden181123-2-2.pdf Johan de Witt in Zweden ]</ref> In the [[Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645)|Treaty of Brömsebro]], signed at a creek in [[Blekinge]], Denmark added the isles of [[Gotland]] and [[Saaremaa|Ösel]] to Christina's domain while Norway lost the districts of [[Jämtland]] and [[Härjedalen]]<!-- and the parishes [[Idre]] and [[Särna]]--> to her. Under Christina's rule, Sweden, virtually controlling the [[Baltic Sea]], had unrestricted access to the North Sea and was no longer encircled by [[Denmark–Norway]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Antique map of Scandinavia by Blaeu W. & J.|url = https://www.sanderusmaps.com/en/our-catalogue/detail/163777/antique-map-of-scandinavia-by-blaeu-w--j/|website = www.sanderusmaps.com|access-date = 2015-12-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012133/https://www.sanderusmaps.com/en/our-catalogue/detail/163777/antique-map-of-scandinavia-by-blaeu-w--j/|archive-date = 2016-03-05|url-status = dead}}</ref><!--[[File:Alexander Cooper - Miniature portrait of Charles X, King of Sweden 1655-1660 - Google Art Project (392624).jpg|thumb|180px|Christina's cousin and designated heir, Count Palatine Charles Gustav]]-->

Chancellor Oxenstierna soon discovered that her political views differed from his own. In 1645, he sent his son, [[Johan Oxenstierna]], to the Peace Congress in the [[Westphalia]]n city of [[Osnabrück]], to argue against peace with the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Christina, however, wanted peace at any cost and sent her own delegate, [[Johan Adler Salvius]].

The [[Peace of Westphalia]] was signed in October 1648, effectively ending the [[European wars of religion]]. Sweden received an indemnity of five million [[thaler]]s, used primarily to pay its troops. Sweden further received [[Western Pomerania]] (henceforth [[Swedish Pomerania]]), [[Wismar]], the [[Archbishopric of Bremen]], and the [[Prince-Bishopric of Verden|Bishopric of Verden]] as hereditary fiefs, thus gaining a seat and vote in the [[Diet of the Holy Roman Empire]] and in the respective diets (''[[Kreistag]]e'') of three [[Imperial Circles]]: the [[Upper Saxon Circle]], [[Lower Saxon Circle]], and [[Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle]]; the city of Bremen was disputed.<ref>Böhme, Klaus-R (2001). ''"Die sicherheitspolitische Lage Schwedens nach dem Westfälischen Frieden."'' In Hacker, Hans-Joachim. ''Der Westfälische Frieden von 1648: Wende in der Geschichte des Ostseeraums'' (in German). Kovač. p. 35. {{ISBN|3-8300-0500-8}}.</ref>

[[File:Erfurt (German States) 1645 10 Ducat (Portugaloser).jpg|thumb|left|Christina on a 1645 10 ducat coin from [[Erfurt]], which then was occupied by Swedish forces.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXSrLbIEDBMC |pages=490–491 |title= Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins 1601–Present |edition=6 |publisher=Krause |isbn=978-1-4402-0424-1 |editor-last=Cuhaj |editor-first=George S.|year=2009a}}</ref>{{efn|There are seven gold coins known to exist bearing the effigy of Queen Christina: a unique 1649 five ducat,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Friedberg |first1=Arthur |last2=Friedberg |first2=Ira |year=2009 |title=Gold Coins of the World: From Ancient Times to the Present |pages=688–89|publisher= The Coin & Currency Institute |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TlnoMdZu40UC |edition=8 |isbn=978-0-87184-308-1}}</ref> and six 1645 10 ducat specimen.<ref>{{Citation | title = Kunker Rarities Auction| url = http://news.coinupdate.com/kunker-auctions-preview-1573| access-date = 1 March 2015}}</ref>}}]]

Shortly before the conclusion of the peace settlement, she admitted [[Johan Adler Salvius|Salvius]] into the council, against Oxenstierna's wishes. Salvius was no aristocrat, but Christina wanted the opposition to the aristocracy present. In 1649, with the help of her uncle, [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg|John Casimir]], Christina tried to reduce the influence of Oxenstierna when she declared her cousin [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden|Charles Gustav]] as her heir presumptive. The following year, Christina resisted demands from the other estates (clergy, burghers, and peasants) in the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] for the reduction of the number of noble landholdings that were tax-exempt. She never implemented such a policy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNYcBQAAQBAJ&q=christina+Sweden+Riksdag+1650&pg=PA71|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130144603/https://books.google.com/books?id=nNYcBQAAQBAJ&q=christina+Sweden+Riksdag+1650&pg=PA71|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 30, 2021|title=Sweden in the Seventeenth Century|first=Paul Douglas|last=Lockhart|date=13 February 2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9780230802551}}</ref> In 1649, Louis de Geer founded the [[Swedish Africa Company]] and in 1650, Christina hired [[Hendrik Carloff]] to improve trade on the [[Swedish Gold Coast|Gold Coast]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2975217/view| title = Wirta, K.H.(2018) Dark horses of business : overseas entrepreneurship in seventeenth-century Nordic trade in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, p. 134-135}}</ref>  Her reign also saw the founding of the colony of [[New Sweden]] in 1638; it lasted until 1655.

===Patronage of the arts===
{{anchor|Descartes|Visits|Scholars|Music}}
[[File:Dispute of Queen Cristina Vasa and Rene Descartes.png|thumb|Queen Christina (at the table on the right) in discussion with French philosopher [[René Descartes]]. (Romanticized painting by [[Nils Forsberg]] (1842–1934), after [[Pierre Louis Dumesnil]]]]

Christina has been described as the <!--Pallas or -->"[[Minerva]] of the North" due to her strong support of arts and academics.<ref>Stephan, Ruth: [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christina-queen-of-Sweden Christina, Queen of Sweden]. Britannica. Accessed December 10, 2018.</ref> In 1645, Christina invited [[Hugo Grotius]], the author of ''[[Mare Liberum]]'', to become her librarian, but he died on his way in [[Rostock]]. That same year she founded ''[[Ordinari Post Tijdender]]'' ("Regular Mail Times"), the oldest currently published newspaper in the world. In 1647, [[Johann Freinsheim]] was appointed as her librarian.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> During the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops looted books from conquered territories and dispatched them to Sweden to win favour with Christina.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Peter H. |title=The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy |publisher= |year=2009 |isbn= |edition= |location= |pages=636, 745}}</ref> After the [[Battle of Prague (1648)]], when her armies looted [[Prague Castle]], many of the treasures collected by [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolph II]] were brought back to Stockholm. Thus, Christina acquired a number of valuable illustrated works and rare manuscripts for her library. The inventory drawn up at the time mentions 100 ''an allerhand Kunstbüchern'' ("a hundred art books of different kinds"), among them two world-famous manuscripts: the {{lang|la|[[Codex Argenteus]]}} and the {{lang|la|[[Codex Gigas]]}}.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.kb.se/codex-gigas/eng/ |title=Codex Gigas – Kungliga biblioteket |publisher=National Library of Sweden |date=2007-05-30 |access-date=2012-03-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012230510/http://www.kb.se/codex-gigas/eng/ |archive-date=2007-10-12 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kb.se/codex-gigas/eng/Long/handskriftens/war-booty/#Looting%20in%20Prague|title=War booty – Kungliga biblioteket|last=Andersson|first=Åsa|website=www.kb.se|language=EN|access-date=2017-07-16}}</ref>

In 1649, 760 paintings, 170 marble and 100 bronze statues, 33,000 coins and medallions, 600 pieces of crystal, 300 scientific instruments, manuscripts, and books (including the {{lang|la|Sanctae Crucis laudibus}} by [[Rabanus Maurus]]) were transported to Stockholm. The art, from [[Prague Castle]], had belonged to [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]] and had been captured by [[Hans Christoff von Königsmarck]] during the [[Battle of Prague (1648)|Battle of Prague]] and the negotiations of the [[Peace of Westphalia]].<ref>Trevor-Roper, H. (1970) ''Plunder of the arts in the XVIIth century''</ref> By 1649–1650, "her desire to collect men of learning round her, as well as books and rare manuscripts, became almost a mania", Goldsmith wrote.<ref>{{cite book|last=Goldsmith |first=Margaret |date=1935 |title=Christina of Sweden: a psychological biography |location=Garden City, NY |publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.}}</ref> To catalog her new collection she asked [[Isaac Vossius]] to come to Sweden and [[Nikolaes Heinsius the Elder|Heinsius]] to purchase more books on the market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/blog/?catalogue=isaac-vossius|title=The Correspondence of Isaac Vossius (currently 1,702 letters) – EMLO|website=emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>

Her <!--political--> ambitions naturally demanded a wide-ranging correspondence. Not infrequently, she sat and wrote far into the night while the servants came and went with new wax candles. The "[[Semiramis]] from the North" corresponded with [[Pierre Gassendi]], her favorite author. [[Blaise Pascal]] offered her a copy of his [[pascaline]]. She had a firm grasp of [[classical history]] and philosophy.<ref name="waithe">Waithe, Mary Ellen (1991) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YonSdfDG7aYC ''Modern women philosophers, 1600–1900''] (Springer)</ref> Christina studied [[Neostoicism]], the [[Church Fathers]], and [[Islam]]; she systematically looked for a copy of the ''[[Treatise of the Three Impostors]]'', a work bestowing doubt on all organized religion.<ref>Peter Englund: ''Sølvmasken'' (p. 27)</ref> In 1651, the [[kabbalist]] [[Menasseh ben Israel]] offered to become her agent or librarian for Hebrew books and manuscripts; they discussed his messianic ideas as he had recently spelled them out in his latest book, ''Hope of Israel''. Other illustrious scholars who came to visit were [[Claude Saumaise]], [[Johannes Schefferus]], [[Olaus Rudbeck]], [[Johann Heinrich Boeckler]], [[Gabriel Naudé]], [[Christian Ravis]], [[Nicolaas Heinsius]] and [[Samuel Bochart]], together with [[Pierre Daniel Huet]] and [[Marcus Meibomius]], who wrote a book about [[Greek dance]].

