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This medal has been minted in France in 1974 to commemorate the riksdaler minted by the Queen regnant of Sweden, CHRISTINA I, 1626 - 1689.
This medal
has been minted in 500 pieces, (100 in silver, 400 in bronze).
This one has the number 132/500 on the rim.
Christina (18 December [O.S. 8 December] 1626 – 19 April 1689) was Queen regnant of Sweden from 1632 to 1654, with the titles of Queen of the Swedes, Goths (or Geats) and Wends (Suecorum, Gothorum Vandalorumque Regina); Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, Bremen-Verden, Stettin, Pomerania, Cassubia and Vandalia, Princess of Rugia, Lady of Ingria and of Wismar.
diameter – 80 mm, (ca 3⅛”)
weight – 225.60 gr, (7.96
oz)
metal – bronze, authentic patina
av. Queen Christina
rv. Christ, the coat of arms
Christina was the only
surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. At the
age of six, she succeeded her father on the throne upon his death at the Battle of Lützen, and began ruling
when she reached the age of 18.
Christina
is remembered as one of the most educated women of the 1600s. She was fond of
paintings, books, manuscripts, and sculptures. With her interest in religion,
philosophy, mathematics and alchemy, she attracted many scientists to Stockholm,
wanting the city to become the "Athens of the North". She was
intelligent, fickle and moody; she rejected the sexual role of a woman. She
caused a scandal when she decided not to marry and in 1654 when she abdicated
her throne. She changed her name to Kristina Augusta Wasa and converted to Roman Catholicism, adopting the name
Christina Alexandra.
At
the age of 28, the "Minerva of the
North" moved to Rome. The Pope described Christina as "a queen
without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame".
Notwithstanding all that, she became a leader of the theatrical and musical
life and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians.
Being
the guest of five consecutive popes, and a symbol of the Counter Reformation, she is one of the
few women buried in the Vatican
grotto. Her unconventional lifestyle and masculine dressing and
behavior has been featured in countless novels, plays, opera and film. In all
the biographies on Christina her gender and cultural identity play an important
role.
Swedish
and Polish Vasa
The
Crown of Sweden was hereditary in the family of Vasa, but from King Charles IX's time onward (reigned
1604–11), it excluded Vasa princes descended from a deposed brother (Eric XIV of Sweden) and a deposed nephew (Sigismund III of
Poland).
Gustav Adolf's legitimate younger brothers had died years earlier. The one
legitimate female left, his half-sister Catharine, came to be excluded in 1615 when she
married a non-Lutheran. So Christina became the only heiress presumptive. From Christina's birth,
King Gustav Adolph recognized her eligibility even as a female heir, and
although called "queen", the official title she held as of her
coronation was King.[citation needed]
On
6 November 1632, Christina became queen at the age of five. In 1634, the Instrument of Government (1634), a new
constitution, was introduced by Oxenstierna. The constitution stipulated that the
"King" must have a Privy Council which was headed
by Oxenstierna himself.
Christina
was educated as a royal male would have been. The theologian Johannes Matthiae Gothus became her tutor;
he gave her lessons in religion, philosophy, Greek and Latin.
Chancellor Oxenstierna taught her politics and discussed Tacitus with her.
Oxenstierna wrote proudly of the 14-year-old girl that, "She is not at all
like a female" and that she had "a bright intelligence".
Christina seemed happy to study ten hours a day. Besides Swedish she learned at least eight other
languages: German, Dutch, Danish, French, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew.
In
1636–1637, Peter
Minuit and Samuel
Blommaert negotiated with the government about the founding of New Sweden, the first
Swedish colony in the New World. In 1638, Minuit erected Fort Christina in what is now Wilmington, Delaware; also Christina River was named after
her.
In
1644, she was declared an adult, although the coronation was postponed because
of the war with Denmark. In December 1643, Swedish troops overran Holstein and Jutland in the Torstenson War. The Swedes
achieved much from their surprise attack. At the Treaty of Brömsebro Denmark
handed over the isles of Gotland and Ösel to Sweden
while Norway lost the districts of Jämtland and Härjedalen. Sweden now
virtually controlled the Baltic, had
unrestricted access to the North Sea and was no longer encircled by
Denmark–Norway.
Chancellor
Oxenstierna soon discovered that Christina held differing political views from
his own. In 1645 he sent his son, Johan
Oxenstierna, to the Peace Congress in Osnabrück and Münster,
presenting the view that it would be in Sweden's best interest if the Thirty
Years' War continued. Christina, however, wanted peace at any cost and sent her
own delegate, Johan Adler Salvius. Shortly before
the conclusion of the peace settlement, she admitted Salvius into the Council,
against Chancellor Oxenstierna's wishes. Salvius was no aristocrat but
Christina wanted opposition to the aristocracy present. In 1648 Christina
obtained a seat in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire when Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania were assigned to
Sweden at the Treaty of Osnabrück.
