Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg
Encyclopedia
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) (24 September 1513 – 23 September 1535) was the first consort of Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
and Queen of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
from 1531 until her death in 1535. She was born in Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
to Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a member of the house of Welf and a Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg.- Life :...
, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called Henry the Elder or Henry the Evil, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1491 until his death.-Life:...
.
Biography
King Gustav married Catherine for political reasons. Negotiations began in 1528. He wanted closer connections with German Protestant rulers in order to gain support for his reformation efforts and his throne. The marriage also gave Gustav closer connections to the throne of DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, as Catherine's older sister Dorothea
Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg , consort of Christian III from 1525 and Queen consort of Denmark and Norway. She was daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
was engaged to Christian
Christian III of Denmark
Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
, the Crown Prince of Denmark.
Catherine was 18 years old when Gustav's proposal was accepted, and she travelled to Sweden in the company of her mother. They were married on 24 September 1531. The short marriage was allegedly stormy and remained so after the birth of their son and only child, the future King Eric XIV of Sweden
Eric XIV of Sweden
-Family and descendants:Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter he had four daughters:#Margareta Eriksdotter , married 1592 to Olov Simonsson, vicar of Horn....
, in 1533.
Catherine never learned to speak Swedish, and as her husband's German was less than perfect, they had difficulty in communicating and did not spend much time together. It has been claimed that Queen Catherine was not popular, was intrigant, melancholy and full of whims, and that she also complained about her husband to Count John of Hoya who was married to her sister-in-law Margaret
Margareta Eriksdotter (Vasa)
Margareta Eriksdotter Vasa , also called Margareta Vasa and Margareta of Hoya, was a Swedish noble, sister of king Gustav I of Sweden....
.
During a visit by her brother-in-law Christian III, the recently crowned King of Denmark (and her sister's husband as noted above), she allegedly accused Gustav of planning to murder him. At a castle ball, she and Christian fell while dancing, which caused her to have a miscarriage. She died soon after Christian's departure, on 23 September 1535, two weeks after her fall, and was eventually buried in Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...
after Gustav died in 1560.
After her death, rumors about the cause of it were spread by Gustav's enemies, claiming that he had killed Catherine with a silver hammer he used to summon servants. No formal accusation was made by Catherine's family, and an analysis of her remains, made during the 20th century, showed no damage to her skull or to the rest of her skeleton.