Christina was interested in theatre, especially the plays of [[Pierre Corneille]]; she was herself an amateur actress.<ref name="ReferenceA">Leif Jonsson, Ann-Marie Nilsson & Greger Andersson: Musiken i Sverige. Från forntiden till stormaktstidens slut 1720 (English: "Music in Sweden. From Antiquity to the end of the Great power era 1720") {{in lang|sv}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Lars Löfgren: ''Svensk teater'' (English: "Swedish Theatre") {{in lang|sv}}</ref> From 1638 Oxenstierna employed a French ballet troupe under [[Antoine de Beaulieu]], who also had to teach Christina to move around more elegantly.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref name="ReferenceB" /> In 1647, the Italian architect Antonio Brunati was ordered to build a theatrical setting in one of the larger rooms of the palace.<ref>Marker, Frederick J. & Marker, Lise-Lone (1996) [https://books.google.com/books?id=TSlvmgqtlCwC ''A History of Scandinavian Theatre''] ([[Cambridge University Press]])</ref> In 1648, she commissioned 35 paintings from [[Jacob Jordaens]] for a ceiling in [[Uppsala Castle]]. The court poet [[Georg Stiernhielm]] wrote several plays in the Swedish language, such as ''Den fångne Cupido eller Laviancu de Diane'', performed with Christina taking the main part of the goddess [[Diana (goddess)|Diana]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> She invited foreign companies to play at [[Bollhuset]]. An [[Italian opera]] troupe visited in 1652 with [[Vincenzo Albrici]] and [[Angelo Michele Bartolotti]], a guitarist. A Dutch theater troupe with [[Ariana Nozeman]] and [[Susanna van Lee]] visited her in 1653.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> Among the French artists she employed was [[Anne Chabanceau de La Barre]], who was made court singer.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Descartes===
{{Descartes}}
In 1646, Christina's good friend, the French ambassador [[Pierre Chanut]], met and corresponded with the philosopher [[René Descartes]], asking him for a copy of his ''[[Meditations on First Philosophy|Meditations]]''. Upon showing the queen some of the letters, Christina became interested in beginning a correspondence with Descartes. She invited him to Sweden, but Descartes was reluctant until she asked him to organize a scientific academy. Christina sent a ship to pick up the philosopher and 2,000 books.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRvIQkLFD60C&pg=PA273|title=Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of René Descartes|first=Richard|last=Watson|date=10 July 2017|publisher=David R. Godine Publisher|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781567923353}}</ref> Descartes arrived on 4&nbsp;October 1649. He resided with Chanut and finished his ''[[Passions of the Soul]]''. It is highly unlikely Descartes wrote a "Ballet de la Naissance de la Paix," performed on her birthday.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://andrefabre.e-monsite.com/pages/histoire-de-la-medecine/descartes-in-sweden.html|title=René Descartes in Sweden|access-date=2014-12-21|archive-date=2014-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105143616/http://andrefabre.e-monsite.com/pages/histoire-de-la-medecine/descartes-in-sweden.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the day after, 19&nbsp;December 1649, he probably started his private lessons for the queen. With Christina's strict schedule, he was invited to the cold and draughty castle at 5:00 am daily to discuss philosophy and religion. Soon, it became clear they did not like each other; she disapproved of his mechanical view, and he did not appreciate her interest in [[Ancient Greek]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385517539|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385517539/page/30 30]|title=Descartes' Bones|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780385528375|last1=Shorto|first1=Russell|date=2008-10-14}}</ref> On 15 January Descartes wrote he had seen Christina only four or five times.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRvIQkLFD60C&pg=PA294|title=Cogito, Ergo Sum|isbn=9781567923353|last1=Watson|first1=Richard|year=2007|publisher=David R. Godine Publisher }}</ref> <!--Christina went for three weeks to [[Uppsala]]; Descartes was disappointed.--> On 1&nbsp;February 1650, Descartes caught a cold. He died ten days later, early in the morning of 11 February 1650, and according to Chanut, the cause of his death was [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2010/02/12/il-y-a-des-preuves-que-rene-descartes-a-ete-assassine-138138%C2%AB| title = Il y a des preuves que René Descartes a été assassiné »| access-date = 2014-12-21| archive-date = 2016-11-27| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161127073358/http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2010/02/12/il-y-a-des-preuves-que-rene-descartes-a-ete-assassine-138138%C2%AB| url-status = dead}}</ref>{{efn|Over time there have  been speculations regarding the death of the philosopher.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historychristin00lacogoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/historychristin00lacogoog/page/n107 96]|title=The History of Christina|publisher=G. Kearsly|last1=Lacombe|first1=Jacques|author-link=Jacques Lacombe (writer)|year=1766}}</ref> Theodor Ebert claimed that Descartes did not meet his end by being exposed to the harsh Swedish winter climate, as philosophers have been fond of repeating, but by [[arsenic poisoning]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=4867|title=Was Descartes murdered in Stockholm?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215213819/http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=4867|archive-date=2014-12-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://philosophyonthemesa.com/tag/theodor-ebert/|title=Theodor Ebert – Philosophy On The Mesa|access-date=2014-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215233640/http://philosophyonthemesa.com/tag/theodor-ebert/|archive-date=2014-12-15|url-status=usurped}}</ref> It has been suggested Descartes was an obstacle to Christina's becoming a true Catholic.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzYqyFuvwEYC&q=Jacques+Viogu%C3%A9&pg=PA157|title=Nothing Matters: a book about nothing|first=Ronald|last=Green|date=26 August 2011|publisher=John Hunt Publishing|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781780990163}}</ref>}}

===Marriage issue===

[[File:David Beck - Christina, Queen of Sweden 1644-1654 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|Christina by [[David Beck]]]]

By the age of nine, Christina was already impressed by the Catholic religion and the merits of [[celibacy]].<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&pg=PA565|title=Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The Age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1622-1656|first=Oskar|last=Garstein|date=10 July 1992|publisher=BRILL|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9004093958}}</ref> She read a biography of the virgin queen [[Elizabeth I of England]] with interest. But Christina understood that she was expected to provide an heir to the Swedish throne. Her first cousin Charles was infatuated with her, and they became secretly engaged before he left in 1642 to serve in the Swedish army in Germany for three years. Christina revealed in her autobiography that she felt "an insurmountable distaste for marriage" and "for all the things that females talked about and did." She once stated, "It takes more courage to marry than to go to war."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birch |first=Una |title=Maxims of a Queen |year=1907 |pages=33}}</ref> As she was chiefly occupied with her studies, she slept three to four hours a night, forgot to comb her hair, donned her clothes in a hurry and wore men's shoes for the sake of convenience. (In fact, her permanent bed-head became her trademark look in paintings.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.factinate.com/people/facts-christina-queen-sweden/ | title=Disobedient Facts About Christina of Sweden, the Troublemaker Queen | date=5 April 2019 }}</ref>) When Christina left Sweden, she continued to write passionate letters to her intimate friend Ebba Sparre, in which she told her that she would always love her. However, such emotional letters were relatively common at that time, and Christina would use the same style when writing to women she had never met but whose writings she admired.<ref name="crompton"/> <!--It has also been pointed out, however, that Christina used the same emotional style when writing to men and women she had never met (those whose writings she admired), and there is conjecture as to the context of her letters to Sparre.<ref name="Elisabeth Aasen: Barokke damer">Elisabeth Aasen: ''Barokke damer''</ref>-->

===Coronation===
Christina's coronation took place on 22 October 1650. Christina went to the [[Ulriksdal Palace|castle of Jacobsdal]], where she boarded a coronation carriage draped in black [[velvet]] embroidered in gold and pulled by three white horses. The procession to [[Storkyrkan]] was so long that when the first carriages arrived, the last ones had not yet left Jacobsdal (a distance of roughly 10.5&nbsp;km or 6.5 miles). All four estates were invited to dine at the castle. Fountains at the marketplace splashed out wine for three days, a whole roast ox was served, and illuminations sparkled, followed by a themed parade (''The Illustrious Splendors of Felicity'') on 24 October.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6354&context=etd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418171209/http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6354&context=etd|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2016|title=Expressions of power: Queen Christina of Sweden and patronage in Baroque Europe by Nathan A. Popp, University of Iowa|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

=== Religion and health ===
[[File:Cristina de Suecia a caballo (Bourdon).jpg|thumb|''Christina of Sweden'', by [[Sébastien Bourdon]] (1653). [[Prado Museum|Museo del Prado]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sébastien Bourdon's equestrian portrait of queen Christina of Sweden—Addressed to "his Catholic Majesty" Philip IV |date=2008-09-01 |doi=10.1080/00233608908604229 |volume=58 |issue=3 |journal=Konsthistorisk Tidskrift |pages=95–108|last1 = Danielsson|first1 = Arne}}</ref><ref>Arne Danielsson (1989) Sébastien Bourdon's equestrian portrait of Queen Christina of Sweden –addressed to― His Catholic Majesty Philip IV. Konsthistorisk tidskrift, Vol. 58, no. 3, p. 95.</ref><ref name="Popp 2010"/>]]

Her tutor, Johannes Matthiae, influenced by [[John Dury]] and [[John Amos Comenius|Comenius]], who since 1638 had been working on a new Swedish school system, represented a gentler attitude than most Lutherans. In 1644, he suggested a new church order, but it was voted down as this was interpreted as [[Crypto-Calvinism]]. Queen Christina defended him against the advice of Chancellor Oxenstierna, but three years later, the proposal had to be withdrawn. In 1647, the clergy wanted to introduce the [[Book of Concord]] ({{langx|sv|Konkordieboken}})&nbsp;– a book defining correct Lutheranism versus heresy, making some aspects of free theological thinking impossible. Matthiae was strongly opposed to this and was again backed by Christina. The Book of Concord was not introduced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wlsessays.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/1390/ErlandssonFormula.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=The Formula of Concord in the History of Swedish Lutheranism, p. 6 By Docent Seth Erlandsson, Uppsala|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422042629/http://www.wlsessays.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/1390/ErlandssonFormula.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|archive-date=22 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1651, after reigning for almost twenty years, working at least ten hours a day, Christina had a [[nervous breakdown]] or [[burn out|burnout]]. For an hour, she seemed to be dead. She suffered from [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]] and complained about bad eyesight and her crooked back. She had already seen many court physicians.{{efn|[[Petrus Kirstenius]] was invited to become her personal physician in 1636.  [[Grégoire François Du Rietz]] became the physician in 1642. Around 1645 she appointed [[De Castro family (Sephardi Jewish)#Benedict (Baruch) Nehamias de Castro|Benedict (Baruch) Nehamias de Castro]] from Hamburg. Johan van Wullen was her physician since 1649. [[Hermann Conring]] was invited in 1650, but he seems to have rejected the offer. At some time, Sven Broms and [[Andreas Sparman]] were appointed.  Du Rietz was called when she suddenly collapsed in 1651.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYyS-aPo9BYC&pg=PA165|title=Pierre Chanut, ami de Descartes: un diplomate philosophe|first=Jean-François de|last=Raymond|date=10 July 1999|publisher=Editions Beauchesne|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9782701013831}}</ref> In 1652 it was [[Pierre Bourdelot]]. Otto Sperling met Christina in Sweden in the winter of 1653. In July 1654, the English physician [[Daniel Whistler]] returned to London. In Rome, [[Giuseppe Francesco Borri]] came to see her in 1655, and after 1678 when he was released from prison. [[Romolo Spezioli]] was appointed after 1675.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/ishm/vesalius/VESx2004x10x02x061x066.pdf|title=The physician Romolo Spezioli (1642 -1723) and his private library in the Public Library of Fermo|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304205228/http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/ishm/vesalius/VESx2004x10x02x061x066.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/1243901|title=Romolo Spezioli, medico di Cristina di Svezia |journal=Letters from Queen Christina's Court. Italians Meet the North Europes |first=Vera Nigrisoli|last=Wärnhjelm|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> [[Nikolaes Heinsius the Younger]] arrived in Rome in 1679, when he became her personal physician until about 1687. Cesare Macchiati was her physician until her death.<ref>FABIOLA ZURLINI, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MACERATA The Correspondence between the Personal Physician of the Queen Christina of Sweden Cesare Macchiati and the Cardinal Decio Azzolino Junior in the Seventeenth Century</ref>}} In February 1652, the French doctor [[Pierre Bourdelot]] arrived in Stockholm.  Unlike most doctors of that time, he held no faith in [[bloodletting|blood-letting]]; instead, he ordered sufficient sleep, warm baths, and healthy meals, in contrast to Christina's hitherto ascetic way of life. She was only twenty-five; and advising that she should take more pleasure in life, Bourdelot asked her to stop studying and working so hard<ref>Lanoye, D. (2001) Christina van Zweden : Koningin op het schaakbord Europa 1626–1689, p. 24.</ref> and to remove the books from her apartments.

For years, Christina knew by heart all the poems from the [[Ars Amatoria]] and was keen on the works by [[Martial]]<ref>Quilliet, B. (1987) Christina van Zweden : een uitzonderlijke vorst, p. 79–80.</ref> and [[Petronius]]. The physician showed her the 16 erotic sonnets of [[Pietro Aretino]], which he kept secretly in his luggage. By subtle means, Bourdelot undermined her principles. Having been [[stoicism|Stoic]], she now became an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4693/4693-h/4693-h.htm| title = FAMOUS AFFINITIES OF HISTORY THE ROMANCE OF DEVOTION by Lyndon Orr}}</ref> Her mother and de la Gardie were very much against the activities of Bourdelot and tried to convince her to change her attitude towards him; Bourdelot returned to France in 1653 "laden in riches and curses".<ref name=Buckley>Buckley, Veronica (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=9sgb8ER6rQMC ''Christina, Queen of Sweden: The Restless Life of a European Eccentric''] ([[HarperCollins]], {{ISBN|9780060736187}})</ref>

The Queen had long conversations about [[Copernicus]], [[Tycho Brahe]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[Kepler]] with Antonio Macedo, secretary and interpreter for Portugal's ambassador.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=26222 |title=Converts, Conversion, and the Confessionalization Thesis, Once Again |date=February 2010 |publisher=H-net.org |access-date=2012-03-09}}</ref> Macedo was a [[Jesuit]], and in August 1651, smuggled on his person a letter from Christina to his general in Rome.{{Efn|Likely [[Goswin Nickel]] rather than [[Francesco Piccolomini (Jesuit)|Francesco Piccolomini]] who had died in June of that year.}} In reply, [[Paolo Casati]] and Francesco Malines, trained in both natural sciences and theology, came to Sweden in the spring of 1652. <!--The two Jesuits had to gauge the sincerity of her intention to become Catholic.--> She had more conversations with them, being interested in Catholic views on sin, the [[immortality of the soul]], rationality, and [[free will]]. The two scholars revealed her plans to Cardinal [[Pope Alexander VII|Fabio Chigi]]. Around May 1652 Christina, raised in the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] [[Church of Sweden]], decided to become [[Catholic]]. She sent [[Matthias Palbitzki]] to Madrid and King [[Philip IV of Spain]] sent the diplomat [[Antonio Pimentel de Prado]] to Stockholm in August.<ref>Garstein, O. (1992) [https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden (1662–1656)]. Studies in history of Christian thought. Leiden.</ref><ref>Ranke, Leopold von (2009) [https://archive.org/details/historyofpopesth0301rank  ''History of the popes; their church and state (Volume III)''] ([[Wellesley College]] Library)</ref><!-- The original material relating to Christina's adoption of the Catholic faith is generally dubious and it is only with great difficulty that any vestige of the true state of affairs can be educed.<ref>Weibull, C. (1966) Christina of Sweden, p. 53. Svenska Bokförlaget Bonniers</ref>-->

