Christina of Denmark

“ Meanwhile fresh appeals reached Christina every day from her Danish partisans, while King Eric of Sweden, who had declared war on Denmark, opened negotiations with her through his French Minister, Charles de Mornay. A marriage between this young King and Renée was proposed, and Eric offered to support the Duchess's rights to Denmark if she could obtain the help of the Emperor and of the Netherlands. ”

“ The Ambassador was delighted, and wrote to tell his master what a favourable impression Christina had made upon him and his companions:
"She is hardly shorter than her sister, and much handsomer and more graceful, and is indeed as well built and attractive a maiden as you could wish to see. God grant this may lead to a happy marriage!" [89]
The next morning business began in good earnest. Prolonged negotiations were held between Stampa and the Queen's Councillors—Aerschot, De Praet, and other nobles—and the rights of the Princess Dorothea and the condition of Denmark were fully discussed. ”

“ Now, at Esslingen, Ascham fell in with another noble lady, "the Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, daughter to the King of Denmark." Unlike Mary of Hungary, who posted so fast that no ladies could keep pace with her, Christina was always attended with a large retinue. Brantôme tells us that at Court she assumed a state which rivalled that of the Queen of France herself. On this journey she rode a white palfrey, and was followed by sixteen maids of honour on horseback and four chariots filled with ladies, escorted by a troop of 300 horse. ”

“ Three Princes, he said, were all eager to marry her—the Duke of Cleves, the heir of Lorraine, and the Duke of Vendôme—but it would be necessary to defer his decision until he had ascertained the best measures for recovering Denmark and settling the question of Guelders. "And if God," he added, "should call to Himself the Palatine Frederic, who is old and broken, one of these Princes might marry his widow." [277] Christina's marriage, it is easy to see, was closely bound up with the settlement of Guelders, an object which lay very near to her uncle's heart. ”

“ Unfortunately, the interest with which Christina regarded the Danish Prince proved fatal to Adolf's friendship with the Marquis. Before the outbreak of the Schmalkalde War, Adolf had become affianced to Albert's sister, Fräulein Kunigunde. The wedding-day was fixed, and the citizens of Nuremberg had prepared gold rings and jewels for the bride, but the disturbed state of Denmark compelled the Duke to postpone his marriage for a time. Then, as ill-luck would have it, he met the Duchess of Lorraine at the New Year festivities at Augsburg, and fell desperately in love with her. ”

“ The young King of Denmark, Christian II., on succeeding to the throne, declined the French marriage which had been arranged for him by his father, and conceived the ambitious design of allying himself with the Imperial Family. In March, 1514, two Danish Ambassadors, the Bishop of Schleswig and the Court-Marshal Magnus Giœ, were introduced into Maximilian's presence by Christian's uncle, the Elector of Saxony, and asked for the Archduchess Eleanor's hand on behalf of their royal master. ”

“ Before leaving Nancy he discussed the situation at length with the Duchess's latest friend, Baron de Polweiler, the Bailiff of Hagenau, a brave and loyal servant of Charles V., who had warmly espoused Christina's cause and was in correspondence with the Danish malcontents. The Baron was a wise and practical man, and agreed with Granvelle that the best course of action would be to keep up the agitation in Denmark, without taking further measures until the coming of King Philip, which was now confidently expected. ”

“ The magnificence of the Duchess-mother's appearance on this occasion excited general admiration. Grief and anxiety had left their traces on her face, but, in spite of advancing years and sorrow, Christina was still a very handsome woman. Among all the royal ladies who met in the ancient city, none was more stately and distinguished-looking than Madame de Lorraine. As her chariot, draped with black velvet fringed with gold, and drawn by four superb white horses of Arab breed, drew up in front of the Cardinal's palace, a murmur of admiration ran through the crowd. ”

“ Most sacred Cæsar,—I know Denmark well, and am convinced that the Danes will never recognize Christian II. as their King. Count Christopher's expedition will prove a mere flash in the pan, and when he can no longer pay his men, the peasants, who flocked to his banner at the sound of their old King's name, will return to their hearths. Then the nobles will have their revenge, and the proud Lübeck citizens will seize Denmark and establish the Lutheran religion in the name of Christopher or King Henry of England, or any other Prince, as long as he is not Your Majesty ”

