After Erik XIV and Karin Månsdotter had been driven from the throne, Erik’s brother Johan was proclaimed king in January 1569. In July of the same year, he and his wife Katarina were crowned king and queen of Sweden. But let’s rewind the tape a bit, to get to know Sweden’s new queen.
Katarina Jagellonica was born on November 1st, 1526, daughter of the Sigismund I, king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania. Her mother was Bona Sforza, from a powerful Italian family.
As the youngest of five siblings, she was not prioritized by her parents, and probably not very close to them. Someone that was close to the young princess however, was a dwarf servant named Dorothea, often called Doska. They would have a close relationship throughout their lives.
Katarina received a first class education. She was taught to speak, read and write in polish, italian, latin and german. She was raised catholic, and religion was a big part of her life. She also learned to ride, hunt, dance and play instruments. Her mother was a great patron of the arts and culture, interests that Katarina inherited.
Although many marriages were discussed for Katarina, she remained unmarried for a long time. One suitor was tzar Ivan of Russia – known as Ivan the Terrible. He did not have a good reputation, and to Katarina’s relief the marriage negotiations fell through. He would make a come-back in her life later on, however.
In 1562, when Katarina was 35 years old, next proposal came. It was Johan, duke of Finland and brother to the Swedish king Erik XIV who expressed his interest in an alliance with Poland. By this time, her father had died and her brother, Sigismund August was king.
Johan arrived in Kaunas, Lithuania, to discuss the marriage in the autumn 1562. Erik XIV had first supported the match, but changed his mind and had forbidden his brother to persue it further. But Johan ignored him. He had bigger plans than just being duke of Finland, he wanted to expand his territories in the east, and needed an ally. He therefore lend Sigismund August money in exchange for castles in the Polish king’s territories. He also led Katarina’s brother to believe he would have an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He had no such mandate from the king.
Johan was eleven years younger than Katarina, and a duke from a small, peripheral country. But Katarina agreed to the marriage. The wedding was held on the 4th of October.
A week later the newlyweds set out towards Finland and Katarina’s new home in Turku castle. But that journey would be full of dangers!
Autumn storms prevented them from sailing, so they had to travel by land to Riga, highly dangerous in a war torn Europe. In Riga they boarded a ship, but it froze in the ice and they had to coninue by land. In addition to this alreay dangerous journey, Katarina’s former suitor, Ivan the Terrible, had found out that she was travelling. He was still angry that his proposal had been rejected, and since he was at war with her brother, he sent 5000 soldiers to capture her and bring her to Russia as a hostage.
As if that was not enough, king Erik was furious that Johan had married Katarina against his expressed command, and he sent soldiers after them too. They barely escaped both Ivan’s and Erik’s soldiers, and on Christmas Eve 1562, the couple finally arrived in Turku.
There they must have breathed a sigh of relief. But their troubles were far from over.
Read next part here!
Sources:
Lindqvist, Herman. Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar. (2006)
Mattson, Eva. Furstinnan – en biografi om drottning Katarina Jagellonica. (2023)
Tegenborg, Falkdalen, Karin. Svenska drottningar – i blickfånget från Vasatiden till idag. (2020)