In
1648 she commissioned 35 paintings from Jacob
Jordaens for a ceiling in Uppsala
Castle. In 1649, 760 paintings, 170 marble and 100 bronze
statues, 33,000 coins and medallions, 600 pieces of crystal, 300 scientific
instruments, manuscripts and books (including the Sanctae Crucis laudibus
by Rabanus
Maurus, the Codex
Argenteus and the Codex Gigas) were
transported to Stockholm. The art, from Prague
Castle, had belonged to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and was
captured by Hans Christoff von Königsmarck during the
Battle of Prague and the
negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia. By 1649–1650,
"her desire to collect men of learning round her, as well as books and
rare manuscripts, became almost a mania," Goldsmith wrote. To catalogue
her new collection she asked Isaac
Vossius to come to Sweden and Heinsius to purchase more books on the market.
In
1649, with the help of her uncle, John Casimir, and her
cousins Christina tried to reduce the influence of Oxenstierna, and she
declared Casimir's son, her cousin Charles Gustav, as her heir
presumptive. The following year, Christina resisted demands from the other
estates (clergy, burghers and peasants) in the Riksdag of the Estates for the reduction
of tax-exempt noble landholdings.
From
1638 Oxenstierna employed a French ballet troupe
under Antoine de Beaulieu, who also had to
teach Christina to move around more elegantly. In 1645 Christina invited Hugo Grotius to become her
librarian, but he died on his way in Rostock. In 1647 Johann Freinsheim was appointed. The
"Semiramis from the North" corresponded with Pierre Gassendi, her favorite
author. Blaise
Pascal offered her a copy of his pascaline. She had a
firm grasp of classical
history and philosophy. Christina studied Neostoicism, the Church Fathers, and Islam; she
systematically looked for a copy of Treatise of the Three Impostors, a work
bestowing doubt on all organized religion. In 1651 the kabbalist Menasseh ben Israel offered to become
her agent or librarian for Hebrew books and manuscripts; they discussed his
messianic ideas as he had recently spelled them out in his latest book, Hope
of Israel. Other illustrious scholars that came to visit were Claude Saumaise, Johannes Schefferus, Olaus Rudbeck, Johann Heinrich
Boeckler, Gabriel
Naudé, Christian
Ravis, Samuel
Bochart together with Pierre Daniel Huet and Marcus Meibomius, who wrote a book
about Greek dance.
Christina
was interested in theatre,
especially the plays of Pierre
Corneille; she was herself an amateur actress. In 1647 the Italian
architect Antonio Brunati was ordered to build a theatrical setting in one of
the larger rooms of the palace. Her court poet Georg
Stiernhielm wrote her several plays in the Swedish language, such as
Den fångne Cupido eller Laviancu de Diane, performed at court with
Christina in the main part of the goddess Diana. She
invited foreign companies to play at Bollhuset, such as
an Italian Opera troupe in 1652 with Vincenzo
Albrici and a Dutch theatre troupe with Ariana
Nozeman and Susanna van
Lee in 1653. Among the French artists she employed at court
was Anne Chabanceau de La Barre, who was
made court singer
In
1646 Christina's good friend, ambassador Pierre
Chanut, met and corresponded with the philosopher René Descartes, asking him for a
copy of his Meditations. Upon
showing the queen some of the letters, Christina became interested in beginning
a correspondence with Descartes. She invited him to Sweden, but Descartes was
reluctant until she asked him to organize a scientific academy. Christina sent
a ship to pick up the philosopher and 2,000 books. Descartes arrived on
4 October 1649. He resided with Chanut, and finished his Passions of the Soul. It is highly
unlikely Descartes wrote a "Ballet de la Naissance de la Paix",
performed on her birthday. On the day after, 19 December 1649, he probably
started with his private lessons. With Christina's strict schedule he was
invited to the cold and draughty castle at 5:00 AM daily to discuss philosophy
and religion. Soon it became clear they did not like each other; she
disapproved of his mechanical view, and he did not appreciate her interest in Ancient Greek. On 15 January
Descartes wrote he had seen Christina only four or five times. On
1 February 1650 Descartes caught a cold. He died ten days later, early in
the morning on 11 February 1650, and according to Chanut the cause of his death
was pneumonia. Over time there have been speculations regarding the
death of the philosopher. Theodor Ebert claimed that Descartes did not meet his
end by being exposed to the harsh Swedish winter climate, as philosophers have
been fond of repeating, but by arsenic
poisoning. It has been suggested Descartes was an obstacle to
Christina's becoming a true Catholic.
Her
tutor, Johannes Matthiae, influenced by John Dury and Comenius, who since 1638 had been working on a
new Swedish school system, represented a gentler attitude than most Lutherans.
In 1644, he suggested a new church order, but was voted down as this was
interpreted as Crypto-Calvinism.