“ This idea, however, was soon abandoned, and the outbreak of war between Denmark and Sweden seemed to afford an opportunity for advancing her own claims. Peder Oxe and his companion in exile, Willem von Grümbach, urged her to raise an army and invade Jutland, assuring her that the discontented Danish nobles were only longing for an excuse to rise in a body and dethrone the usurper. But Christina realized that it would be useless to make any attempt without Philip's support, which she begged Granvelle to obtain. ”

“ During this visit the marriage was arranged, and on the 10th of June, 1533, the contract was signed at Barcelona by the Emperor on the one hand, and the Chancellor of Milan, Count Taverna, and the ducal Chamberlain, [Pg 75] Count Tommaso Gallerati, on the other. Christina was to receive 100,000 ducats out of the sum due to the Emperor, as her dowry, and in the event of Dorothea succeeding to the throne of Denmark another 100,000 was to be settled on her. ”

“ Another ally whose help the Duchess tried to enlist was the old Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, whose daughter Christina, after being wooed for some years by the King of Sweden, was finally married to Duke Adolf of Holstein on the 20th of January, 1565. As Granvelle remarks, it was a strange ending to this Prince's long courtship of Madame de Lorraine, but he probably still hoped to support her cause in Denmark. ”

“ But although Margaret carried out her father's last instructions faithfully, and asked his widow to remain at Court, the new King showed his stepmother scanty kindness, and Eleanor left France with few regrets. Another guest at Margaret of Egmont's wedding was Christina's cousin, Duke Adolf of Holstein, the King of Denmark's youngest brother. Most of his life had been spent in Germany, and he had taken part in the campaign of Mühlberg with his friend Albert of Brandenburg. Now, following the wild Marquis's example, he came to Brussels in October, 1548, and entered the Emperor's service. ”

“ The Duchess of Parma was received with due honour at Court, and was cordially welcomed by Christina, who had known her as a child. A handsome woman of thirty-five, she resembled her Flemish mother more than her imperial father, and bore few traces of her Habsburg origin. She had none of Christina's distinction and refinement, while her manners were too haughty to please the Flemish nobles. But she had a keen eye to her own interests, and the atmosphere of deception and intrigue in which her married life had been spent had taught her to adapt herself to circumstances. ”

“ The shameful life which our brother and son-in-law, the King of Denmark, is leading with a concubine, to the great sorrow and vexation of his wife, our daughter and your sister, is condemned by all his relatives; and in order to constrain him to abandon this disorderly way of living, and be a better husband to our said daughter, we are sending Messire Sigismund Herbesteiner to remonstrate with him, and have begged Duke Frederic of Saxony, his uncle, who [Pg 21] arranged the marriage, to send one of his servants on the same errand. ”

“ After Prince John's death, this Princess inherited her brother's claims to the Danish throne, and King Frederic went so far as to propose that she should wed his younger son John, offering to recognize him as heir to Denmark, and leave the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein to his [Pg 72] elder son Christian. But the Emperor and Mary of Hungary were both reluctant to treat with the usurper who had deposed their brother-in-law, and the death of Frederic in April, 1533, put an end to the scheme. ”

“ Other Danish exiles sought refuge at the Court of Lorraine, where their presence naturally revived Christina's dreams of recovering her father's throne. All manner of rumours were abroad. In March, 1561, Chaloner heard that the French King and the Duke of Lorraine were about to invade Denmark. Three months later Mary, Queen of Scots' faithful servant, Melville, wrote from Heidelberg that the Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine had come there to persuade her sister, the old Countess Palatine, to surrender her rights on Denmark to her nephew, the Duke of Lorraine. ”

“ She has raised 400,000 crowns at Antwerp to make war on Denmark, and is to be helped by the Netherlands with ships, money, and men. Her daughter Renée is to marry King Eric, and a close alliance against the Danish King is to be formed between Sweden, Lorraine, the States, and the Holy Empire. Although I do not hold popular rumours to be as infallible as Holy Gospel, I count them more worthy of belief than Æsop's fables or the tales of Amadis de Gaul. ”

