Just like her mother-in-law, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg have been vilified throughout history. But the criticism of Maria Eleonora has been the opposite of that of Kristina – she was too extravagant, too emotional and…
Read part 1 here. Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp’s husband, king Karl IX died on October the 30th, 1611. Kristina then became the first Vasa queen to see her child inherit the throne, and the only one…
In the post about Anna of Austria, Kristina’s predecessor, we saw how Sigismund, king of Sweden and Poland, was challenged by his uncle, duke Karl, over the rule of Sweden. The conflict between uncle and…
When Swedish king Johan III died, on November 17, 1592, his and Katarina Jagellonica’s son Sigismund became king of Sweden. He was already king of Poland, as nephew to the former queen Anna. He was…
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…
The darkest period of the Swedish witch trials has become known as “The Great Noise”. Between 1668 and 1676, 280 people were executed as witches, a staggering amount considering that around 400 people in total…
Just like other countries, few people had been executed for witchcraft in Sweden during the early Middle Ages. In the 15th century, only a handful men had been sentenced to death for sorcery, and in…
In Norway the witch trials began after death penalty for witchcraft was introduced in 1584. Since Norway was a part of the Danish kingdom, the laws and the methods were similar in the two countries.…
In the previous two posts about Katarina Jagellonica, we followed her journey from Polish princess, to Swedish duchess, from luxury to imprisonment. Let’s continue our story in the fall of 1567, after Katarina, her husband…
In the first post about Katarina Jagellonica, we got to know her as a Polish princess. In 1562 she married duke Johan of Finland, brother to the Swedish king Erik XIV. They had a dangerous…