Christina of Saxony

{{Short description|Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (1461–1521)}}

{{For|the Landgravine of Hesse|Christine of Saxony}}

{{Infobox royalty

| consort = yes

| image = Christina of Denmark, Norway & Sweden (1497) sculpture c 1530 (photo 2009).jpg

| succession = Queen consort of Denmark

| succession1 = Queen consort of Norway

| succession2 = Queen consort of Sweden

| coronation2 = 4 February 1499

| reign = 21 May 1481 – 20 February 1513

| reign1 = 1483 – 20 February 1513

| reign2 = 6 October 1497 – August 1501

| coronation = 18 May 1483
Copenhagen Cathedral

| cor-type = Coronation

| spouse = {{marriage|John of Denmark|1478|1513|end=died}}

| issue = Christian II, King of Denmark
Elizabeth, Electress of Brandenburg
Francis

| issue-link = #Issue

| issue-pipe = among others

| house = Wettin

| father = Ernst, Elector of Saxony

| mother = Elisabeth of Bavaria

| birth_date = 25 December 1461

| birth_place = Torgau, Saxony

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1521|12|8|1461|12|25|df=y}}

| death_place = Odense, Denmark

| burial_date =

| burial_place = St. Canute's Cathedral, Odense (from 1807)

}}

File:John, Francis & Christina of Denmark, Norway & Sweden relief 2009 St. Canute's Odense.jpg

Christina of Saxony (25 December 1461 – 8 December 1521) was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as the wife of King John.

Life

=Early life=

Christina was engaged to John, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in 1477. The year after, she traveled from Saxony to Warnemunde, where she was met by a Danish retinue who brought her Copenhagen Castle, where she was married to John on 6 September 1478. The wedding is described as magnificent, with possessions of a knights and the bride, dressed in gold embroidered red, travelling in a carriage of gold.{{Cite book |last=Jorgensen |first=Ellen |url=https://archive.org/stream/danskedronnigerf00jorg/danskedronnigerf00jorg_djvu.txt |title=Danske dronniger; fortaellinger og karakteristikker af Ellen Jorgensen og Johanne Skovgaard |last2=Skovgaard |first2=Johanne |date=1910 |publisher=Kobenhavn H. Hagerup |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}

In 1481, she became queen of Denmark. She was however not crowned until 1483, when John had become king of Norway also. On 18 May 1483, she and John were crowned king and queen of Denmark in the Frue Kirke in Copenhagen.

During the first twenty years of her marriage, there is not much information about Christina, and she seems to have lived a life devoted to her family. She was the mother of Christian II, Franciscus, Knud and Elizabeth, who later married Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, and (probably) also of Jacob the Dacian. The royal couple did not live much in Copenhagen, but preferred to travel between the royal castles in Funen, as Nykobing Castle was reportedly the favorite residence of Christina. There is nothing to indicate that she ever involved herself in politics during her life in Denmark as its queen.

Christina is described as pious, and was said to weep every time she was unable to attend mass. In 1497, she and John founded the St. Clare's Monastery, Copenhagen.

=Sweden=

{{See also|Siege of Tre Kronor}}

In 1497, John was elected king of Sweden. Two years later, Christina followed him to Sweden, and on 4 February 1499, they were crowned king and queen of Sweden in Uppsala. She accompanied John on his second visit to Sweden in 1500, and his third in January 1501. During the 1501 visit, John entered into his love affair with one of her ladies-in-waiting, Edel Jernskjæg, which attracted a scandal and caused a de facto termination of her marriage.

The stay in the Swedish capital was dominated by the king's suspicions toward the Swedes, who were known to be hostile to the Kalmar Union; when the queen announced that she intended to attend mass at the Storkyrkan in the city, the king refused to allow her until she begged him crying, and when the queen and her ladies-in-waiting were observed to return with a crowd of Swedes, the king's guards aimed fire at them in the belief that they had taken the queen hostage, when in fact they had just wished to escort her back to the castle as a way of honoring her.

When the War of Deposition against King Hans and Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512) took place later that same year, John left Sweden for Denmark in August 1501 in the company of Edel Jernskjæg. He left Christina, who was at that time too ill to travel, in charge of the garrison of the Castle of Tre Kronor in Stockholm as regent and as moral support for his followers.

