Only a year after the death of his first wife, Gustav Vasa remarried. Not to a foreign princess this time, but to a young woman from a prominent noble family – Margareta Leijonhufvud.
Margareta was born on January 1st, 1516. Her father, Erik Abrahamsson Leijonhufvud, had been a member of the Swedish privy council and as such, had been a part of the rebellion against Christian II. When Margareta was only four years old, he was beheaded in Stockholm’s bloodbath.
Despite this, her mother – Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa – had been allowed to keep the family’s estates and properties.
Margareta’s mother was second cousin to the new king Gustav Vasa, and Margareta was probably lady-in-waiting to the queen, Katarina. She is said to have been engaged to a young man from one of the most powerful noble families in Sweden, Svante Sture.
But then, when the queen died in September 1535, things took an unexpected turn for Margareta. She suddenly had a new suitor, no other than the 40-year-old king. And Svante had to settle for her sister Märta instead.
There is a legend that Margareta hid in a coffin in the attic when Gustav came to propose, but this is not very likely to be true since this would be an insult to the king – who you did not want to offend.
Besides, girls at this time was raised to obey their families and to make advantageous marriages. So no matter what she might have wanted, Margareta had no choice.
The wedding was held the first of October 1536 – on the one year anniversary of the late queen’s funeral. A week later Margareta Leijonhufvud was crowned queen of Sweden.
The marriage between the royal couple has been described as a happy one. They worked together to strengthen the royal power, keep good relations with the nobility and to stabilize the country.
In preserved letters you can read that many turned to Margareta, asking her to put in a word for them with the king. Often, when the king granted a request he let them know it was ”for the sake of our dear wife queen Margareta’s prayers”.
Margareta Leijonhufvud is described as kind, patient and diplomatic, which made her able to influence the otherwise hotheaded king.
She was a practical woman and took care of the maintenance of the castle, as well as the crown’s and her own properties. She ruled over the servants, took care of the households finances and looked after the children. And she had a lot of children!
Just a few months after the wedding Margareta got pregnant with the future Johan III, and after that she was more or less constantly pregnant.
In 15 years she gave birth to ten children, of which 8 survived to adulthood. Two of her sons would be kings of Sweden – Johan III and Karl IX.
But constant pregnancies and births takes its toll, and at the end of her life Margareta’s health declined.
In the summer of 1551 when the Vasa family was sailing the lake of Mälaren, she fell ill and had to go to shore at the castle of Tynnelsö.
According to a contemporary source, at her deathbed she thanked her husband for elevating her to be queen, and for the strong heirs they have produced together. She asked her children to not quarrel and to be good to each other.
She died on August 26, 35 years old.
Margareta Leijonhufvud is described by her contemporaries as the perfect wife, queen and mother. Fertile, loyal, humble and wise, and sources tells us that Gustav Vasa took her death very hard and that he never was as happy again as he was with her.
He had not married for the last time though. In the next post, we will get to know his third and final wife – Katarina Stenbock.
Sources:
Lindqvist, Herman. Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar. (2006)
Tegenborg, Falkdalen, Karin. Sveriges drottningar – i blickfånget från Vasatiden till idag. (2020)