Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Reign of Christina, 1632–1654 - B. Personal Rule of Christina, 1644–1654
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Reign of Christina 183
land is not already granted to another." Her father,
it is true, had also greatly favored the nobility. The
noblemen were, at the time, almost the only persons
who possessed the culture required for government
service. But Gustavus Adolphus also demanded that
they should serve their country either with the sword
or "the learned arts." No one, as he expressed it, was
allowed to "lie at home on the rubbish." To the order
of the nobles Gustavus Adolphus raised only such of
the commons as had distinguished themselves in war
or peace.
Christina on the other hand bestowed the honors on
a large number of unworthy persons. The holdings of
the nobility finally embraced more than half the land
of the kingdom. The unprivileged classes complained
of their heavy burdens, and requested that the state
should take back the land which the nobles had seized.
In some quarters the peasants were so embittered that
they threatened to "slay all the nobles."
Christina’s Decision to Abdicate. The queen realized
very well that a change must be made, but she did not
wish to make it herself. She delighted to have about
her a powerful and brilliant nobility and never wished
to offend this social class. She soon found a way of
escaping the difficulty. She would abdicate her crown
and leave her dull fatherland forever. To this decision
other causes contributed. Christina had never been
able to reconcile herself to the strict Lutheran doctrine.
She thought the Protestant services monotonous and
dull. It might suit the dull, uncultured Northerner,
but as for her, she was attracted to the livelier South,
its cultured people, its time-honored church with its
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