Queen Christina of Sweden is a legendary queen who brought Sweden to the pinnacle, but she chose to withdraw from the peak of power at the height of Sweden's strongest. I don't know if there are kings like her in history, but this is enough to make people feel admired.
Her legend is more than that, behind her legend, there is also an untold story.
<h1>Today, we tell her story. </h1>
<h1>01</h1>
Born in 1626, Queen Christina was the only surviving child of King Adolf of Sweden. Before she was born, astrologers predicted that she was a boy, and the sex-identifying part of her birth was wrapped in amniotic membranes, so she was mistaken for a boy with thick hair and loud cries.
The people of the country rejoiced that the country had an heir, and only later did they find out that they had mistaken the gender. Her father was not disappointed that she was a girl, but her mother hated her as a daughter, thought she was ugly, and even said that she was a monster.
The sensitive and grumpy mother was very dissatisfied with this daughter, and naturally neglected to take care of her, resulting in little Christina being broken in the shoulder bone, and the shoulders have not been the same since.
In any case, the king was very fond of this daughter.
Around the age of 4, her father led his army to the Thirty Years' War. Before leaving, she was entrusted to the care and education of her aunt Catherine and the Prime Minister Axel Uksenschena, who made it clear that if he died in battle, she would inherit the throne and ordered them to raise her as a prince.
Unexpectedly, the king became a slur, and when she was 6 years old, she was killed in battle.
The death of her father, of course, she was very sad at a young age, but she still had to endure the torment of her mother. Her mother collapsed, because she looked more like her father, and her mother forced her to stay with her in a room covered with a black cloth, sleeping on a bed with her father's heart hanging from the head of the bed.
Because of his mother's paranoia, his father was not buried until a year and a half later, and then in order to prevent the queen from entering the tomb, the Prime Minister sent special guards.
In short, her childhood was very unfortunate, she had hardly enjoyed maternal love since birth, and she lost her beloved father at an early age, choosing the most needed support, but her mother was almost crazy.
<h1>02</h1>
It was in this situation that 6-year-old Christina succeeded to the throne and became king (it is the king who is not the queen, the general female monarch is called the queen or the empress, she is not, she is called the king).
We can imagine that even if the people at that time were precocious, 6-year-old Christina, she was just a little girl. When she sat on the throne, her heart should be confused and wandering.
However, this child is very contentious.
From an early age, she received a royal education, and the curriculum after her succession was more closely arranged.
She could only sleep three or four hours a night, and every morning she got up at less than four o'clock and began to study at four o'clock, and there were many courses to be learned, such as military, political, administrative, literary, artistic, philosophical, religious, historical, equestrian, shooting, swordsmanship, and language.
She has shown a high talent for languages since she was a child, mastering at least 5 languages at the age of 14. The French ambassador praised her for speaking French as well as the French, and she had never been to Italy, and she said it very authentically. In addition, she prefers philosophy, theater and ballet.
Anyway, in our words today, she is definitely a genius, or a genius of both culture and martial arts.
<h1>03</h1>
Queen Christina's excellence was there for all to see, so when she was 16 years old, the Privy Council invited her to govern herself. But the Queen had her own ideas, saying she hoped to be like her father and return to politics at the age of 18.
She spent 10 years from pro-government to abdication. Sweden under her rule reached an unprecedented period of strength.
The most noteworthy achievement is that Queen Christina, despite the opposition of Prime Minister Axel Uksenschena and other ministers of war and parliament, signed the Peace of Westphalia and ended the Thirty Years' War.
Here I would like to talk about the importance of this contract in particular.
The Peace of Westphalia has been called the greatest contract in European history. The reason why it is great is because it opened up the modern history of Europe and laid the foundation for the international law and international relations system of later generations, and national sovereignty, nation-state, and international human rights were all proposed at this time.
As the victor of the Thirty Years' War, the Baltic Sea became Sweden's inland sea, and the entire Baltic Sea trade was controlled by Sweden, and Sweden became the richest country in Europe. Sweden and France, the other victorious power at the time, were both male, and Sweden was undoubtedly at its peak.
And what made all this was made possible by Queen Christina, who is only in her 20s. Therefore, if nothing else, this far-sighted vision alone is admirable.
In addition, she paid special attention to science, culture, education, and the arts, founding the Swedish newspaper and the first national school, hence the name Goddess of Wisdom. One of the most famous events was that she invited Descartes to Sweden, but because the cold weather in Sweden was too cold, Descartes fell ill with pneumonia and died soon after.
<h1>04</h1>
Queen Christina reigned for a total of 10 years, and her marriage was always a top priority for the ministers. There are many princes in Europe who want to marry her, but they are rejected by her, and her words and deeds are masculine, which has been questioned and criticized by many people.
However, no one expected that at the strongest moment in Sweden, she would propose to abdicate.
Regarding abdication, in addition to her desire to dominate her feelings, she also wants to be a person of religious freedom.
Sweden was a Protestant country, but she was interested in Catholicism, which was certainly unacceptable to a monarch who governed a Protestant country.
Moreover, since she was a teenager, she has been extremely disciplined, sleeping only three or four hours a day, and the rest of the time is either studying or governing. This harsh self-demand and the pressure of governing the country made her only in her 20s, and her body had problems.
Physical damage, the pursuit of faith, the pressures of marriage, combined with a yearning for the cultural life of southern Europe, eventually led to her abdication in 1645. This year, she was 28 years old. She chose to give up her royal power to take charge of her own destiny. Legends also!
<h1>05</h1>
After Christina abdicated, she began to travel around Europe, and was warmly welcomed by the people everywhere she went. After that, she chose to settle in Rome and devote herself to art.
Her Roman residence, a frequent visitor to painters, musicians, scholars, bishops, and dignitaries, sponsored many young artists and purchased a large number of works of fine art; founded a theater, which gave many artists a stage to display their talents; created an academic library, which collected a large number of books and manuscripts, and founded the Arcadia Academy, which specialized in music, drama, literature and language.
Because of her contribution to Roman culture, she lived in rome in an era that was called "Cristina's Seventeenth Century" by Italians.
Later, she returned to Rome twice. Once, the Swedish Parliament no longer gave allowances because of her faith. Once, because of the death of her cousin who gave way, she proposed that when her cousin's son died, she would return to be king, but she, who had changed her faith, could not be accepted.
The fact that she wanted to be king again was a bit confusing, and I don't know why. In addition, her old age was a bit miserable, and she once had to live on the relief of others.
Regarding her emotional situation, she has never been married in her life. While in Rome, she met Cardinal Azzolino, a true love cardinal, who loved each other, but the identities of both sides were doomed to bear fruit.
Finally, she died in Rome at the age of 62.
Looking back at the life of Queen Christina, she succeeded to the throne at the age of 6, pro-government at the age of 18, abdicated at the age of 28, and then settled in Rome to travel around Europe and realize her ideals.
Image source: Internet, "Queen of Sweden"