Christina, who by then had become queen, defended him against the advice of
chancellor Oxenstierna, but three years later, the proposal had to be
withdrawn. In 1647, the clergy wanted to introduce the Book of
Concord (Swedish: Konkordieboken) – a
book defining correct Lutheranism versus heresy, making some aspects of free
theological thinking impossible. Matthiae was strongly opposed to this and was
again backed by Christina. The Book of Concord was not introduced.
After
reigning almost twenty years, working at least ten hours a day, Christina had
what some have interpreted as a nervous
breakdown. She suffered with high blood
pressure, complained about bad eyesight and pain in her neck. Grégoire François Du Rietz, since
1642 the court physician, was called when she suddenly collapsed in 1651. She
had long conversations about Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Bacon, and Kepler with
Antonio Macedo, secretary and interpreter for Portugal's ambassador. Macedo
was a Jesuit, and in August 1651 smuggled on his person a letter from
Christina to his general in Rome. In reply, Paolo Casati and
Francesco Malines came to Sweden in the spring of 1652, trained in both natural
sciences and theology. She had more conversations with them, being interested
in Catholic views on sin, immortality of the soul, rationality and free will.
The two scholars revealed her plans to Cardinal Fabio Chigi. Around May 1652
Christina decided to become Roman
Catholic. She sent Matthias Palbitzki to Madrid; in
August King Philip IV of Spain sent the Spanish
diplomat Antonio Pimentel de Prado to Stockholm.
In
February 1652 the French doctor Pierre
Bourdelot had arrived in Stockholm. Unlike most doctors of that
time, he held no faith in blood-letting; instead,
he ordered sufficient sleep, warm baths and healthy meals, as opposed to
Christina's hitherto ascetic way of life. She was only twenty-five, and
advising that she should take more pleasure in life, Bourdelot asked her to
stop studying and working so hard and to remove the books from her apartments.
The physician showed her the 16 sonnets of Pietro
Aretino, which he kept secretly in his luggage. By subtle means
Bourdelot undermined her principles. She now became an Epicurean. Her
mother and de la Gardie were very much against the activities of Bourdelot and
tried to convince her to change her attitude towards him; Bourdelot returned to
France in 1653 "laden in riches and curses". For years, Christina
knew by heart all the sonnets from the Ars
Amatoria and was keen on the works by Martial and Petronius.
Christina's
gender ambiguity did not end with her style of dress. The question of her
sexuality has been debated, but modern biographers generally consider her to
have been a lesbian, and her
affairs with women were noted during her lifetime; Christina seems to have
written passionate letters to Ebba Sparre, and Guilliet suggested a
relationship between Christina and Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Rachel, a
niece of Diego Teixeira, and the singer Angelina Giorgino. Some historians
assert she maintained hetero,
non-sexual, homosexual, or bisexual
relationships during the course of her life depending on which source is
consulted. According to Veronica
Buckley, Christina was a "dabbler" who was
"...painted a lesbian, a prostitute, a hermaphrodite, and an atheist" by
her contemporaries, though "in that tumultuous age, it is hard to
determine which was the most damning label". Christina declared at the end
of her life that she was "neither Male nor Hermaphrodite, as some People
in the World have pass'd me for".
Bargrave
recounted that Christina's relationship with Azzolino was both
"familiar" (intimate) and "amorous" and that
Azzolino had been sent (by the Pope) to Romania as
punishment for maintaining it. Buckley, on the other hand, believed there was
"in Christina a curious squeamishness with regard to sex" and that
"a sexual relationship between herself and Azzolino, or any other man,
seems unlikely". It is not known if she was born with a Disorder of Sex Development (DSD) (with
features of intersex or pseudohermaphroditism), but this could
explain the confusion about Christina's gender in the first few days of her
life. Based on historical accounts of Christina's physicality, some scholars
believe that she may have been an intersex individual (someone with a
combination of female and male genitals, hormones or chromosomes).
In
1965 these conflicting accounts led to an investigation of Christina's remains.
Physical anthropologist Carl-Herman
Hjortsjö, who undertook the investigation, explained: "Our imperfect
knowledge concerning the effect of intersex on the skeletal formation [...]
makes it impossible to decide which positive skeletal findings should be
demanded upon which to base the diagnosis" of an intersex condition.
Nevertheless, Hjortsjö speculated that Christina had reasonably typical female
genitalia because it is recorded by her physicians Bourdelot and Macchiati that
she menstruated. Hjortsjö's osteological analysis
of Christina's skeleton led him to
state that they were of a "typically female" structure.
Some
physicians consider her symptoms to be those of polycystic ovary syndrome, a complex multi-endocrine disorder resulting in many
symptoms including hirsutism (male
pattern/type hair growth) due to increased androgen hormone levels, and
abdominal obesity due to the hormone insulin receptor defects. Others consider
her reported behavioral issues to be closest to those in the Pervasive Developmental Disorder family,
i.e., Asperger's Syndrome