After queen Katarina Jagellonica’s death in 1583, king Johan III was 45 years old and wanted to remarry. He found his new bride among the Swedish nobility – 16-year-old Gunilla Bielke.
Gunilla’s father was councillor Johan Axelsson Bielke and her mother was Margareta Posse. Both of them died when Gunilla was very young, and since the age of 10 she was a part of the court of queen Katarina Jagellonica. She was the same age and playmate of Katarina’s and Johan’s daugther Anna.
In many aspects, Gunillas story is similar to one of her predessesors, Gustav Vasa’s third wife Katarina Stenbock. Like Katarina, Gunilla was only 16 when an eldery king took a liking to her.
And as Katarina, Gunilla was related to the king. Her father was the kings cousin. And just as with Katarina and Gustav Vasa, Johans marriage to Gunilla Bielke caused a great quarrel.
The objections this time was not the kinship however. Johan’s siblings felt that he married beneath him, and that he should propose to a royal princess. This made Johan furious, and he argued that he and his siblings themselves were children of a Swedish noble woman, Margareta Leijonhufvud.
There is a story that Gunilla herself was against the marriage, and turned him down, whereupon Johan was so enraged that he hit her in the face with his gloves. But since there are similar stories about Gustav Vasa’s second and third wives, it could easily be just a myth.
And however it was, Gunilla probably had no choice but to accept, and the wedding took place the 21st of February 1585. Of all of Johans siblings, only his sister Sofia took part in the celebrations.
Contrary to his first wife, Gunilla was raised a protestant. Johan had during his marriage to Katarina shown interest in the catholic faith, but was now influenced by Gunilla to return to his protestant roots. She had like earlier queens a diplomatic role and mediated between Johan and the nobility. She was critizied by among others Johan’s brother Karl for using her position to benefit her own relatives.
In 1589 Gunilla gave birth to her only child, her son Johan. The king was by then old and sickly, and he gave her sole custody of the son in case he himself would die.
And in the fall of 1592 Johans health declined and he became bedridden. Gunilla was constantly by his side. The 17th of November Johan passed away. Gunilla was 24 years old and widow.
Almost at once conflict arose between her stepson Sigismund, who was legally the heir to the throne, and Johan’s brother Karl. Sigismund was catholic, and Karl – who was a staunch protestant – used this to outmanoeuvre his nephew. Gunilla supported Sigismund and has thus been villified by Karl, who eventually emerged victorious.
However, Gunilla didn’t live long enough to see this. She fell ill with fever in the summer of 1597 and died at her castle Bråborg on her 29th birthday.
Her son, Johan, was raised by Karl. When Sigismund was deposed in 1599, Johan should have been king according to the law of succession, but Karl became regent. In 1604, when Johan was just 15, he renounced his right to the throne, and his uncle became king Karl IX.
Sources:
Lindqvist, Herman. Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar. (2006)
Tegenborg, Falkdalen, Karin. Svenska drottningar – i blickfånget från Vasatiden till idag. (2020)