From September 1501 until 6 May 1502, Queen Christina was besieged by the Swedish rebels. This was one of the hardest sieges known during the Kalmar Union, during which a garrison of 1,000 men was reduced to 70 out of plague and starvation.

On 9 May 1502, Queen Christina surrendered to the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder. According to the peace settlement, was to be kept at a convent in Stockholm until she could travel back to Denmark. When she surrendered her position, she turned herself over to lady Ingeborg Tott, who met her at the castle and followed her to a convent.

She was kept first at the Black Friars' Monastery of Stockholm and then at the Grey Friar's Abbey, Stockholm. However, the treaty was broken by Sten Sture: when John had a ship sent to Stockholm to collect her, the regent had her taken from Stockholm to the Vadstena Abbey in a form of captivity. In October 1503, she was finally released and escorted to the Danish border by Sten Sture, where she was met by her son Christian in Halmstad.

=Later life=

In 1504, she made a pilgrimage to Wilsnack and Sternberg in Brandenburg, where she also met her daughter Elizabeth. Upon her return to Denmark, she founded convents for Poor Clares in Copenhagen and Odense.Dansk Biografisk Leksikon

From her return to Denmark after her release onward, Queen Christina lived the rest of her life separated from King John. She had her own separate court, headed by Anne Meinstrup, and resided on her dower lands at Næsbyhoved Slot and in Odense with her son Frans. She hosted a grand court with many guests, but the visits from the king was almost non-existent.

Christina was interested in art and music and acted as the benefactor of musicians, writers and painters. She commissioned the famous altar piece of Claus Berg, who depicted the royal Danish family and was placed in the Odense cathedral, as well as the literary work of the priest Michael of Odense.

She was a critical Catholic, who wished for a reformation of the Catholic church, and the benefactor of the order of Saint Clare and Saint Francis, and supported Laurids Brandsen, who worked to reform the discipline of the Danish convents. She was also known for her philanthropy.

In 1513, she was widowed.

Christina of Saxony died on 8 December 1521, aged 59.

Issue

Christina and John had five or six children:

class="wikitable"
NameBirthDeathNotes
Hans14791480died as a child
Ernst14801480died as a child
Christian II1 July 148125 January 1559King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Had issue.
Jacob14841566Disputed; Possibly identical to Jacob the Dacian
Elizabeth24 June 148510 June 1555Married Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg in 1502. Had issue.
Francis15 July 14971 April 1511

References

{{Reflist}}

  • [http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1042/origin/170/ Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon] (in Danish)
  • [https://runeberg.org/dbl/3/0573.html Dansk biografisk Lexikon / III. Bind. Brandt - Clavus ]

{{S-start}}

{{S-hou|House of Wettin|25 December|1461|8 December|1521}}

{{S-roy}}

{{S-bef

| before = Dorothea of Brandenburg

}}

{{S-ttl

| title = Queen consort of Denmark

| years = 1481–1513

}}

{{S-vac|rows=3|next=Isabella of Austria}}

|-

{{S-vac|last=Dorothea of Brandenburg}}

{{S-ttl

| title = Queen consort of Norway

| years = 1483–1513

}}

|-

{{S-vac|last=Christina Abrahamsdotter}}

{{S-ttl

| title = Queen consort of Sweden

| years = 1497–1501

}}

{{S-end}}

{{Princesses of Saxony}}

{{Danish consorts}}

{{Norwegian consorts}}

{{Swedish consorts}}

{{commonscat-inline|Christine of Saxony, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christina Of Saxony}}

Category:1461 births

Category:1521 deaths

Category:15th-century Danish women

Category:15th-century Swedish women

Category:15th-century Danish people

Category:16th-century Danish women

Category:16th-century Swedish women

Category:16th-century Danish people

Category:Danish royal consorts

Category:Norwegian royal consorts

Christina 1497

Category:Burials at St. Canute's Cathedral

Category:House of Wettin

Category:People from Torgau

Category:Regents of Sweden

Category:Women in 16th-century warfare

Category:Women in war in Sweden

Category:Royal reburials

Category:Danish queen mothers

Category:Swedish queen mothers

Category:Norwegian queen mothers

Category:Daughters of prince-electors