== Abdication ==

On 26 February 1649, Christina announced that she had decided not to marry and instead wanted her first cousin [[Charles X Gustav|Charles Gustav]] to be heir to the throne. While the nobility objected to this, the three other estates&nbsp;– clergy, burghers, and peasants&nbsp;– accepted it. She agreed to stay on the condition the councils never again asked her to marry. In 1651, Christina lost much of her popularity after the beheading of [[Arnold Johan Messenius]], together with his 17-year-old son, who had accused her of serious misbehavior and of being a "[[Jezebel]]".<ref>«The case of Arnold Johan Messenius», In: Oskar Garstein, ''Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: the age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1622-1656'', Leiden: Brill Editore, 1992, pp. 285-295, {{ISBN|90-04-09395-8}}, {{ISBN|9789004093959}} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&dq=messenius&pg=PA285 Google books])</ref><ref>Henry Woodhead, ''Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden'', 2 vol., London: Hurst and Blackett, 1863, Vol. II, pp. 86–97 ([https://archive.org/details/memoirschristin01woodgoog/page/n95 <!-- pg=86 quote=messenius. --> Internet Archive])</ref> According to them "Christina was bringing everything to ruin, and that she cared for nothing but sport and pleasure."<ref>Henry Woodhead, ''Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden'', 2 vol., London: Hurst and Blackett, 1863, Vol. II, pp. 89 ([https://archive.org/details/memoirschristin01woodgoog/page/n95 <!-- pg=86 quote=messenius. --> Internet Archive])</ref>

[[File:Christina of Sweden's abdication 1654.jpg|thumb|Christina's abdication in 1654, drawing by [[Erik Dahlberg]]]]

In 1653, she founded the [[Amaranten order]]. Antonio Pimentel was appointed as its first knight; all members had to promise not to marry (again).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jY02AAAAMAAJ|title=Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden|last1=Woodhead|first1=Henry|year=1863}}</ref> In the same year, she ordered Vossius (and Heinsius) to make a list of about 6,000 books and manuscripts to be packed and shipped to Antwerp. In February 1654, she plainly told the Council of her plans to [[abdicate]]. Oxenstierna told her she would regret her decision within a few months. In May, the [[Riksdag of the Estates|Riksdag]] discussed her proposals. She had asked for 200,000 ''rikstalers'' a year but received dominions instead. Financially she was secured through a pension and revenue from the town of [[Norrköping]], the isles of [[Gotland]], [[Öland]], [[Saaremaa|Ösel]], and [[Poel]], [[Wolgast]] and [[Neukloster]] in [[Mecklenburg]], and estates in [[Swedish Pomerania|Pomerania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNdAAAAAcAAJ&q=Charles+Gustavus&pg=PA153|title=Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden: In 2 volumes. II|first=Henry|last=Woodhead|date=10 July 1863|publisher=Hurst and Blackett|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> <!--Her debts were taken over by the treasury.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} or is it "Despite the war and heavy debts the Swedish government ...."?-->

Her plan to convert{{sfn|Granlund|2004|p=57}} was not the only reason for her abdication, as there was increasing discontent with her arbitrary and wasteful ways. Within ten years, she and Oxenstierna had created 17 [[count]]s, 46 [[baron]]s, and 428 lesser [[Nobility|nobles]].{{Efn|The Diet also argued that Oxenstierna's policy of giving away crown lands, in the hope that they would yield more revenue when taxed than when farmed, benefited none but the aristocracy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/|title=YourDictionary: Definitions and Meanings From Over a Dozen Trusted Dictionary Sources|website=www.yourdictionary.com|accessdate=19 February 2024}}</ref>}} To provide these new peers with adequate [[appanage]]s, they had sold or mortgaged crown property representing an annual income of 1,200,000 [[Swedish riksdaler|rikstalers]].<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=Christina of Sweden|volume=6|last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain |pages=291–292|short=1}}</ref> During the ten years of her reign, the number of noble families increased from 300 to about 600,<ref>Peter Englund: ''Sølvmasken'' (p. 61)</ref> rewarding people such as [[Lennart Torstenson]], <!--[[Du Rietz]], [[Andreas Sparman]],--> [[Louis De Geer (1587–1652)|Louis De Geer]] and [[Johan Palmstruch]] for their efforts. These donations took place with such haste that they were not always registered, and on some occasions, the same piece of land was given away twice.<ref>Peter Englund: ''Sølvmasken'' (p. 64)</ref>
[[File:Christina, Queen of Sweden act of abdication page 1.jpg|alt=Photograph of Christina's act of abdication. Written on parchment with a red seal hanging from its bottom.|thumb|Christina's act of abdication.]]
Christina abdicated her throne on 6 June 1654 in favor of Charles Gustav.{{sfn|Granlund|2004|p=57}} During the abdication ceremony at [[Uppsala Castle]], Christina wore her [[regalia]], which were ceremonially removed from her, one by one. [[Per Brahe the Younger|Per Brahe]], who was supposed to remove the crown, did not move, so she had to take the crown off herself. Dressed in a simple white [[taffeta]] dress, she gave her farewell speech with a faltering voice, thanked everyone, and left the throne to Charles X Gustav, who was dressed in black. Per Brahe felt that she "stood there as pretty as an angel." Charles Gustav was crowned later on that day. Christina left the country within a few days.<!--, proposed again to marry her.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}, hoping for a warm reception in Catholic countries. Before she left, she had sent many treasures, depleting the royal treasury and palaces. Charles Gustav had to move into an empty palace.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}}-->

==Departure and exile==
[[Image:Jacob Ferdinand Voet - Queen Christina of Sweden.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[Jacob Ferdinand Voet]]]]

In the summer of 1654, Christina left Sweden in men's clothing with the help of [[Bernardino de Rebolledo]] and rode as [[Christopher Delphicus zu Dohna|Count Dohna]] through Denmark. Relations between the two countries were still so tense that a former Swedish queen could not have traveled safely in Denmark. Christina had already packed and shipped abroad valuable books, paintings, statues, and tapestries from her Stockholm castle, leaving its treasures severely depleted.<ref>Ragnar Sjöberg in ''Drottning Christina och hennes samtid'', Lars Hökerbergs förlag, Stockholm, 1925, page 216</ref>{{sfn|Granlund|2004|pp=56–57}}

Christina visited [[Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp]] and, while there, thought that her successor should have a bride.  She sent letters recommending two of the Duke's daughters to Charles. Based on this recommendation, he married [[Hedwig Eleonora]].{{sfn|Granlund|2004|p=58}} On 10 July Christina arrived in Hamburg and stayed with [[Jacob Curiel]] at [[Krameramtsstuben]].
Christina visited [[Johann Friedrich Gronovius]], and [[Anna Maria van Schurman]] in the Dutch Republic.

In August, she arrived in the [[Southern Netherlands]] and settled down in Antwerp. For four months Christina was lodged in the mansion of a Jewish merchant. She was visited by [[Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria]]; the [[Louis, Grand Condé|Prince de Condé]], the ambassador [[Pierre Chanut]], as well as the former governor of Norway, [[Hannibal Sehested (governor)|Hannibal Sehested]]. In the afternoons, she went for a ride, and each evening, parties were held; there was always a play to watch or music to listen to. Christina quickly ran out of money and had to sell some of her tapestries, silverware, and jewelry. When her financial situation did not improve, the archduke invited her to his Brussels palace on [[Coudenberg]]. On  24 December 1654, she converted to the Catholic faith in the archduke's chapel in the presence of <!--the English exiled Catholic Priest Thomas Giles? {{Citation needed|who is he?|date=March 2017}}, (and--> the Dominican Juan Guêmes,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_History_of_the_Popes_from_the_Close_of_the_Middle_Ages_v31_1000810653/63|title=HISTORY OF THE POPES.|access-date=10 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924044551/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_History_of_the_Popes_from_the_Close_of_the_Middle_Ages_v31_1000810653/63|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>  [[Raimondo Montecuccoli]] and Pimentel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koni.onlinehome.de/ausfuehrliche-biographien/christina-von-schweden.htm|title=Königin Christina von Schweden|website=www.koni.onlinehome.de|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-date=11 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311165954/http://www.koni.onlinehome.de/ausfuehrliche-biographien/christina-von-schweden.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Baptized as Kristina Augusta, she adopted the name Christina Alexandra.{{efn|Alexandra was a confirmation name in 1654, chosen in honor of the reigning pope, [[Alexander VII]], and one of her heroes, [[Alexander the Great]]. The pope had urged her to also add "Maria" in honor of the [[Virgin Mary|Virgin]], but she refused.<ref>Buckley, p. 15; 182–3.</ref>}} She did not declare her conversion in public, in case the Swedish council might refuse to pay her alimony. In addition, Sweden was preparing for war against [[Pomerania]], which meant that her income from there was considerably reduced. The pope and [[Philip IV of Spain]] could not support her openly either, as she was not publicly a Catholic yet. Christina succeeded in arranging a major loan, leaving books and statues to settle her debts.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lanoye |first=D. |date=2001 |title=Christina van Zweden: Koningin op het schaakbord Europa 1626–1689 |page=114}}</ref>

In September, she left for Italy with her entourage of 255 persons and 247 horses. The pope's messenger, the librarian [[Lucas Holstenius]], himself a convert, waited for her in [[Innsbruck]]. On 3 November 1655, Christina announced her conversion to Catholicism in the [[Hofkirche, Innsbruck|Hofkirche]] and wrote to Pope Alexander VII and her cousin Charles X about it. To celebrate her official conversion, {{lang|it|[[L'Argia]]}}, an opera by [[Antonio Cesti]], was performed. [[Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria]], already in financial trouble, is said to have been almost ruined by her visit. Her departure was on 8 November.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&q=8+November+1655+Christina&pg=PA752|title=Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The Age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1622-1656|first=Oskar|last=Garstein|date=10 July 1992|publisher=BRILL|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9004093958}}</ref>

=== Setting off to Rome ===
[[File:Christina barberini.jpg|thumb|left|Celebrations for Christina at [[Palazzo Barberini]] on 28 February 1656]]

The southbound journey through Italy was planned in detail by the [[Holy See|Vatican]] and included brilliant triumphs in Ferrara, Bologna, [[Faenza]] and Rimini. In [[Pesaro]], Christina became acquainted with the handsome brothers [[Santinelli]], who so impressed her with their poetry and adeptness of dancing that she took them into service, as well as a certain Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi. <!--On 20 December she reached the Vatican, the last distance in a [[litter (vehicle)|sedan]] chair designed by [[Bernini]]. She was granted her own wing inside the Vatican, decorated by Bernini. When the pope spotted the inscription symbolizing the northern wind, ''Omne malum ab Aquilone'' (meaning "all evil comes from the North"), he ensured that it was rapidly covered with paint.--> The official entry into Rome took place on 20 December, in a sedan chair designed by [[Bernini]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fa7pI9NXeLsC&pg=PA359|title=The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini|first1=Domenico|last1=Bernini|first2=Gian Lorenzo|last2=Bernini|first3=Franco|last3=Mormando|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Penn State Press|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0271037486}}</ref> through [[Porta Flaminia]], which today is known as [[Porta del Popolo]].{{efn|Bernini had decorated the gate with Christina's coat of arms (an ear of corn) beneath that of Pope Alexander (six mountains with a star above). Also today one can read the inscription ''Felici Faustoq Ingressui Anno Dom MDCLV'' ("to a happy and blessed entry in the year 1655").}} Christina met Bernini on the next day, she invited him to her apartment the same evening and they became lifelong friends. "Two days afterwards she was conducted to the Vatican Basilica, where the pope gave her confirmation. It was then that she received from the pope her second name of Alexandra, the feminine form of his own."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Pope_Alexander_VII/Montor_bio*.html|title=Pope Alexander&nbsp;VII • Biographical Sketch by Montor|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> She was granted her own wing inside the Vatican, decorated by Bernini.

