by Carrie Eckles

Created on: June 19, 2009   Last Updated: June 22, 2009

Christina of Sweden was the first and only female king of modern Europe. Her twenty-two year reign was marked by success in troubling times, and she's remembered for her enigmatic and intelligent nature.

Born on December 18, 1626, in Stockholm to King Gustavus Adolphus and his consort, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, it had been widely hoped that the child would be a boy. The first two children of the king and queen, both girls, died in infancy. Upon Christina's birth, it was first believed she was a boy. This was, however, a mistake due to the fact that her gender couldn't be clearly seen because she was born with the fetal membrane wrapped around her. Out of all the nobles, her own mother was the most disappointed at Christina being born a girl. However, her father on the other hand was elated just to have a healthy child.

When Christina was a young child, her father left for the front lines of the Thirty Years War, which was ravishing Europe at the time. Before he left, he instructed his ministers that, should he die, Christina be raised as a prince in preparation for her succession to the throne. Gustavus Adolphus was killed on November 6, 1632 and a regency was set up for his young daughter.

Gustavus had made clear he wanted young Christina to be raised by his sister, Catherina of Pfalz. However, Christina's mother, upon her husband's death, suddenly became devoted to her daughter on a level that might very well be described as sick. Maria Eleonora denied her sister-in-law entrance to the royal house and kept her daughter, Christina, close to her in her mourning chambers. In fact, Gustavus wasn't even buried until eighteen months after his death, most likely per his widow's insistence. Sources allege that, in her grief, she kept his heart in a gold box in her chambers. This was not a healthy environment for her young daughter.

Gustavus's chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, became alarmed at the sick and obsessive way the queen mother was treating her child. He exiled Maria Eleonora to Gripsholm Castle and invited Catherina of Pfalz and her family to stay, providing a stable family life for the young girl-king Christina for the first time since her father was killed.

As a child, Christina was fiercely intelligent. It's said that she spent twelve hours a day studying. A stoic child, people noted that she was very mature and wise beyond her years. She had a talented tongue; foreign dignitaries often exclaimed she spoke their language better than they themselves

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