Christina of Sweden, aka the Girl King, is one of the most famous monarchs of Sweden. Her memory lives in both fame and infamy. She was... complicated.
Is it a boy or a girl? Initially, Christina was mistaken for a male at birth, causing her Mom (Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg) to take some really drastic steps to communicate her frustration with her. But it wasn't all trauma. Dad (King Gustavus II Adolphus), on the other hand, loved and adored her and eventually had her educated and trained as a male heir would be, setting Christina up for success as the Queen of Sweden.
Christina of Sweden was a progressive woman of the people who fought for equality among her subjects, as best one could in the 1600s. She ended the 30-Year War with Poland that killed her father while having a romantic relationship with her female Bedfellow, a relationship still debated to this day.
Pairs best with the Christina of Sweden Cocktail (we invented this one ourselves, and we love it! [00:02:00] for the recipe).
Queen Christina’s story includes:
- Jekyll and Hyde parental figures
- Romantic female relationship
- Impressively tactile politics
Must listen Moments:
[00:23:00] He finally was like, look, you have a daughter. Apparently, what he said is, she's tricked us all. She's gonna be really clever. I love this about him. I love that. That is so cool. That is so refreshing that he was just like, this, this is my daughter.
[00:24:00] Yeah. Her mother, again, like her mother just resents her and it's just this bad look, so her mother may have. Tried to kill her once or twice.
[00:55:30] I think they were definitely lovers. That's a Queen's podcast official statement - that we think they were lovers. A lot of people have speculation one way or the other, letters between the two survive, that feel like love letters.
A fun source we used:
https://headstuff.org/culture/history/queen-christina-of-sweden-lesbian-troublemaker/
Want more Christina of Sweden? Listen to part 2.
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