Christina's visit to Rome was the triumph of Pope [[Alexander VII]] and the occasion for splendid [[Baroque]] festivities. For several months, she was the only preoccupation of the Pope and his court. The nobles vied for her attention and treated her to a never-ending round of fireworks, [[jousts]], mock duels, acrobatics, and operas. On 31 January ''Vita Humana'' an opera by [[Marco Marazzoli]] was performed. At the [[Palazzo Barberini]], where she was welcomed on 28 February by a few hundred privileged spectators, she watched an amazing carousel in the courtyard.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8qvCwAAQBAJ&q=28+February+1656+Rome&pg=PA58|title=The Early Baroque Era: From the late 16th century to the 1660s|first=Curtis|last=Price|date=9 November 1993|publisher=Springer|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781349112944}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://exhibitions.europeana.eu/exhibits/show/festa-in-roma/carnival/the-giostra-dei-caroselli-1656|title=Exhibitions|website=Europeana Exhibitions|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

=== Palazzo Farnese ===
[[File:Letters 1666 1668 Queen Christina to Decio Azzolino National Archives Sweden K394 038 297.png|thumb|upright|Letter from Queen Christina to Decio Azzolino in the [[National Archives of Sweden]]]]

Christina finally settled down in the [[Palazzo Farnese]], which belonged to the [[Duke of Parma]]. Every Wednesday she held the palace open to visitors from the higher classes who kept themselves busy with poetry and intellectual discussions. Christina opened an academy in the palace on 24 January 1656, called [[Academy of Arcadia]], where the participants enjoyed music, theater, and literature. The poet [[Reyer Anslo]] was presented to her. Belonging to the Arcadia-circle was also [[Francesco Negri (travel writer)|Francesco Negri]], a Franciscan from [[Ravenna]] who is regarded as the first tourist to visit [[North Cape, Norway]].{{efn|Negri wrote eight letters about his walk through Scandinavia all the way up to "Capo Nord" in 1664.}} Another [[Franciscan]] was the Swede Lars Skytte, who, under the name pater Laurentius, served as Christina's confessor for eight years.{{efn|He too had been a pupil of Johannes Matthiae, and his uncle had been Gustavus Adolphus's teacher. As a diplomat in Portugal, he had converted and asked for a transfer to Rome when he learnt of Christina's arrival.}}

Twenty-nine-year-old Christina gave occasion to much gossip when socializing freely with men her own age. One of them was [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Decio Azzolino]], who had been a secretary to the ambassador in Spain, and responsible for the Vatican's correspondence with European courts.<ref name=bargrave>''Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals'' by [[John Bargrave]], edited by [[James Craigie Robertson]] (reprint; 2009)</ref> He was also the leader of the ''[[Squadrone Volante]]'', the [[free-thinking]] "Flying Squad" movement within the Catholic Church. Christina and Azzolino were so close that the pope asked him to shorten his visits to her palace, but they remained lifelong friends. In a letter on 26 January 1676<ref>D. Lanoye, p. 157.</ref> to Azzolino Christina writes (in French) that she would never offend God or give Azzolino reason to take offense, but this "does not prevent me from loving you until death, and since piety relieves you from being my lover, then I relieve you from being my servant, for I shall live and die as your slave." As he had promised to remain celibate, his replies were more reserved.{{efn|Christina wrote him many letters during her travels. After her death, Azzolino burnt most of their correspondence; about 80 have survived. Some details were written in a code that was decrypted by [[Carl Bildt (1850–1931)|Carl Bildt]], in Rome around 1900.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://livrustkammaren.se/en/exhibitions/christinas-letters|title=Christina's letters|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-date=21 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621011306/http://livrustkammaren.se/en/exhibitions/christinas-letters|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} In the meantime Christina learned that the Swedes had confiscated all her revenue as the princess had become a Catholic.
<!--At times, things got a bit out of hand. On one occasion the couple had arranged to meet at the [[Villa Medici]] near [[Monte Pincio]], but the cardinal did not show up. Christina hurried over to [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], firing one of the [[cannon]]s. The mark in the bronze gate in front of Villa Medici is still visible.<ref>Ola Åmodt: ''Roma – legender og merkverdigheter''</ref>--><!--Perhaps the most illustrious of the eminent figures befriended and patronized by Christina was the sculptor-architect-painter, [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], the greatest artistic genius of the century, to whom the queen showed the highest of personal honors by visiting his home-studio on more than one occasion. "Whoever does not esteem Bernini is not worthy of esteem himself," she is quoted as saying by [[Domenico Bernini]] in his biography, ''The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.''<ref>Ed. and trans. by Franco Mormando, Penn State University Press, 2011, p. 175. For Christina's friendship with Bernini, see Franco Mormando, ''Bernini: His Life and His Rome'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), pp. 218-26.</ref>-->

== Visits to France and Italy ==
[[File:Ritratto del cardinale Decio Azzolino - Voet.jpg|thumb|left|Decio Azzolino by [[Jacob Ferdinand Voet]]]]

King [[Philip IV of Spain]] ruled the [[Duchy of Milan]] and the [[Kingdom of Naples]]. The French politician [[Cardinal Mazarin|Mazarin]], an Italian himself, had attempted to liberate Naples from Spanish rule, against which the locals had fought before the [[Neapolitan Republic (1647)|Neapolitan Republic]] was created. A second expedition in 1654 had failed and the [[Henry II, Duke of Guise|Duke of Guise]] gave up. <!--Supported by the [[Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena|Duke of Modena]], Mazarin was now considering Christina as a possible queen for Naples.--> Christina's goal was to become a mediator between France and Spain in their contest to control Naples. Her plan detailed that she would lead French troops to take Naples and rule until bequeathing the crown to France after her death. Christina sent home all her Spanish servants, including her confidant Pimentel and her confessor Guêmes.<ref>D. Lanoye, p. 150.</ref> On 20 July 1656 Christina set sail from [[Civitavecchia]] for Marseille where she arrived nine days later. In early August, she traveled to Paris, accompanied by the Duke of Guise. Mazarin gave her no official sponsorship but gave instructions that she be celebrated and entertained in every town on her way north.

On 8 September she arrived in Paris and was shown around; ladies were shocked by her masculine appearance and demeanor and the unguarded freedom of her conversation. When visiting the ballet with [[Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier|la Grande Mademoiselle]], she, as the latter recalls, "surprised me very much – applauding the parts which pleased her, taking God to witness, throwing herself back in her chair, crossing her legs, resting them on the arms of her chair, and assuming other postures, such as I had never seen taken but by Travelin and Jodelet, two famous buffoons... She was in all respects a most extraordinary creature".<ref>''Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier''. H. Colburn, 1848, p. 48.</ref>

Christina was treated with respect by the young [[Louis XIV]] and his mother, [[Anne of Austria]], in [[Compiègne]]. On 22 September 1656, the arrangement between her and Louis XIV was ready.  He would recommend Christina as queen to the Kingdom of Naples and serve as guarantor against Spanish aggression. As Queen of Naples, she would be financially independent of the Swedish king, and also capable of negotiating peace between France and Spain.{{efn|Mazarin however found another arrangement to ensure peace; he strengthened this with a marriage arrangement between Louis XIV and his first cousin, [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] – the wedding took place in 1660. But this was unknown to Christina, who sent different messengers to Mazarin to remind him of their plan.}}

On her way back Christina visited French courtesan and author [[Ninon de l'Enclos]] in the convent at [[Lagny-sur-Marne]]. In early October, she left France and arrived in [[Torino]]. During the winter Christina lived in the [[Ducal Palace of Pesaro|apostolic palace]] in Pesaro, probably to flee the plague which infested several regions including Naples. During the [[Naples Plague (1656)]] almost half of the population died within two years.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 3310102 | pmid=22260781 | doi=10.3201/eid1801.110597 | volume=18 | issue=1 | title=Plague epidemic in the Kingdom of Naples, 1656-1658 | journal=Emerg Infect Dis | pages=186–8 | last1 = Scasciamacchia | first1 = S | last2 = Serrecchia | first2 = L | last3 = Giangrossi | first3 = L | last4 = Garofolo | first4 = G | last5 = Balestrucci | first5 = A | last6 = Sammartino | first6 = G | last7 = Fasanella | first7 = A| year=2012 }}</ref> In July 1657, she returned to France, either being impatient or not so anxious to become queen of Naples. <!--It is not known where she stayed that summer. In Madrid and Naples they seem to have had an idea about her plans; 3,000 soldiers are sent to the Kingdom of Naples and new fortifications appear along the coast?  It seems someone informed the Spanish court (and the puritan [[Oliver Cromwell]]?) about her negative image, lifestyle, and future plans.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}} (In 1654 treaties were signed between Cromwell and Sweden to cover friendship, freer trade, and freer navigation.) Christina planned to visit Scotland in 1656? and Cromwell in 1657? [https://archive.org/stream/christinaofswede002660mbp/christinaofswede002660mbp_djvu.txt]-->

=== The death of Monaldeschi ===

On 15 October 1657 apartments were assigned to her at the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]], where she committed an action that stained her memory: the execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo [[Monaldeschi]], her [[master of the horse]] and formerly leader of the French party in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|first=Lyndon|last=Orr |url=http://www.authorama.com/famous-affinities-of-history-i-5.html|title=Famous Affinities of History: Queen Christina of Sweden and the Marquis Monaldeschi|publisher=Authorama|access-date=2012-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OwTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA225|title=The Terrific Register: Or, Record of Crimes, Judgments, Providences, and Calamities ...|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Sherwood, Jones, and Company|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> For two months she had suspected Monaldeschi of disloyalty; she secretly seized his correspondence, which revealed that he had betrayed her interests. Christina gave three packages of letters to Le Bel, a priest, to keep them for her in custody. Three days later, at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, she summoned Monaldeschi into the ''Galerie des Cerfs'', discussing the matter and letters with him. He insisted that betrayal should be punished with death. She was convinced that he had pronounced his own death sentence. After an hour or so Le Bel was to receive his confession. Both Le Bel and Monaldeschi entreated for mercy, but he was stabbed by her domestics – notably Ludovico Santinelli – in his stomach and in his neck. Wearing his [[coat of mail]], which protected him, he was chased around in an adjacent room before they finally succeeded in dealing him a fatal wound in his throat. "In the end, he died, confessing his infamy and admitting [Santinelli's] innocence, protesting that he had invented the whole fantastic story in order to ruin [him]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|title=Gribble, Francis (2013) The Court of Christina of Sweden, and the Later Adventures of the Queen in Exile, pp. 196–7.|access-date=10 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428064942/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|archive-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Palace of Fontainebleau 030.jpg|thumb|Galerie des Cerfs]]

Father Le Bel was told to have him buried inside the church, and Christina, seemingly unfazed, paid an abbey to say a number of Masses for his soul. She "was sorry that she had been forced to undertake this execution, but claimed that justice had been carried out for his crime and betrayal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9gIAAAAQAAJ&q=monaldeschi+christina&pg=PA49|title=Christina's revenge; or, The fate of Monaldeschi: with other poems|first=John M.|last=Moffatt|date=10 July 2017|publisher=J.m.moffatt|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Cardinal Mazarin|Mazarin]], who had sent her old friend Chanut, advised Christina to place the blame due to a brawl among courtiers, but she insisted that she alone was responsible for the act. She wrote to Louis XIV who two weeks later paid her a friendly visit without mentioning it. In Rome, people felt differently; Monaldeschi had been an Italian nobleman, murdered by a foreign barbarian with Santinelli as one of her executioners. The letters proving his guilt are gone; Christina left them with Le Bel and only he confirmed that they existed. Christina never revealed what was in the letters, but according to Le Bel, it is supposed to have dealt with her "amours", either with Monaldeschi or another person. She herself wrote her version of the story for circulation in Europe.

The killing of Monaldeschi in a French palace was legal, since Christina had judicial rights over the members of her court, as her vindicator [[Gottfried Leibniz]] claimed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|title=Gribble, Francis. (2013). pp. 196–7. The Court of Christina of Sweden, and the Later Adventures of the Queen in Exile.|access-date=10 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428064942/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|archive-date=28 April 2016}}</ref> As her contemporaries saw it, Christina as queen had to emphasize right and wrong, and her sense of duty was strong. She continued to regard herself as queen regnant all her life.

