This is the second post about Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg; read the first part here.
The Thirty Years War, which had broken out in Europe in 1618, was a religious war that arose from the tensions the reformations had brought. In 1630 it was decided that Sweden would join the war. There were worries that the war would eventually come to Sweden anyway, and it was better to fight abroad than at home.
So when Maria Eleonora’s and Gustav Adolf’s daughter Kristina was almost 4 years old, Gustav Adolf yet again rode to battle. The farewell between father and daughter was sorrowful, and Kristina would later describe it as her strongest childhood memory. They would never see each other again.
Maria Eleonora on the other hand, inconsolable as usual when her husband was absent, would make sure they would meet again. When she couldn’t convince him to come home, it was decided that she would visit him in Germany.
We can assume, even though Kristina had hereditary rights and was Gustav Adolf’s heir, there was still hope that the queen would give birth to a son. So in July 1631 Maria Eleonora left Sweden with a great company, and in January the next year the royal couple were finally reunited.
The Swedish army had just won a great battle, and together they rode in to Frankfurt am Main where they were celebrated as rulers. Gustav II Adolf was at the height of his carrier. In the beginning of March he had assembled the largest army Europe had ever seen at that time, 100 000 men strong. It was yet again time to say goodbye.
Maria Eleonora was so distraught that she threatened to go after him, even without an escort. The chancellor Axel Oxenstierna was worried he couldn’t keep her without her falling ill, and eventually she was allowed to follow her husband.
On October 28, 1632, the royal couple met for the very last time. Already the next day Gustav Adolf left again, and this time he would not return. The 6th of November he was killed in the battle of Lützen. When the news reached the queen she fainted from the shock.
And now Maria Eleonora’s problems would really begin. Little Kristina was at this time only 6 years old, but would now become queen (later crowned king) of the Swedish empire. A regency council was appointed, and Maria Eleonora felt that she, just as her mother-in-law had been, should be a part of it. But the council flatly refused.
Maria Eleonora was not deemed suitable to run the countries affairs, and to support this view Axel Oxenstierna had a letter from Gustav II Adolf in which he explicitly told him to keep the queen outside any regency council.
A many years long power struggle between the dowager queen and the council began. Another reason for conflict were the issue of the king’s funeral. Maria Eleonora refused for a long time to have him buried at all, since she wanted his body with her. When she eventually was pressured to allow a funeral, she demanded that his heart would be put in a separate box that she could carry with her.
Maria Eleonora’s grief over her husband has historically been used to paint her as a hysterical widow, on the brink on insanity. This view however, has not taken into account that to bury the heart separately from the body was a common practice on the continent. So was also the custom to drape the rooms in black cloth to show grief, which she also did.
What Swedish historians have seen as an expression of female hysteria, was thus common practice in Maria Eleonora’s homeland.
But her reactions was not tolerated by her contemporaries either. The Privy Council feared that she would harm the young Kristina by keeping her with her in the dark and draped rooms. They also worried that she would poison the future monarch against them, and against Sweden, which they accused Maria Eleonora of hating and despising.
Eventually, the Council went as far as to separate mother and daughter in 1636. Maria Eleonora was not only excluded from political power, but also from raising her only child. If she felt bitterness and resentment towards the council, and the country, who can really blame her?
And her sorrows were far from over. Find out more in next post.
Sources:
Lindqvist, Herman. Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar. (2006)
Matthis, Moa. Maria Eleonora – Drottningen som sa nej. (2010)
Tegenborg, Falkdalen, Karin. Svenska drottningar – i blickfånget från Vasatiden till idag. (2020)