Princess Cecilia of Sweden
Encyclopedia
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, 16 November 1540 – Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, 27 January 1627), was Princess 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....
as the daughter of King Gustav I
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 his second queen, Margareta Leijonhufvud, a Swedish noble
Swedish nobility
The Swedish nobility were historically a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called frälse . Today, the nobility is still very much a part of Swedish society but they do not maintain many of their former privileges...
and Margravine of Baden-Rodemachern
Rodemack
Rodemack is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
through marriage with Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern
Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern
Christoph II of Baden-Rodemachern was the first Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern. He was the second son of Bernhard III of Baden-Baden and his wife Countess Franziska of Brienne and Luxembourg....
. She was regent of Baden-Rodemachern in the 1580s.
Early life
As a child, she had a delicate health and was often sick, but as an adult, she became healthy, beautiful, and energetic. Princess Cecilia is often talked about as the "Black Sheep" of her family; she was a controversial person, the centre of many scandals throughout her lifetime.Several negotiations were made to arrange a marriage, but the scandals she was involved in prohibited the plans for several years. In 1559, at the wedding in Vadstena
Vadstena
Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,612 inhabitants in 2005. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality....
between her eldest sister Princess Catherine and Edzard II of Ostfriesland, her brothers observed a man climbing into her window several nights in a row, and when they decided to investigate the matter the following night, they caught the brother of the groom, John II of Ostfreisland (1534-1591), in Cecilia's bedroom without any hose (pants) on. This caused a great scandal; after having refused to marry Cecilia, the count was thrown in jail for a year, and some sources indicate that he was castrated. Cecilia herself was so beaten up by her father that she accused him of having ripped her hair off. Her brothers printed a coin which pictured her as Susanna in the bath, indicating that she was as innocent as the legendary Susanna of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
Princess Cecilia was involved in a few other incidents, also considered to be scandalous. People gossipped about what technique of contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
she used, claiming that she spat in the mouth of a toad to avoid pregnancy. Her half-brother king Eric XIV wrote a new protocol of movement of the court when he caught her having a nightly party in her private appartements.
Marriage
In 1564, she was married to Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-RodemachernChristopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern
Christoph II of Baden-Rodemachern was the first Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern. He was the second son of Bernhard III of Baden-Baden and his wife Countess Franziska of Brienne and Luxembourg....
(1537 - 1575). Immediately after the wedding she travelled to England in an attempt to convince Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
to marry her half-brother King Eric XIV
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....
. While there she delivered her first child, Edward, who was carried to his christening by Elizabeth. Among her ladies-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
were Helena Snakenborg, who was to stay at the English court.
She stayed in England for about a year, and learned to speak English. During her stay at the English court, she wasted so much money that she attempted to escape from her creditors, but she was caught in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
in 1565 and a great deal of her jewellery and wardrobe was confiscated by the creditors. She was pregnant at this point, and when she finally reached Rodemachern (now Rodemack
Rodemack
Rodemack is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
) her son was born handicapped, for which she blamed her creditors for the rest of her life.
Countess of Arboga
In 1571 Cecilia and her family, as protestants, felt threatened by the religious warDutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the troops of the Duke of Alba
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several...
nearby and moved to Sweden. When she arrived, she was told that an English merchant, John Dymosh, had arrived in the country recently; this was one of her old creditors from England, and Cecilia took revenge by confiscating his ship and having him put in jail; he remained there five years.
Cecilia was given the city of Arboga
Arboga
Arboga is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,369 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited since around 900 AD...
as a fief and she lived there ruling the city under the title Countess of Arboga. She supported herself by its taxes, by financing a fleet of pirates on the sea to plunder foreign ships and hiding the profit from her brothers; she also engaged in mining and merchandise. After her husband's death in 1575 she converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
to secure the domains of her sons, which had been captured by Catholic troops. At this time, Elizabeth I of England for some reason offered her the hand of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but Cecilia was advised to decline by her brother king, John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
, which she did.
In 1578 Cecilia became involved with the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Eraso, to give her fleet of pirates to the Spanish King in exchange for the post of governor in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
or some other Spanish province. She was suspected of plotting against her brother the King, John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
, as the Spanish ambassador often visited her, and one night, she was captured visiting his house incognito in Stockholm. She left Sweden in 1579 and returned to Rodemack, where she gave birth to the child of Francisco de Eraso, a girl she called Caritas and left in a convent.
Later life
Princess Cecilia now gave her sons in the custody of the Jesuits for education, while she, as a Catholic, took the responsibility of the estates of Baden-Rodemachern as regent. As regent within the Holy German Empire, she had the right to a seat at the empirical German-Roman assembly, a right she also used. She met the popePope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
on several occasions and travelled between the Catholic courts of Europe. Her siding with the Catholics made her the target of Protestant propaganda, who accused her of hosting a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(1594). She had many problems being hunted by creditors, nearly killed by one of them and chased into the house of the archbishop of Trier in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
in 1610. She died at a very advanced age for that time and is buried under the floor in the church in Rodemack.
Children
- Edward Fortunatus, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (1565-1600)
- Kristoffer Gustav of Baden-Rodemachern (1566-1609)
- Filipp of Baden-Rodemachern (1567-1620)
- Karl of Baden-Rodemachern (1569-1590)
- Bernhard of Baden-Rodemachern (1570-1571)
- Johann Karl of Baden-Rodemachern (1572-1599) in the Knights HospitallerKnights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
- Caritas (1579-unknown), illegitimate daughter, placed in a nunnery.