“ No prince, after a long imprisonment, ever shewed so much joy upon being restored to his kingdom, as Christina did in quitting hers. When she came to a little brook, which separates Sweden from Denmark, she got out of her carriage, and, leaping to the other side, cried out in a transport of joy; "At last I am free, and out of Sweden, whither I hope I shall never return." She took with her whatever she had collected as curious and valuable, leaving her palace bare. After dismissing her women, she laid by the habit of her sex; "I would become a man," said she ”

“ Christina herself rode in a black velvet litter, drawn by four horses and attended by six footmen, and her ladies travelled in similar fashion, followed by twenty mules and three waggons with the baggage. Mary had taken care that the bride's trousseau was worthy of a daughter of the imperial house, and the chests were filled with sumptuous robes of cloth of gold and silver, of silk, satin, and velvet, costly furs, jewels and pearls, together with furniture and plate for her table and chapel, and liveries and trappings for her servants and horses. ”

“ When the King of Denmark sent to ask him to come to his lodgings, the Cardinal demurred, saying that, as he represented His Majesty of England, the King must be the first to visit him, but that if Christian preferred he would meet him in the palace garden. Christian, however, waived ceremony, and called on Wolsey the next morning. The interview was a very friendly one. Christian expressed his anxiety to enter into a close alliance with England, and begged King Henry to be a good uncle to his young kinsman, James V. of Scotland. ”

“ The troubles in the Netherlands filled her with the utmost anxiety, and her family, like many others, was divided. All her own sympathies were with William of Orange and Egmont in the struggle for freedom, but her stepson, Philip of Aerschot, and her cousin, Count d'Aremberg, were among the few nobles who refused to join the League, and stood fast by the Regent. Margaret of Parma looked coldly on her, owing to Anne's connection with Christina and the Prince of Orange, and did not even send her an invitation to her son Alexander's wedding. ”

“ The old King had died in the Castle of Kallundborg, after forty-five years of captivity, on the 25th of January, 1559, at the ripe age of seventy-seven. He was buried with his parents in the Franciscan church at Odensee, and Duke Adolf of Holstein followed his kinsman's remains to their last resting-place. When her son left Brussels, Christina put her household into mourning, and retired to the Convent of La Cambre to spend a month in retreat. After the strain and stress of the last six months, she felt the need of rest sorely, and the shelter of convent walls was grateful to her tired soul. ”

“ But this plan was frustrated by the Archduke Ferdinand's refusal to give Polweiler leave of absence, and as Silliers, who offered to go in his stead, would only have made matters worse, Christina resolved to ask Count Egmont to plead her cause at Madrid. Even Granvelle, who had no love for the Count, approved of this plan. Egmont was known to be devoted to the Duchess, and his great [Pg 481] popularity in the Low Countries would go far to remove the objections to a breach with Denmark in those provinces. ”

“ The Queen gave Christina a suite of rooms close to her own, looking out on the glossy leaves and interwoven boughs of the labyrinth, and the gardens beyond, which Albert Dürer had called an earthly paradise, and which the Cardinal of Aragon's secretary pronounced to be as beautiful as any in Italy. [161] Here the young Duchess lived with her ladies and household, presided over by Benedetto da Corte and Niccolò Belloni. Every morning she attended Mass in the Court chapel, and dined and spent the evenings with the Queen. ”

“ She had borne him many daughters, who married noblemen and senators. Prominent among them, by her virtues and accomplishments, was Leonore Christina, countess of Schleswig-Holstein (born July 10, 1621, died about 1698) . She married in 1636 Count Corfitz-Uhlfeld, the son of a Danish high chancellor. He became in 1643 major-domo, but after being suspected of conspiring against the life of the king, and incurring general odium, he left Denmark in disgrace. Intriguing in Sweden against his country, but distrusted, he fled to Flanders, where he continued to conspire against Denmark. ”