v39_0821 - SWEDEN - KINGDOM OF SWEDEN - CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN Riksdaler 1644

SWEDEN - KINGDOM OF SWEDEN - CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN

(1632-1654)

Christine of Sweden was born on December 18, 1626 in Stockholm from the union of Gustave II Adolphe and Marie-Éléonore, daughter of the elector of Brandenburg. His father died in 1632, at the battle of Lützen, opening a period of regency under the tutelage of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. In 1644, when she came of age, she dismissed the Chancellor and had herself crowned in 1650. On June 6, 1654, she abdicated in favor of her cousin. She converted to Catholicism and on Christmas 1655, she went to Rome to receive her first communion from the pope. After spending some time in France, in 1674, she settled in Rome where she created the royal academy. She died in Rome on April 19, 1689 and was buried in the Vatican, in the caves of Saint Peter's Basilica..