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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184 A History of Sweden
splendor and wealth. There she would live in the midst
of art creations, poetry, and science as queen in the
world of genius. There would her rich endowments of
genius be fully appreciated. And what wonder and
admiration would the act she was about to perform ex-
cite all over Europe, when she at the height of power,
young and admired, voluntarily laid down her crown !
Christina was the last legal heir to the throne of the
Vasa family, and had formed a definite decision never
to marry. She had prevailed on the council and the
Estates to accept her cousin, Charles Gustavus, as her
successor to the throne. He was the son of the daugh-
ter of Charles IX, and Count Palatine of Zweibrucken.
His family is therefore known as the Palatinate Fam-
ily.
The Abdication. At a Riksdag in 1654 she carried
out her decision, after having secured for herself a
sufficient annual allowance from Sweden. She ap-
peared before the Estates in royal attire. Her letter
of abdication was read, whereupon she delivered the
crown, the scepter, and the mound to the ministry, and
laid aside the coronation robe. She then appeared robed
in white and "spoke so beautifully and so freely," says
Per Brahe, in his diary. "At times her voice almost
broke. Her majesty brought tears to the eyes of many
an honest man and woman. She appeared as beautiful
as an angel." "She is after all the daughter of the
great Gustavus," sighed the aged Axel Oxenstiern, who
was soon to lay his weary head to rest forever.
Among those present at this ceremony was an Eng-
lish envoy. He relates among other things how the
speakers of the four Estates Nobility, Clergy, Burgh-
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