She would gladly have visited England, but she received no encouragement from [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]] and stayed in Fontainebleau as nobody else offered her a place. [[Anne of Austria]], the mother of Louis XIV, was impatient to be rid of her cruel guest; Christina had no choice but to depart. She returned to Rome and dismissed Santinelli in 1659, claiming to be her ambassador in Vienna without her approval.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://drs.library.yale.edu/HLTransformer/HLTransServlet?stylename=yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&pid=beinecke:castle&query=&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes&hlon=yes&big=&adv=&filter=&hitPageStart=&sortFields=&view=c01_5|title=Guide to the Italian Castle Archive|first1=Mark W.|last1=Rabuck|date=1 December 1997|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

== Back to Rome ==
[[File:Trastevere - palazzo Corsini stanza di cristina 1060814.JPG|thumb|left|Christina's bedroom in the [[Palazzo Corsini, Rome|Palazzo Corsini]], a later development of the [[Palazzo Corsini, Rome|Palazzo Riario]] ]]

On  15 May 1658, Christina arrived in Rome for the second time, but this time it was definitely no triumph. With the execution of Monaldeschi, her popularity was lost. [[Pope Alexander VII]] remained in his summer residence and wanted no further visits from her. He described her as 'a woman born of a barbarian, barbarously brought up and living with barbarous thoughts ... with a ferocious and almost intolerable pride'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=4197142 |title=Pierre Signac (French, 1623 OR 1624-1684 |website=www.christies.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203106/http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=4197142 |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |access-date=March 20, 2021}}</ref> She began examining her past life and started with her autobiography. Christina stayed at the [[Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi|Palazzo Rospigliosi]], which belonged to Mazarin, the French cardinal, situated close to the Quirinal Palace; so the pope was enormously relieved when in July 1659, she moved to [[Trastevere]] to live in [[Palazzo Corsini, Rome|Palazzo Riario]], below the [[Janiculum]], designed by [[Bramante]]. It was Cardinal Azzolino, her "bookkeeper" who signed the contract, as well as provided her with new servants to replace Francesco Santinelli, who had been Monaldeschi's executioner.{{efn|Monaldeschi was a traitor, Santinelli had stolen from Christina' for years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|title=Gribble, Francis. (2013). pp. 196–7. The Court of Christina of Sweden, and the Later Adventures of the Queen in Exile. London: Forgotten Books. (Original work published 1913)|access-date=10 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428064942/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Court_of_Christina_of_Sweden_and_the_Later_Adventures_of_the_Queen_in_1000493935/217|archive-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>}}

The Riario Palace became her home for the rest of her life. She decorated the walls with tapestries by [[Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi]]<ref>Georgina Masson (1968) Queen Christina (Secker & Warburg)</ref> and paintings, mainly from the [[Venetian School (art)|Venetian School]] and Renaissance; and almost no paintings from northern European painters, except [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein]], Van Dyck and Rubens. Her collections included very little religious subject matter and an abundance of mythological imagery, and it seems that Christina was also much interested in classical history, prompting misbegotten academic speculation about the genuineness of her conversion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://repository.tcu.edu/bitstream/handle/116099117/8304/Aune_tcu_0229M_10602.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=DISPLAY AS IDENTITY: QUEEN CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN'S CONSTRUCTION OF A PUBLIC IMAGE THROUGH HER STANZA DEI QUADRI By KATHERINE AUNE (2012)|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> No Roman collection of art could match hers. She owned [[Correggio]]'s ''[[Danaë (Correggio)|Danaë]]'' and two versions of [[Titian]]'s ''[[Venus and Adonis (Titian)|Venus and Adonis]]'', tapestries, sculpture, medaillons, drawings by Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Titian, Veronese and Goltzius and portraits of her friends Azzolino, Bernini, Ebba Sparre, Descartes, ambassador Chanut and doctor Bourdelot.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8G7BAAAQBAJ&dq=portraits+of+her+friends+Azzolino,+Bernini,+Ebba+Sparre,+Descartes,+ambassador+Chanut+and+doctor+Bourdelot&pg=PT206|title=The History of Loot and Stolen Art: from Antiquity until the Present Day|first=Ivan|last=Lindsay|date=2 June 2014|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-1-906509-56-9 |accessdate=19 February 2024|via=Google Books}}</ref>

== Revisiting Sweden ==
[[File:Porträtt. Drottning Kristina. Wuchters - Skoklosters slott - 47811 (cropped).tif|thumb|Portrait of Christina; painted in 1661 by [[Abraham Wuchters]] ]]

In April 1660 Christina was informed that Charles X Gustav had died in February. His son, [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]], was only five years old. That summer, <!--disillusioned with Catholicism?,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.clark.edu/afisher/Examples/example%20253.pdf|title=Script from Clark.edu}}</ref>--> she went to Sweden, pointing out that she had left the throne to her first cousin and his descendant, so if Charles XI died, she would take over the throne again. But as she was a Catholic that was impossible, and the clergy refused to let the priests in her entourage celebrate any Masses. Christina left Stockholm and went to Norrköping.<!--{{clarify|what kind of "area"?|date=October 2014}} See earlier: Financially she was secured through revenue from the town of Norrköping--> Eventually she submitted to a second renunciation of the throne, spending a year in Hamburg to get her finances in order on her way back to Rome. Already in 1654, she had left her income to the banker [[:de:Diego Teixeira|Diego Teixeira]] in return for him sending her a monthly allowance and covering her debts in Antwerp. She visited the Teixeira family at [[Jungfernstieg]] and entertained them in her own lodgings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14288-teixeira| title=Teixeira| first1=Isidore| last1=Singer| first2=Meyer| last2=Kayserling| encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]| year=1906| publisher=[[Funk and Wagnalls]]| location=[[New York City]]| access-date=12 September 2018}}</ref>

In the summer of 1662, she arrived in Rome for the third time, followed by some fairly happy years. A variety of complaints and allegations made her resolve in 1666 once more to return to Sweden.  She proceeded no farther than [[Norrköping]], where she received a decree she was only allowed to settle in Swedish Pomerania. Christina immediately decided to go back to Hamburg. There she was informed that Alexander VII, her patron and tormentor, had died in May 1667. The new pope [[Pope Clement IX|Clement IX]], <!--elected in June-->a victory for the [[Squadrone Volante]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LS_hcE9L77EC&pg=PA142|title=Archivum Historiae Pontificiae|date=10 July 1992|publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://popes-and-papacy.com/wordpress/cardinal-stories-cardinal-decio-azzolino-the-younger/|title=Cardinal Stories. Cardinal Decio Azzolino (the younger) – Popes and Papacy|website=popes-and-papacy.com|access-date=10 July 2017|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625172859/http://popes-and-papacy.com/wordpress/cardinal-stories-cardinal-decio-azzolino-the-younger/|archive-date=25 June 2017}}</ref> had been a regular guest at her palace. In her delight at his election, she threw a brilliant party at her lodgings in Hamburg, with illuminations and wine in the fountain outside. The party enraged Hamburg's Lutheran populace, and the party ended in a shooting, an attempt to seize the Queen, and her escape in disguise through a back door.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historychristin00lacogoog |page=223 |title=The History of Christina: Queen of Sweden |date=10 July 1766 |publisher=G. Kearsly |access-date=10 July 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Again she met with the [[freethinker]] and [[ophthalmology|eye doctor]] [[Giuseppe Francesco Borri]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levity.com/alchemy/queen_christina.html|title=Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), the Porta Magica and the Italian poets of the Golden- and Rosy Cross|website=www.levity.com|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-date=27 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527230251/http://www.levity.com/alchemy/queen_christina.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 16 September 1668, [[John II Casimir Vasa|John II Casimir]] abdicated the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish–Lithuanian]] throne and left to France. The [[Royal elections in Poland|Polish monarchy was elective]] and Christina, as a member of the House of Vasa, put herself forward as a candidate for the throne.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_CxAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179|title=Dark History of the Kings & Queens of Europe|first=Brenda Ralph|last=Lewis|date=1 December 2011|publisher=Amber Books Ltd|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781908696342}}</ref> She recommended herself being Catholic, an old maid and intended to remain one.<ref name="Francis">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3Ou3L-hNKsC&pg=PA284|title=The Court of Christina of Sweden, and the Later Adventures of the Queen in Exile|first=Francis|last=Gribble|date=1 June 2010|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781434420466}}</ref> She had Pope Clement IX's support; but her failure seemed to please her since this meant that she could return to her beloved Azzolino.<ref name="Francis" /> She left the city on 20 October 1668.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYkKAQAAMAAJ&q=October+1668+christina+Hamburg|title=Nouvelles de la République Des Lettres|date=10 July 1992|publisher=Prismi|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref><!--Azzolino ensured that she was reconciled with the pope, and that the latter granted her a pension. May be another Pope?--><ref>F.F. Blok, C.S.M. Rademaker en J. de Vet, ‘Verdwaalde papieren van de familie Vossius uit de zeventiende eeuw’, in Lias 33 (2006), p. 50–107, de briefuitgave op p. 101–105.</ref>

==Later life==
[[File:Drottning Kristina - Nationalmuseum - 39675.tif|thumb|left|The elderly Christina]]
Christina's fourth and last entry in Rome took place on 22 November 1668. Clement IX often visited her; they had a shared interest in plays. Christina organized meetings of the Accademia in the Great Hall<ref>Queen Christina of Sweden as a Patron of Music in Rome in the Mid-Seventeenth Century by TESSA MURDOCH. In: The Music Room in Early Modern France and Italy. Published by British Academy, 2012.</ref> which had ‘a platform for singers and players’.<ref>Spaces for Musical Performance in Seventeenth-Century Roman Residences by ARNALDO MORELLI, p. 315</ref> When the pope suffered a stroke, she was among the few he wanted to see at his deathbed. In 1671, Christina established Rome's first public theatre in a former jail, [[Tor di Nona]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Music History: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music By Iain Fenlon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81ZwlEGrpL4C&pg=PA222 |isbn = 9780521104319|last1 = Fenlon|first1 = Iain|date = 19 March 2009| publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>

The new pope, [[Pope Clement X|Clement X]], worried about the influence of theatre on public morals. When [[Pope Innocent XI|Innocent XI]] became pope, things turned even worse; within a few years he turned Christina's theatre into a storeroom for grain, although he had been a frequent guest in her royal box with the other cardinals. He forbade women to perform with song or acting, and the wearing of decolleté dresses. Christina considered this sheer nonsense, and let women perform in her palace. In 1675, she invited [[António Vieira]] to become her confessor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonio-Vieira|title=Antonio Vieira – Portuguese author and diplomat|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> Itinerant doctor  [[Nicolaas Heinsius the Younger]], the legitimized son of a former [[literatus]] at Christina's court in Stockholm, arrived in Rome in 1679, converted and was appointed the Queen's personal physician until about 1687, providing autobiographical material for his [[picaresque novel]],''The Delightful Adventures and Wonderful Life of Mirandor'' (1695).<ref>Den Vermakelijken Avonturier, ofte de Wispelturige en niet min wonderlijke levensloop van Mirandor; behelsende verscheide kluchtige en vermakelijke bejegeningen, toevallen, amourettes, enz. door N.H. (Amsterdam 1695)</ref> Christina wrote an unfinished autobiography, of which there are several drafts extant,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaHdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA306|title=The 17th and 18th Centuries: Dictionary of World Biography|first=Frank N.|last=Magill|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Routledge|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781135924140}}</ref> essays on her heroes Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great and Julius Cæsar, on art and music (“Pensées, L’Ouvrage du Loisir” and “Les Sentiments Héroïques”)<ref name="waithe"/> and acted as patron to musicians and poets as [[Vincenzo da Filicaja]].{{efn|In her basement there was a laboratory, where she, [[Giuseppe Francesco Borri]] and Azzolino experimented with [[alchemy]].}} [[Carlo Ambrogio Lonati]] and [[Giacomo Carissimi]] were [[Kapellmeister]]; [[Lelio Colista]] luteplayer; [[Loreto Vittori]] and [[Marco Marazzoli]] singers and [[Sebastiano Baldini]] librettist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Losleben |first=Katrin |date=2006 |url=http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/A_lexartikel/lexartikel.php?id=kris1626 |website=Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg |title=Music and gender: Kristina of Sweden |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830205504/http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/A_lexartikel/lexartikel.php?id=kris1626 |archive-date=August 30, 2011 |access-date=March 20, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Talbot |first=Michael |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TIQ2ww3tN44C |title=Aspects of the secular cantata in late Baroque Italy |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=9780754657941 }}</ref> She had [[Alessandro Stradella]] and [[Bernardo Pasquini]] to compose for her; [[Arcangelo Corelli]] dedicated his first work, ''Sonata da chiesa opus 1'', to her.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiki.ccarh.org/wiki/MuseData:_Arcangelo_Corelli |title=MuseData: Arcangelo Corelli |publisher=Wiki.ccarh.org |date=2011-02-08 |access-date=2012-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331001248/http://wiki.ccarh.org/wiki/MuseData:_Arcangelo_Corelli |archive-date=2012-03-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gordillo |first=Bernard |url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/harmonia/queen-christina-sweden/ |title=Queen Christina of Sweden |publisher=Indiana Public Media |date=2011-03-07 |access-date=2012-03-09}}</ref> On 2 February 1687 Corelli or [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] directed a tremendous orchestra<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vo9tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|title=Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts|first=James Anderson|last=Winn|date=10 July 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9780199372195}}</ref> performing a Pasquini cantata in praise for [[James II of England|James II]], England's first Catholic monarch since [[Mary I]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZtB8qS8UTcC&pg=PA87 |title=Music in the seventeenth century |first=Lorenzo |last=Bianconi |publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge |location=Cambridge |page=87 |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-521-26290-3 |access-date=2012-03-09}}</ref><!--, who had been crowned on 6 February 1685, and issued the [[Declaration of Indulgence]] on 12 February 1687, also known as the Declaration for Liberty of Conscience.<ref>Kenyon, J.P., The Stuart Constitution 1603–1688, Documents and Commentary, 2d ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986. {{ISBN|0-521-31327-9}}, p. 389–391</ref>--> to welcome [[Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine]] as the new ambassador to the Vatican, accompanied by the painter [[John Michael Wright#Roman embassy|John Michael Wright]], who knew Rome and spoke Italian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=4477|title=Collection Highlight: Wright. Raggvaglio della Solenne... – RBSCP|website=www.lib.rochester.edu|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

