Catherine

The Faithful Queen Dowager

Authors

  • Moulton Charles E.J. Charles E.J. Moulton is a true Renaissance-Man: actor, singer, author, painter, teacher, historian and public speaker. He is a studied historian and has worked as a trilingual tour-guide at Kalmar Castle. Sweden

Keywords:

Swedish history, Renaissance women, Arranged marriages, 16th century royalty

Abstract

Most of the young aristocratic women during the Renaissance had no say in who they were to marry. If they were Queens, or holding influential positions of power of any higher kind, they could pick and choose between bridegrooms. In Lucrezia Borgia’s case, her arranged marriage to the Lord of Val d’Ayora was annulled less than two months later. Today, one would say that there were “irreconcilable differences”. That was, however, a very rare case. Her father was Pope Alexander VI.

Catherine Stenbock’s father was not a pope. He was, nevertheless, a nobleman and belonged to one of the most influential families in Sweden. When King Gustav Vasa proclaimed having chosen Catherine as his new Queen, the young girl had no other choice than to accept his offer. It wasn’t that she didn’t fight or try to run and hide.

She did hide. Where? Behind a bush.

The real achievement was the grace, dignity, intelligence and nobility with which Catherine handled the situation. She silenced the sceptics by becoming a faithful and hardworking Queen and a regal personality.

Working as a trilingual tour guide at Kalmar Castle during the 1990’s, I came across stories about this woman on many occasions. This paper is the result of two decades of research: I present to you now Sweden’s most dignified and faithful Queen Dowager: Catherine Stenbock.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

HOFRÉN, MANNE, 1961: HISTORIEGLIMTAR FRÅN KALMAR SLOTT – TIDNINGEN BAROMETERN
LARSSON, OLLE/ MARKLUND, ANDERS, 2008: SVERIGES HISTORIA – HISTORISKA MEDIA
ANDERSSON, STINA/ IVANSSON, ELISABETH, 2008: BOKEN OM HISTORIA 2: VASATIDEN – SVENSKA
HEDBERG, JONAS, 1985: YNGRE VASATIDEN – MILITÄRHISTORISKA FÖRLAGET
LARSSON, LARS-OLF, 2005: GUSTAV VASA – NORDSTEDTS
NORDSTROM, BYRON J., 2002: THE HISTORY OF SWEDEN – GREENWOOD PRESS
KENT, NEIL, 2008: A CONCISE HISTORY OF SWEDEN – CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
GRIMBERG, CARL, 2008: A HISTORY OF SWEDEN – DODO PRESS
DUNHAM, S.A., 2013: HISTORY OF DENMARK, SWEDEN AND NORWAY – PERGAMUM
STRINDBERG, A., 1959: THE VASA TRILOGY – UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS
Catherine: The Faithful Queen Dowager

Downloads

Published

30-06-2014

How to Cite

Charles E.J., M. (2014). Catherine: The Faithful Queen Dowager. SOCRATES, 2(2), 56–68. Retrieved from https://www.socratesjournal.com/index.php/SOCRATES/article/view/24

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2014): Issue - June

Section

History

License

Revised Copyright/CC license that applies to all the articles published after 05-02-2017

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Author(s) will retain all the copyright of their published article. In the case of re-publishing, they will have to obtain written permission from the journal. Additional licensing agreements (Creative Commons licenses) grants rights to readers to Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
 
Under the following terms:
▸ Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.▸ NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.▸ No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the authors’ rights. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Research Papers published in SOCRATES after 05-02-2017 are licensed under an Attribution -Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Date of revision: Creative common license: 05-02-2017
 

Copyright/CC license that applies to all the articles published before 05-02-2017

Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Author(s) will retain all the right except commercial and re-publishing rights. In the case of re-publishing, they will have to obtain written permission from the journal. Additional licensing agreements (Creative Commons licenses) grants rights to readers to copy, distribute, display and perform the work as long as you give the original author(s) credit, they can not use the works for commercial purposes and are not allowed to alter, transform, or build upon the work. For any reuse or distribution, readers and users must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holders. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the authors’ rights. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Research Papers published in SOCRATES are licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)