Karin Månsdotter, Queen of Sweden
I don't normally go into depth about the people in my posts, but this one is fascinating, and I had never heard of her before.
Karin was born in Stockholm to a soldier and later prison guard named Måns (her surname is a patronym, literally "daughter of Måns") and his wife Ingrid. Her mother came from a family of peasants in Uppland, and was said to have sold vegetables on the square. Both her parents are believed to have died c. 1560. According to legend, Erik XIV first noticed her selling nuts at a square in Stockholm, and was so astonished by her beauty that he took her to court as his lover, a story mentioned by Dorothea Ostrelska. In reality, however, Karin Månsdotter was in 1564 employed as a servant to Karin, wife of the king's trusted court musician Gert Cantor, who held a tavern and a guest house in his home, and likely served their guests as a waitress. She was a maid to the king's sister, Princess Elizabeth, when she became mistress to the king in 1565.
Karin seems to have entered into a relationship with Erik in the spring of 1565. The position seems to have been quite official, as she was given expensive clothes and appeared with him openly at court, and was given her own apartment and servants. Among her staff was her own former employer: Karin, the wife of Gert Cantor. (OUCH.)
When her daughter Sigrid was born in 1566, she was treated as a legitimate princess. Before this the king had several mistresses in parallel, such as Agda Persdotter and Doredi Valentinsdotter, but when Karin entered his life, he dismissed them all. She also received education and learned to read and write. His treatment of her caused much astonishment. The ideas of the time suggested witchcraft and love potions to explain the deep attachment. The king was mentally unstable, and she seems to have been the only one who could comfort him and calm him down, which made her appreciated by his relatives, who considered her good for him. She had no personal enemies at court, but she was not respected, and their marriage in 1568 was considered a scandal and may have contributed to his dethronement.
Sometime in 1567, Erik decided to marry Karin in accordance to the agreement he made with the council in 1561, which allowed him to marry whom he pleased. Erik XIV married Karin morganatically in 1567, and officially in 1568, when she was ennobled and crowned queen under the name Katarina Magnusdotter (a formal version of her name).
During this period, Erik was periodically affected by his mental problems, and a regency ruled in his stead. Karin frequently (and successfully) interceded for prisoners with her husband and his regent. Erik is reported to have plans to have his brothers and other enemies killed before the wedding, but they were warned of these plans by Karin Månsdotter through the dowager queen Catherine Stenbock. These people did not attend the wedding.
The wedding was unique; never before had the children of the couple been present at a royal wedding. Karin's peasant relatives, her three maternal uncles from Uppland, Hans Jakobsson, Jakob Jakobsson and Erik Nilsson, were present dressed in clothes made for them by the royal tailor.
Soon after the coronation, Erik's brothers rebelled and he and Karin were imprisoned. Shortly after they were imprisoned, their children were placed in the care of Catherine Stenbock and their French governess Johanna de Herboville, but were reunited with their parents in 1570. Karin gave birth to two children in captivity in 1570 and 1572, both of whom died in prison. Queen Karin and her children were separated from her husband on 14 June 1573 to prevent the birth of any more legitimate offspring. In 1577, she received the news of her husband's death. She was treated with kindness and given the royal estate Liuksiala Manor in Kangasala, Finland, where she lived the rest of her life.
Karin Månsdotter returned to the Swedish court on two occasions. In 1577, newly widowed, she travelled to Stockholm to ask for financial support, which she received. The second time was in 1582, when she met with Queen Catherine Jagiellon and the dowager queen Catherine Stenbock at Svartsjö Castle, in what was called "The Meeting of Three Queens Catherine" ("Karin" is a Swedish variant of the name Catherine).
In 1587, her daughter Sigrid was appointed lady-in-waiting to the new king's daughter, Princess Anna. Karin supposedly saw her son Gustaf in Poland 12 years after he had been taken from her, and again (for sure, this time) in Estonia in 1595. He was now a Catholic, had forgotten her and they could not speak to each other because he had forgotten the Swedish language, the only language Karin was able to speak; she could identify him only by his birthmarks. He was poor and worked as a mercenary. She tried to help him financially, and for the rest of her life tried to get permission for him to return to Sweden, but never saw him again. Her daughter Sigrid, on the other hand, married two Swedish noblemen and often spent time with her mother.
Karin became respected and liked in Finland; during the great peasant rebellion (Cudgel War) in 1596–97, the rebels refrained from plundering her lucrative estate. In 1606, Karin asked King Charles of Sweden for permission to free her tenants from the royal taxes so she could use their tax money to buy the freedom of her son, who was at the time a prisoner in Russia, but the king refused. In 1607, Karin nonetheless forbade her tenants to pay the royal taxes. The king then sent her his representatives to explain that this could not be accepted. Soon after, the affair ended with the death of her son in captivity.
She died peacefully after a period of illness at Liuksiala. She is buried in the Cathedral of Turku, Finland. The asteroid 832 Karin is named in her honour.
...Aaaaand, having done this entire post, I have now learned that this actually is NOT a portrait of Queen Karin, despite the inscription. This image is a portrait of her sister-in-law Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, with the text on the painting added later. It was probably painted in about 1580 when Elizabeth was engaged. Oops. Oh well, I learned something new today anyway!