In 1656, Christina appointed Carissimi as her ''maestro di cappella del concerto di camera''. Lars Berglund has hypothesized that Christina's early involvement with Italian music when still in Sweden, and in particular church music from Rome, "was likely closely linked to Christina’s self-fashioning strategies and related to the precarious negotiations she was about to embark on as a result of her extraordinary decisions to abdicate, leave the country, convert to Catholicism, and settle in Papal Rome."<ref>Lars Berglund and Maria Schildt, [https://publicera.kb.se/stm-sjm/article/view/18604/20644 "Prelude to an Abdication"], ''Svensk tidskrift för musikforskning 106'' (2024)</ref>

Christina's politics and rebellious spirit persisted long after her abdication of power. When Louis XIV revoked the [[Edict of Nantes]], abolishing the rights of French Protestants ([[Huguenots]]), Christina wrote an indignant letter, dated  2 February 1686, directed at the French ambassador [[Cesar d'Estrees]]. Louis did not appreciate her views, but Christina was not to be silenced.  In Rome, she made Pope Clement X prohibit the custom of chasing [[Jews]] through the streets during the carnival. On 15 August 1686, she issued a declaration that Roman Jews were under her protection, signed ''la Regina'' – the queen.<ref name="iep.utm.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/wasa/|title=Wasa, Kristina – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|website=www.iep.utm.edu|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711031004/http://www.iep.utm.edu/wasa/|archive-date=11 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jsnyc.com/season/kristina.htm|title=Kristina by August Strindberg|website=www.jsnyc.com|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915190601/http://www.jsnyc.com/season/kristina.htm|archive-date=2015-09-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Christina remained very tolerant towards the beliefs of others all her life. She on her part felt more attracted to the views of the Spanish priest [[Miguel Molinos]], whom she employed as a private [[theologian]]. He had been investigated by the [[Holy Inquisition]] for proclaiming that [[sin]] belonged to the lower sensual part of man and was not subject to man's free will. Christina sent him food and hundreds of letters when he was locked up in [[Castel Sant'Angelo]].<ref name=Buckley/>

==Death and burial ==
In February 1689, the 62-year-old Christina fell seriously ill after a visit to the temples in [[Campania]], and received the [[last rites]].  She suffered from [[diabetes mellitus]].<ref name="Popp 2010"/> Christina seemed to recover, but in the middle of April she developed an acute streptococcus bacterial infection known as [[erysipelas]], then contracted [[pneumonia]] and a high fever. On her deathbed, she sent the pope a message asking if he could forgive her insults. She died on 19 April 1689 in Palazzo Corsini at six in the morning.<ref name="Franckenstein">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrtbAAAAQAAJ&q=19+April+1689+christina&pg=PA334|title=Het leven en bedryf van Christina, koninginne van Sweeden, &c. sedert haar geboorte tot op des zelfs dood ...|first=Christian Gottfried|last=Franckenstein|date=10 July 1697|publisher=by Boudewyn vander Aa|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[File:Christina of Sweden (1626) grave 2010 Vatican (2).jpg|thumb|Christina's sarcophagus in the extensive papal crypt at the Vatican]]

Christina had asked for a simple burial in the [[Pantheon, Rome]], but the pope insisted on her being displayed on a ''lit de parade'' for four days in the Riario Palace. She was embalmed, covered with white [[Brocade (fabric)|brocade]], a silver mask, a gilt crown, and a scepter. "The Queen wore a thin mantle, decorated with hundreds of crowns and fur bordered with ermine, under this a splendid garment in two pieces, thin gloves and drawers of knitted silk and a pair of elegant textile bootees".<ref name=burial>{{cite journal |url=https://cguaa.journals.ekb.eg/article_29861.html |title=The methods of treatment of Indian archaeological cashmere textile in Applied Art Museum, Cairo, Egypt طرق علاج نسيج کشمير هندى أثري بمتحف کلية الفنون التطبيقية, القاهرة، مصر |journal=حولية الاتحاد العام للآثاريين العرب |date=2017 |volume=20 |issue=20 |pages=116–138 |doi= 10.21608/CGUAA.2017.29861 |access-date=March 21, 2021|doi-access=free }}</ref> In similar fashion to the popes, her body was placed in three coffins – one of cypress, one of lead and finally one made of oak. The funeral procession on 2 May led from [[Santa Maria in Vallicella]] to [[St. Peter's Basilica]], where she was buried within the [[Vatican Grottoes]] – one of only three women ever given this honor (the other two being [[Matilda of Tuscany]] and [[Maria Clementina Sobieska]]).  Her intestines were placed in a high urn.{{efn|From 2005 to 2011, her marble sarcophagus was positioned next to that of [[Pope John Paul II]] when his grave was moved.}}

In 1702, [[Clement XI]] commissioned a monument for the queen, in whose conversion he vainly foresaw a return of her country to the Faith and to whose contribution towards the culture of the city he looked back with gratitude. This monument was placed in the body of the basilica and directed by the artist [[Carlo Fontana]].{{efn|Christina was portrayed on a gilt and bronze medallion, supported by a crowned skull. Three reliefs below represented her relinquishment of the Swedish throne and abjugation of Protestantism at Innsbruck, the scorn of the nobility, and faith triumphing over heresy. It is an unromantic likeness, for she is given a double chin and a prominent nose with flaring nostrils.}}

Christina had named Azzolino her sole heir to make sure her debts were settled, but he was too ill and worn out even to join her funeral, and died in June the same year. His nephew, Pompeo Azzolino, was his sole heir, and he rapidly sold off Christina's art collections.

==Art collector==
[[File:Drottning Kristina av Sverige.jpg|thumb|left|Christina by [[David Beck]]]]

Until 1649, when Christina was twenty-three, the Swedish royal art collection was unimpressive, with good [[tapestries]] but for paintings, little more than "about a hundred works by minor German, Flemish, and Swedish painters".<ref>Watson, 97</ref>  But in May 1649, the fabulous loot from the [[Battle of Prague (1648)|occupation of Prague Castle]] the previous year arrived, with the pick of the collection amassed by the obsessive collector [[Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor]] (1552–1612), one of the most important in Europe.  Rudolf's bulk purchases had included the famous collection of [[Emperor Charles V]]'s leading minister [[Cardinal Granvelle]] (1517–1586), which he had forced Granvelle's nephew and heir to sell to him. Granvelle had been the "greatest private collector of his time, the friend and patron of [[Titian]] and [[Leone Leoni|Leoni]] and many other artists".<ref>Trevor-Roper, 112.</ref>

Christina was entranced by her new possessions, and remained a keen collector for the rest of her life, and as a female art collector is only exceeded by [[Catherine the Great]] of Russia in the [[Early Modern period]].  Rudolf had collected old and contemporary works from both Italy and northern Europe, but it was the Italian paintings that excited Christina, and by her death, her collection contained relatively few northern works other than portraits.<ref>Watson, 97–98</ref>

Most of the Prague booty remained in Sweden after Christina's departure for exile: she only took about 70 to 80 paintings with her, including about 25 portraits of her friends and family, and some 50 paintings, mostly Italian, from the Prague loot, as well as statues, jewels, 72 tapestries, and various other works of art.  She was concerned that the royal collections would be claimed by her successor, and prudently sent them ahead to [[Antwerp]] in a ship in August 1653, almost a year before she abdicated, an early sign of her intentions.<ref>Watson, 127–9</ref>

Christina greatly expanded her collection during her exile in Rome, for example adding the five small [[Raphael]] [[predella]] panels from the [[Colonna Altarpiece]], including the ''[[Agony in the Garden]]'' now reunited with the main panel in New York, which were bought from a convent near Rome.<ref>Watson, 158. The other panels are now in London: two at the [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]] and the other National Gallery; [https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/studying-raphael-division-of-altarpieces National Gallery page on the division of the Raphael altarpiece].</ref>  She was apparently given Titian's ''[[Death of Actaeon]]'' by the greatest collector of the age, [[Archduke Leopold William of Austria]], Viceroy in Brussels – she received many such gifts from Catholic royalty after her conversion,<ref>Penny, 255.  It is clearly shown in one of the Tenier's views of Leopold's galleries. Leopold's collection is now part of the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] in Vienna.</ref> and gave some generous gifts herself, notably [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s panels of [[Adam and Eve (Dürer)|''Adam'' and ''Eve'']] to [[Philip IV of Spain]] (now [[Prado]]), likewise seven [[Muses|marble statues of the Muses]] she acquired from [[Hadrian's villa]] in 1670.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-muse-calliope/6e0daa90-321c-4d28-b9de-5eebfedd131a|title=The Muse Calliope - The Collection - Museo Nacional del Prado|accessdate=19 February 2024}}</ref>  She also gave away two paintings by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]], ''[[Dull Gret]]'' and ''[[The Cripples]]'' (now [[Louvre]]).  In such ways, the balance of her collection shifted to Italian art.<ref>Grate, Pontus, "Vasa Family. Christina, Queen of Sweden" Grove Art Online</ref>

The Riario Palace finally provided a suitable setting for her collection, and the ''Sala dei Quadri'' ("Paintings Room") had her finest works, with thirteen [[Titian]]s and eleven [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]]s, five [[Raphael]]s and several [[Correggio]]s.<ref>Watson, 160–161; not all these attributions would hold today.</ref> [[Titian]]'s ''[[Venus Anadyomene (Titian)|Venus Anadyomene]]'' was among them.  ''Venus mourns Adonis'' by Veronese was from Prague, and is now back in Sweden ([[Nationalmuseum]]).

[[File:Busto-ritratto di Cristina di Svezia - Cartari.jpg|thumb|Bust of Christina by [[Giulio Cartari]] in [[Palacio Real de La Granja de San Ildefonso]]]]
Christina liked to commission portraits of herself, friends, and also notable people she had not met, from 1647 sending [[David Beck]], her Dutch court painter, to several countries to paint notabilities.<ref>Watson, 120–121</ref>  She encouraged artists to study her collection, including the drawings, and exhibited some of her paintings, but apart from portraits she commissioned or bought few works by living painters, except for drawings.  Sculptors did rather better, and [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]] was a friend, while others were commissioned to restore the large collection of classical sculpture which she had begun to assemble while still in Sweden.<ref>Grate, Pontus, "Vasa Family. Christina, Queen of Sweden" Grove Art Online. ; Watson, 110, 142, 152–162</ref>

On her death she left her collection to Cardinal Decio Azzolino, who himself died within a year, leaving the collection to his nephew, who sold it to Don Livio [[Odescalchi]], commander of the Papal army,<ref>Watson,168–9; Odescalchi was the nephew of [[Pope Innocent XI]], though in fact his money was inherited and his career greatly improved after his uncle's death.</ref> at which point it contained 275 paintings, 140 of them Italian.<ref>Watson, 170; Penny 463 has different numbers, saying Crozat initially saw over 400 paintings.</ref>  The year after Odescalchi's death in 1713, his heirs began protracted negotiations with the great French connoisseur and collector [[Pierre Crozat]], acting as intermediary for [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]], from 1715 the Regent of France.  The sale was finally concluded and the 123 paintings included in the sale were delivered in 1721, forming the core of the [[Orleans Collection]], the paintings from which were mostly sold in London after the [[French Revolution]], with many of them being on display in the [[National Gallery]].<ref>Penny, 462–3, and [http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/the_agony_in_the_garden/objectview.aspx?page=1&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=Orleans&fp=1&dd1=11&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=11&OID=110001821&vT=1 Metropolitan]</ref>  The French experts complained that Christina had cut down several paintings to fit her ceilings,<ref name="Penny, 462">Penny, 462</ref> and had over-restored some of the best works, especially the [[Correggio]]s, implicating [[Carlo Maratti]].<ref>Watson, 196–7</ref>

At first, removing her collections from Sweden was seen as a great loss to the country; but in 1697, Stockholm castle burned down with the loss of almost everything inside, so they would have been destroyed if they had remained there. Today very few major works from her collection still remain in the country. The sculpture collection was sold to the King of Spain and mostly remains in Spanish museums and palaces.<ref>Penny, 463</ref>  Her large and important library was bought by [[Alexander VIII]] for the [[Vatican Library]], while most of the paintings ended up in France, as the core of the [[Orleans Collection]] – many remain together in the [[National Gallery of Scotland]].  1700 drawings from her collection (among them works by [[Michelangelo]] (25) and [[Raphael]]) were acquired in 1790 by [[Willem Anne Lestevenon]] for the [[Teylers Museum]] in Haarlem, the Netherlands.<ref name="Teylers The Royal drawings">{{cite web |title=The Royal Drawings |url=http://www.teylersmuseum.eu/teylersuniversum/index.php?m=narratio&id=6&nvlng=en |publisher=Teylers Museum |work=The Oval Room 1784 |access-date=3 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501172201/http://www.teylersmuseum.eu/teylersuniversum/index.php?m=narratio&id=6&nvlng=en |archive-date=1 May 2013 }}</ref>

