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Katarina Gustafsdotter Stenbock (Torpa, Västergötland on 22 July 1535 – Strömsholm, Västmanland on 13 December 1621) was the third and last consort of King Gustav I of Sweden, and Queen consort of Sweden between 1552 and 1560. She was daughter of Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock and Brita Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, who was the sister of the King's previous consort, Margareta Leijonhufvud. She was the sister of Ebba Stenbock.
Engagements
Like the previous queen, she was engaged when the king decided to marry her, but the engagement was broken so the king could have his way. It is said that she ran away and hid behind a bush in the garden when the king arrived at her parents mansion, and according to old stories, she often talked about her earlier fiancé in her sleep. The marriage was contested by the church and clergy, because of her relation to the king's former queen.
Marriage
The marriage was celebrated in the city of Vadstena 22 August 1552 at great expense, at the same time as the plague swept through the country and the city of Åbo (Turku) burned down, and people claimed to see bad omens and evil signs in the sky. The day after, Katarina was crowned Queen, the parties lasted for three days. When the court departed, the city of Vadstena burned down in a great fire, which was seen as another bad omen. The marriage was not a happy one, which was admitted by the king himself; he was even said to contemplate writing a law which would prevent any future marriage between: "Two people, of which one was young and one was old". It is said that the king heard her talking of her former fiance, Gustav Three Roses, in her sleep, during which she said : "King Gustav is very dear to me, but I will never forget the Rose". The king's health declined during the next years, and she was more a nurse than his wife for the eight years she was queen. At one point, there were signs that she was pregnant, but she never had any confirmed pregnancy.
Widowhood
After the death of the king, she lived as a widow for 61 years; she was the first Swedish dowager queen given the title "Riksänkedrottning", which means "The Queen Dowager of the Realm". Her estates made her very wealthy as a widow. She lent money to several of the kings following her spouse. She also acted as a mediator in conflicts. She was the first lady of the court in 1560-68, and was made god mother of king Eric's son with Karin Månsdotter (1568). Karin Hansdotter, Anna Phersönernas moder and Ebba Brahe were all at different times employed at her court. At the dethronement of King Eric XIV in 1568, it is described how Duke Magnus II of Saxe-Lauenburg, husband of her step-daughter Princess Sophia, took her, his spouse and Princess Elizabeth by boat from the royal palace of Stockholm.
She did have plans to remarry; in about 1570, she wished to marry Duke Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg, the brother of her stepdaughter's husband, Duke Magnus II, but these plans were prevented by Magnus. In 1574, she participated in convincing King John to release her nephew Erik Stenbock, who had been imprisoned and deposed from his position by the King on recomendation of Martha Leijonhudvud after his legendary elopement with her daughter. Her estates were within the duchy of her step-son Duke Charles, and she had many conflicts with him. In 1581, Duke Charles again contested her right to her estates, but her property was protected by King John III of Sweden. She had a good relationship with John and often lent him money. As a widow, she participated much in charity. Upon her death at 86 years of age, it was said that: "The poor have lost a friend, the orphans their mother". She was buried in Uppsala Cathedral, but without a monument of her own.
References
- Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon (1906), Katarina Stenbock. [1]
- Herman Lindqvist, "Historien om Sverige".
- Herman Lindqvist (2006). Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar (Swedish). Norstedts Förlag. ISBN 9113015249.
- Lars Ericson: Johan III (John III) (Swedish)
- Lars-Olof Larsson: Gustav Vasa - Landsfader eller tyrran? (Gustav Vasa - Father of a country or a tyrant?) (Prisma) (Swedish)
- Herman Lindvist: Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar (History of all the queens of Sweden) (Swedish) (2006)
- Wilhelmina Stålberg, P. G. Berg : Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor (Notes of Swedish women) (in Swedish)
- http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0389.html
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