Christina of Saxony

Christina of Saxony
Queen consort of Denmark
Tenure	21 May 1481 – 20 February 1513
Coronation	18 May 1483 Copenhagen Cathedral
Queen consort of Norway
Tenure	1483 – 20 February 1513
Queen consort of Sweden
Tenure	6 October 1497 – August 1501
Born	(1461-12-25)25 December 1461 Torgau, Saxony
Died	8 December 1521(1521-12-08) (aged 59) Odense, Denmark
Burial	St. Canute's Cathedral, Odense (from 1807)
Spouse	John of Denmark
Issue among others	Christian II Elizabeth, Electress of Brandenburg Francis Jacob the Dacian (disputed)
House	Wettin
Father	Ernst, Elector of Saxony
Mother	Elisabeth of Bavaria
Religion	Roman Catholic

Christina of Saxony (b. Torgau, 25 December 1461 – d. Odense, 8 December 1521), was Queen consort of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. She was born a granddaughter of Frederick the Gentle of Saxony, and daughter of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and Elisabeth of Bavaria. She was the grandmother of Christina of Denmark through her son Christian II.

Life

Early life

Christina was engaged to John, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in 1477. The year after, she traveled from Saxony to Warnemunde, where she was met by a Danish retinue who brought her Copenhagen Castle, where she was married to John on 6 September 1478.

In 1481, she became queen of Denmark. She was however not crowned until 1483, when John had become king of Norway also. On 18 May 1483, she and John were crowned king and queen of Denmark and Norway in the Frue Kirke in Copenhagen.

During the first twenty years of her marriage, there is not much information about Christina, and she seem to have lived a life devoted to her family. She was the mother of Christian II, Franciscus, Knud and Elizabeth, who later married Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, and (probably) also of Jacob the Dacian. Christina is described as pious, and were said to weep every time she was unable to attend mass.

Sweden

In 1497, John was elected king of Sweden. Two years later, Christina followed him to Sweden, and on 4 February 1499, they were crowned king and queen of Sweden in Uppsala. She accompanied John on his second visit to Sweden in 1500, and his third in January 1501. During the 1501 visit, John entered into his love affair with one of her ladies-in-waiting, Edel Jernskjæg, which attracted a scandal and caused a de facto termination of her marriage.

When the Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512) took place later that same year, John left Sweden for Denmark in August 1501 in the company of Edel Jernskjæg. He left Christina in charge of the garrison of the Castle of Tre Kronor in Stockholm as regent and as moral support for his followers. From September 1501 until 6 May 1502, queen Christina was besieged by the Swedish rebels. This was one of the hardest sieges known during the Kalmar Union, during which a garrison of 1000 men was reduced to 70 out of plague and starvation.

On 9 May 1502, queen Christina surrendered to the Swedish Regent Sten Sture the Elder. According to the peace settlement, was to be kept at a convent in Stockholm until she could travel back to Denmark. When she surrendered her position, she turned herself over to lady Ingeborg Tott, who met her at the castle and followed her to a convent. She was kept first at the Black Friars' Monastery of Stockholm and then at the Grey Friar's Abbey, Stockholm. However, the treaty was broken by Sten Sture: when John had a ship sent to Stockholm to collect her, the regent had her taken from Stockholm to the Vadstena Abbey in a form of captivity. In October 1503, she was finally released and escorted to the Danish border by Sten Sture, where she was met by her son Christian in Halmstad.

Later life

In 1504, she made a pilgrimage to Wilsnack and Sternberg in Brandenburg, where she also met her daughter Elizabeth. Upon her return to Denmark, she founded convents for Poor Clares in Copenhagen and Odense.^[1]

From her return to Denmark after her release onward, queen Christina lived the rest of her life separated from king John. She had her own separate court, headed by Anne Meinstrup, and resided on her dower lands at Næsbyhoved Slot and in Odense with her son Frans. Christina was interested in art and music and acted as the benefactor of musicians, writers and painters. She commissioned the famous altar piece of Claus Berg, who depicted the royal Danish family and was placed in the Odense cathedral, as well as the literary work of the priest Michael of Odense.^[2] She was a critical Catholic, who wished for a reformation of the Catholic church, and the benefactor of the order of Saint Clare and Saint Francis, and supported Laurids Brandsen, who worked to reform the discipline of the Danish convents.^[3] She was also known for her philanthropy. In 1513, she was widowed.

Christina of Saxony died on 8 December 1521, aged 59.

Issue

Christina and John had five or six children:

Ancestry

References

• Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon (in Danish)
• Dansk biografisk Lexikon / III. Bind. Brandt - Clavus

Media related to Christina of Saxony, Queen of Denmark at Wikimedia Commons