== Appearance ==
{{anchor|Appearance, body, and comportment}}

[[File:Persisk rock - Livrustkammaren - 85153.tif|thumb|Persian coat owned by Christina, probably woven during the reign of [[Abbas the Great]] (1586–1628).]][[File:Gravyr på kardinal Azzolino och drottning Kristina i boken "Het leven en bedryf van Christina" - Skoklosters slott - 91442.tif|thumb|Christina with Cardinal Azzolino in an engraving from "Het leven en bedryf van Christina"<ref name="Franckenstein"/>]]

Historical accounts of Christina include regular reference to her [[physical features]], [[comportment|mannerisms]] and [[style of dress]].  Christina was known to have a [[Kyphosis|bent back]], a deformed chest, and irregular shoulders. Some historians have speculated that references to her physical attributes may be over-represented in related [[historiography]], thus giving the impression that this was of greater interest to her contemporaries than was actually the case.<ref name=grin>Kandare, Camilla Eleonora (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ePNCQwAACAAJ ''Figuring a queen; Queen Christina of Sweden and the embodiment of sovereignty'']</ref> However, given how influential Christina became in her own era (especially for those in Rome), it is likely her style and mannerisms were at least of general interest to those around her, and this is reflected in many accounts.<ref name=bargrave/><ref name=grin/> As a result of conflicting and unreliable accounts (some no better than gossip), the way in which Christina is described, even today, is a matter of debate.<ref name=burial/>

According to Christina's autobiography, the [[midwife|midwives]] at her birth first believed her to be a boy because she was "completely hairy and had a coarse and strong voice". Such ambiguity did not end with her birth; Christina made cryptic statements about her "[[Health|constitution]]" and body throughout her life. Christina also believed a wet nurse had carelessly dropped her to the floor when she was a baby. A shoulder bone broke, leaving one shoulder higher than the other for the rest of her life.{{efn|E. Essen-Möller and B. Guilliet suggest it had to do with her alleged [[intersex]] condition.<ref name="Quilliet" />}} A number of her contemporaries made reference to the differing height of her shoulders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christina-queen-of-Sweden|title=Christina – queen of Sweden|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>

As a child, Christina's mannerisms could probably best be described as those of a [[tomboy]]. Her father insisted she should receive "the education of a prince", and some have interpreted this as acceptance, on the part of the king, that she had masculine features or that there was some form of [[gender]] ambiguity in her upbringing.<ref name=Buckley/> She was educated as a prince and was taught (and enjoyed) [[fencing]], [[horse riding]] and bear [[hunting]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaHdAAAAQBAJ&q=Christina+Sweden+horse+riding&pg=PA304|title=The 17th and 18th Centuries: Dictionary of World Biography|first=Frank N.|last=Magill|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Routledge|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781135924140}}</ref><ref name="iep.utm.edu"/> She was said to have preferred these masculine hobbies to more feminine ones.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Queen Christina of Sweden, Lesbian Troublemaker |url=https://headstuff.org/culture/history/queen-christina-of-sweden-lesbian-troublemaker/ |website=Headstuff}}</ref>

As an adult, it was said that Christina "walked like a man, sat and rode like a man, and could eat and swear like the roughest soldiers".<ref name=Buckley/> Christina's contemporary [[John Bargrave]] described her comportment in a similar fashion but said witnesses ascribed her style more to childishness or madness than masculinity.<ref name=bargrave/> When she arrived in Rome in 1655, she had shaven her head and wore a big, dark wig.<ref name=Buckley/> By 1665, according to Edward Browne, she regularly wore a velvet [[justacorps]], [[Cravat (early)|cravat]], and [[peruke]] (man's wig).<ref name=Buckley/>

While Christina may not have been alone in her own time for choosing masculine dress ([[Leonora Christina Ulfeldt]], for example, was known for dressing the same way), she also had physical features some described as masculine.<ref name=Buckley/>{{efn|Her contemporary [[Samuel Pepys]], for example, describes [[1650–1700 in fashion#Hunting and riding dress|women riding horses]] in ''mannish'' clothing.}}<ref name=stolpe>[[Sven Stolpe|Stolpe, Sven]] (1966) [https://archive.org/details/christinaofswede00stol ''Christina of Sweden''] (Burns & Oates) p. 340</ref> According to [[Henry II, Duke of Guise]], "she wears men's shoes and her voice and nearly all her actions are masculine".<ref>[[Masson, Georgina]] (1968) [https://books.google.com/books?id=XVYQAQAAIAAJ ''Queen Christina''] (Secker & Warburg) p. 274</ref> When she arrived in Lyon, she again wore a [[toque]] and had styled her hair like that of a young man. It was noted that she also wore large amounts of powder and face cream. In one account she "was sunburnt, and she looked like a sort of Egyptian street girl, very strange, and more alarming than attractive".<ref name=Buckley/>

[[File:Christina of Sweden (1626) c 1685.jpg|thumb|Christina in her later years]]

Living in Rome, she formed a close relationship with [[Decio Azzolino|Cardinal Azzolino]], which was controversial but symbolic of her attraction to relationships that were not typical for a woman of her era and station.<ref name=bargrave/><ref>Herman, Eleanor (2009) [http://www.mistressofthevatican.com/friends_enemies.htm#christina ''Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope''] ([[HarperCollins]])</ref> <!--As a result, for a time, Christina's "dormant femininity was awakened".{{Citation needed|date=March 2015|how do you know?}}--> She abandoned her manly clothes and took to wearing ''[[décolleté]]'' dresses so risqué that they drew a rebuke from the Pope.<ref name=Buckley/> <!--When Azzolino was sent away from Rome and their relationship dissipated, Christina reverted to her more masculine style.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015|How do you know? It is probably the other way around; when Azzolino came she dressed in a more female way.}}-->

As an older woman, Christina's style changed a little. [[Maximilien Misson|François Maximilian Misson]] (visiting Rome in the spring of April 1688) wrote:
{{blockquote|She is over sixty years of age, very small of stature, exceedingly fat, and corpulent. Her complexion and voice and face are those of a man. She has a big nose, large blue eyes, blonde eyebrows, and a double chin from which sprout several tufts of beard. Her upper lip protrudes a little. Her hair is a light chestnut colour, and only a palms breadth in length; she wears it powdered and standing on end, uncombed.  She is very smiling and obliging. You will hardly believe her clothes: a man's jacket, in black satin, reaching to her knees, and buttoned all the way down; a very short black skirt, and men's shoes; a very large bow of black ribbons instead of a cravat; and a belt drawn tightly under her stomach, revealing its rotundity all too well.<ref name=Buckley/>}}

=== Gender ambiguity and sexuality ===
[[File:Ebba Sparre.jpg|thumb|[[Ebba Sparre]] married in 1652 a brother of [[Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie]]. Painting by Sébastien Bourdon]]

The question of Christina's sexuality has been debated, even as a number of modern biographers generally consider her to have been a [[lesbian]], and her relationships with women were noted during her lifetime;<ref name="crompton">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&pg=PA357 |first=Louis |last=Crompton |title=Homosexuality and Civilization |year=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=357–60|isbn=9780674030060 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saunders |first=Amy |date=2019-12-13 |title=The Afterlife of Christina of Sweden: Gender and Sexuality in Heritage and Fiction |journal=Royal Studies Journal |volume=6 |issue=2 |page=204 |doi=10.21039/rsj.199 |issn=2057-6730|doi-access=free }}</ref> Christina seems to have written passionate letters to [[Ebba Sparre]], and Guilliet suggested a relationship between Christina and [[Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart]], Rachel, a niece of Diego Teixeira,<ref name="Quilliet">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNZ9B1JWaT4C&pg=PT52|title=Christine de Suède|first=Bernard|last=Quilliet|date=4 June 2003|publisher=Fayard|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9782213649474}}</ref> and the singer Angelina Giorgino.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Some historians assert she maintained [[heterosexual]],<ref name="books.google.com"/> [[Asexuality|non-sexual]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TO1a4F_EDBsC&pg=PT70|title=Alle Wege führen nach Rom: Die ewige Stadt und ihre Besucher|first=Roberto|last=Zapperi|date=12 February 2013|publisher=C.H.Beck|access-date=10 July 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9783406644528}}</ref> [[lesbian]],<ref>Sarah Waters (1994) ''A Girton Girl on a Throne: Queen Christina and Versions of Lesbianism, 1906-1933''
In: Feminist Review. No. 46, Sexualities: Challenge & Change (Spring, 1994), pp. 41–60 [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1395418?uid=3738736&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=56119066103]</ref> or [[bisexual]] relationships during the course of her life <!--or perhaps was [[Asexuality|asexual]]--> depending on which source is consulted.<ref name="Popp 2010"/><ref>Egherman, Mara (2009)[https://central-iowa.academia.edu/MaraEgherman/Talks/47638/Kristina_of_Sweden_and_the_History_of_Reading_in_Europe_Crossing_Religious_and_Other_Borders'' Kristina of Sweden and the History of Reading in Europe: Crossing Religious and Other Borders''](University of Iowa, Graduate School of Library and Information Science)</ref> According to [[Veronica Buckley]], Christina was a "dabbler" who was "painted a [[lesbian]], a [[prostitute]], a [[hermaphrodite]], and an [[atheist]]" by her contemporaries, though "in that tumultuous age, it is hard to determine which was the most damning label".<ref name=Buckley/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/apr/10/featuresreviews.guardianreview20|title=Review: Christina, Queen of Sweden by Veronica Buckley|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-04-10|last1=Wilson|first1=Frances}}</ref> Christina wrote near the end of her life that she was "neither Male nor Hermaphrodite, as some People in the World have pass'd me for".<ref name=Buckley/>

Bargrave recounted that Christina's relationship with Azzolino was both "familiar" ([[Intimate relationship#Intimacy|intimate]]) and "amorous" and that Azzolino had been sent (by the Pope) to Romania as punishment for maintaining it.<ref name=bargrave/> Buckley, on the other hand, believed there was "in Christina a curious squeamishness with regard to sex" and that "a sexual relationship between herself and Azzolino, or any other man, seems unlikely".<ref name=Buckley/> Based on historical accounts of Christina's physicality, some scholars believe that she may have been an [[intersex]] individual.<ref name=Buckley/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Queen Christina of Sweden: documents and studies |publisher=Nationalmuseum |year=1966 |first=Magnus von|last=Platen |page=154}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

In 1965, these conflicting accounts led to an investigation of Christina's remains. [[Physical anthropologist]] and anatomist [[Carl-Herman Hjortsjö]], who undertook the investigation, explained: "Our imperfect knowledge concerning the effect of intersex on the skeletal formation ... makes it impossible to decide which positive skeletal findings should be demanded upon which to base the diagnosis [of an [[intersex]] condition]." Nevertheless, Hjortsjö speculated that Christina had reasonably typical female genitalia because it is recorded by her physicians Bourdelot and Macchiati that she menstruated.<ref>Hjortsjö, Carl-Herman (1966/7) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ibs_QwAACAAJ "Queen Christina of Sweden: A Medical/Anthropological Investigation of Her Remains in Rome"]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} pp. 15–16</ref> Hjortsjö's [[osteology|osteological]] analysis of Christina's [[skeleton]] led him to state that they were of a "typically female" structure.<ref name="González 2006 page 211">{{cite book |title=Cuba And the Tempest: Literature & Cinema in the Time of Diaspora |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8YfMoPifnMC&pg=PP1 |page=211 |last=González |first=Eduardo |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |year=2006 |access-date=3 August 2012|isbn = 9780807856833}}</ref>

Some of the symptoms could be due to [[polycystic ovary syndrome]], a complex multi-[[endocrine disorder]] including [[hirsutism]] (male pattern/type hair growth) due to increased androgen hormone levels, and abdominal obesity due to the hormone insulin receptor defects. Buckley suggested that her low comprehension of the need for most social norms, little desire to act, dress, or do other social norms, and her preference to wear, act, and do only that which she deemed logically practical, point to her having a [[pervasive developmental disorder]], such as [[autism]].<ref name=Buckley/>

== Legacy ==

=== Depictions ===
[[File:Ritratto di Cristina di Svezia - Wuchters.jpg|thumb|Ritratto di Cristina di Svezia by [[Abraham Wuchters]] ]]

The complex character of Christina has inspired numerous plays, books, and operatic works, including:

==== 19th century ====
* [[Jacopo Foroni]]'s 1849 opera ''[[Cristina, regina di Svezia]]'' is based on the events surrounding her abdication. Operas based on her life include [[Alessandro Nini]]'s ''Cristina di Svezia'' (1840), [[Giuseppe Lillo]]'s ''Cristina di Svezia'' (1841), and [[Sigismond Thalberg]]'s ''Cristina di Svezia'' (1855)
* Finnish historical novelist [[Zacharias Topelius]]  wrote in Swedish the allegorical story ''Stjärnornas Kungabarn'' (Royal Children of the Stars) - the first part, ''Nattens barn'' (Night's Child, 1899) takes place during the reign of Queen Christina of Sweden.[[gutenberg:49996|(eGutenburg collection of Topelius)]]

==== 20th century ====
* August Strindberg's play Kristina (1901) centers on the final day of her reign. It was adapted for radio, most famously by Sweden's national radio in 1964. [https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/kristina-av-august-strindberg Sveriges Radio 1964 production of "Kristina"]
* Christina's life was fictionalized in the classic feature film ''[[Queen Christina (film)|Queen Christina]]'' (1933).  This film, starring [[Greta Garbo]], depicted a heroine whose life diverged considerably from that of the real Christina.<!--Nonetheless, for some Christina became a symbolic icon of [[cross-dressing]], [[transsexuality]] and possible bisexuality.<ref>Sarah Waters (1994) ''A Girton Girl on a Throne: Queen Christina and Versions of Lesbianism, 1906–1933'' in: Feminist Review. No. 46, Sexualities: Challenge & Change (Spring, 1994), pp. 41–60 [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1395418?uid=3738736&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=56119066103]</ref>-->
* In the Italian film ''[[Love and Poison (film)|Love and Poison]]'' (1950/52) Christina is played by actress [[Lois Maxwell]].
* [[Kaari Utrio]] published ''Kartanonherra ja kaunis Kristin'' (1969).
* In ''[[The Abdication]]'' (1974), starring [[Liv Ullmann]], Christina arrives in the Vatican and falls in love with cardinal Azzelino. The [[screenplay|script]] was based on a play by Ruth Wolff.
* Herta J. Enevoldsen wrote two novels in Danish on her life, ''Heltekongens Datter'' (1975) and ''En Dronning Værdig'' (1976).

==== 21st century ====
* [[Laura Ruohonen]] wrote "Queen C" (2003), which presents a woman centuries ahead of her time who lives by her own rules.
* In [[Eric Flint]]'s alternative history [[1632 series]] (begun in 2000) she is a major character.
* Comedian [[Jade Esteban Estrada]] portrayed her (2004) in the solo musical ''ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World'' Vol. 2.
*[[Michel Marc Bouchard]]'s 2012 play ''Christina, The Girl King'', is a fictional depiction of Queen Christina's short rule and her queer identity,  adapted also for [[Mika Kaurismäki]]'s film in 2015 and for the Canadian French-language opera "La reine-garçon" in 2024; in the former Christina is played by Swedish actress [[Malin Buska]], fictionalised as the lesbian lover of Countess [[Ebba Sparre]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Katie |date=3 December 2015 |title=Review: 'The Girl King' gives Queen Christina of Sweden some modern due |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-girl-king-movie-review-20151204-story.html |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
* In 2019 she was featured as the leader of the Swedish civilization, Kristina, in the video game expansion pack [[Civilization VI: Gathering Storm]]. She was depicted as having a strong focus on culture and art.
* ''La Reine-garçon'', an all-Canadian adaptation of Christina's life into opera created by composer Julien Bilodeau and playwright [[Michel Marc Bouchard]] (2012's ''Christina the Girl-King'') was jointly commissioned by the [[Canadian Opera Company]] and L'opéra de [[Opéra de Montréal|Montréal]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-01-30 |title=The Canadian Opera Company's La Reine-garçon puts its own historical spin on a contemporary theme |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/article-canadian-opera-companys-new-work-with-one-foot-in-history-and-the/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref>

=== Geography and Toponymy ===
In 1636–1637, [[Peter Minuit]] and [[Samuel Blommaert]] negotiated with the government to found [[New Sweden]], the first Swedish colony in the New World where, in 1638, Minuit erected [[Fort Christina]] in what is now [[Wilmington, Delaware]]. The [[Christina River]] in Delaware was also named after her.

In the state of Pennsylvania, the [[Queen Village, Philadelphia|Queen Village]] neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia is named for her.
*[[Kristiine]] District of [[Tallinn]], Estonia.
*[[Kristinestad]], Finland.

== Family tree ==
{{chart/start|align=center}}
{{chart | | | | | | | | |Charles| | | | | | | | | | | | |Charles=[[Charles IX of Sweden|Charles IX]]}}
{{chart | | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{chart |Maria|y|Gustav| |Kate|y|John| |Carl| | | | | | | | | |Gustav=[[Gustavus Adolphus]]|Maria=[[Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg|Maria Eleonora]]|Kate=[[Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg|Catherine]]|Carl=[[Carl Gyllenhielm]]|John=[[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg|John Casimir]]}}
{{chart | | | |!| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{chart | | |Christina| | | | | |Charles| |Christina='''Christina'''|Charles=[[Charles X Gustav]]}}
{{chart/end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book
 | last = Åkerman
 | first = S.
 | title = Queen Christina of Sweden and her circle : the transformation of a seventeenth century philosophical libertine
 | location = New York
 | publisher = E.J. Brill
 | year = 1991
 | isbn = 978-90-04-09310-2
 }}
*  {{cite book
 | last = [[Veronica Buckley|Buckley, Veronica]]
 | title = Christina; Queen of Sweden
 | location = London
 | publisher = Harper Perennial
 | year = 2004
 | isbn = 978-1-84115-736-8
 }}
* Clarke, Martin Lowther (1978) "The Making of a Queen: The Education of Christina of Sweden." In: ''History Today,'' Volume 28 Issue 4, April 1978
* {{cite book
 | last = Essen-Möller
 | first = E.
 | title = Drottning Christina. En människostudieur läkaresynpunkt
 | location = Lund
 | publisher = C.W.K. Gleerup
 | year = 1937
 }}
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Granlund| first=Lis|editor-first=Clarissa | editor-last=Campbell Orr |encyclopedia=Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |pages=56–76 |title=Queen Hedwig Eleonora of Sweden: Dowager, Builder, and Collector |isbn=978-0-521-81422-5}}
*Grate, Pontus, "Vasa Family. Christina, Queen of Sweden" Grove Art Online. [[Oxford Art Online]]. Oxford University Press, accessed July 22, 2017, [http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T088005pg5 subscription required]
* {{cite book
 | last = Hjortsjö
 | first = Carl-Herman
 | title = The Opening of Queen Christina's Sarcophagus in Rome
 | location = Stockholm
 | publisher = Norstedts
 | year = 1966
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Hjortsjö
 | first = Carl-Herman
 | title = Queen Christina of Sweden: A medical/anthropological investigation of her remains in Rome (Acta Universitatis Lundensis)
 | location = Lund
 | publisher = C.W.K. Gleerup
 | year = 1966
 }}
* Jonsson, L. Ann-Marie Nilsson & Greger Andersson (1994) ''Musiken i Sverige. Från forntiden till stormaktstidens slut 1720'' ("Music in Sweden. From Antiquity to the end of the Great power era 1720") {{in lang|sv}}
* Löfgren, Lars (2003) ''Svensk teater'' (Swedish Theatre) {{in lang|sv}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Masson
 | first = Georgina
 | author-link= Georgina Masson
 | title = Queen Christina
 | location = London
 | publisher = Secker & Warburg
 | year = 1968}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Mender
 | first = Mona
 | title = Extraordinary women in support of music
 | location = Lanham, Maryland
 | publisher = Scarecrow Press
 | pages = 29–35
 | year = 1997
 | isbn = 978-0-8108-3278-7
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = [[Carolyn Meyer|Meyer]]
 | first = Carolyn
 | title = Kristina, the Girl King: Sweden, 1638
 | year = 2003
 }}
*[[Nicholas Penny|Penny, Nicholas]],  National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume II, Venice 1540-1600'', 2008, National Gallery Publications Ltd, {{ISBN|1857099133}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Platen
 | first = Magnus von
 | title = Christina of Sweden: Documents and Studies
 | location = Stockholm
 | publisher = National Museum
 | year = 1966}}
* {{cite book
 | author-link = Sven Stolpe
 | last = Stolpe
 | first = Sven
 | title = Drottning Kristina
 | location = Stockholm
 | publisher = Aldus/Bonnier
 | year = 1996}}
* Torrione, Margarita  (2011), ''Alejandro, genio ardiente. El manuscrito de Cristina de Suecia sobre la vida y hechos de Alejandro Magno'', Madrid, Editorial Antonio Machado (212 p., color ill.) {{ISBN|978-84-7774-257-9}}.
*[[Hugh Trevor-Roper|Trevor-Roper, Hugh]]; ''Princes and Artists, Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts 1517-1633'', Thames & Hudson, London, 1976
* Turner, Nicholas, ''Federico Barocci'', 2000, Vilo 
*[[Peter Watson (intellectual historian)|Watson, Peter]]; ''Wisdom and Strength, the Biography of a Renaissance Masterpiece'', Hutchinson, 1990, {{ISBN|009174637X}}
* Daniela Williams, "[https://www.academia.edu/39390563/Joseph_Eckhel_1737-1798_and_the_coin_collection_of_Queen_Christina_of_Sweden_in_Rome Joseph Eckhel (1737-1798) and the coin collection of Queen Christina of Sweden in Rome] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211202636/https://www.academia.edu/39390563/Joseph_Eckhel_1737-1798_and_the_coin_collection_of_Queen_Christina_of_Sweden_in_Rome |date=11 February 2023 }}", [https://academic.oup.com/jhc/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jhc/fhz019/5510714 Journal of the History of Collections 31 (2019)].

==Further reading==
* {{SKBL}}
* [https://www.svenskaakademien.se/sites/default/files/kristina.pdf Kristina Brevoch skrifter (2006) SVENSKA KLASSIKER]

==External links==
<!--[[File:Vatican 6 20101103.JPG|thumb|left|Christina's sarcophagus in the extensive papal crypt at the Vatican.]]-->
{{Commons category|Christina of Sweden}}

{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Christina (Sweden)|Christina, Queen of Sweden}}
*{{cite IEP |url-id=wasa |title=Kristina Wasa}}
* [http://queenchristina.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/QC-Master-plan-1412.pdf Project presentation Queen Christina of Sweden, the European]
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115660/Christina Encyclopædia Britannica]
* {{cite web
 | url = http://womenshistory.about.com/od/rulerspre20th/p/queen_christina.htm
 | title = Queen Christina of Sweden
 | work = About: Women's History
 | access-date = 2007-01-20
 | archive-date = 2017-02-20
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170220093417/http://womenshistory.about.com/od/rulerspre20th/p/queen_christina.htm
 | url-status = dead
 }}
* [http://www.numismatas.com/Forum/Pdf/David%20Ruckser/Coins%20of%20Sweden.pdf Coins of Sweden by David Ruckser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306034409/http://www.numismatas.com/Forum/Pdf/David%20Ruckser/Coins%20of%20Sweden.pdf |date=2016-03-06 }}
* [http://www.windweaver.com/christina/christina.htm Queen Christina of Sweden] Windweaver
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Christina (Sweden)|display=Christina, queen of Sweden |short=x}}

{{S-start}}
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{{S-ttl|rows=1|title=[[List of Swedish monarchs|Queen of Sweden]]|years=1632–1654}}
{{S-aft|rows=3|after=[[Charles X Gustav of Sweden|Charles X Gustav]]}}
|-
{{S-new}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Bremen-Verden|Duchess of Bremen and Verden]]|years=1648–1654}}
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{{S-ttl|rows=1|title=[[List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes|Duchess of Pomerania]]|years=1637–1654}}
{{s-end}}

{{Swedish princesses}}
{{Monarchs of Sweden}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christina Of Sweden}}
[[Category:1626 births]]
[[Category:1689 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Swedish monarchs]]
[[Category:17th-century queens regnant]]
[[Category:17th-century Swedish women]]
[[Category:Queens regnant in Europe]]
[[Category:Dukes of Bremen and Verden]]
[[Category:Candidates for the Polish elective throne]]
[[Category:House of Vasa]]
[[Category:Swedish Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism]]
[[Category:Child monarchs from Europe]]
[[Category:Aphorists]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:People from the Swedish Empire]]
[[Category:Christina, Queen of Sweden| ]]
[[Category:Swedish salon-holders]]
[[Category:Royal scandals in Sweden]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Historical figures with ambiguous or disputed sexuality]]
[[Category:People from Stockholm]]