Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg

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Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg
Queen consort of Sweden
The image Catherine on her tomb
Reign	1531-1535
Spouse	Gustav I of Sweden
Issue
Eric XIV of Sweden
House	House of Ascania
Father	Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Mother	Catherine of Braunschweig
Born	24 September 1513 Ratzeburg, Germany
Died	23 September 1535 Stockholm, Sweden
Burial	Uppsala, Sweden

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, Katarina in Swedish, (24 September 1513 – 23 September 1535), was the first consort of Gustav I of Sweden and Queen of Sweden from 1531 until her death in 1535. She was born in Ratzeburg to Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

[edit] Biography

King Gustav married Catherine for political reasons. He wanted closer connection with German Protestant rulers in order to gain support for his reformation efforts and his throne. The marriage also gave Gustav closer connections with the throne of Denmark because Catherine's older sister Dorothea was engaged to Christian, the Crown Prince of Denmark. The negotiations started in 1528.

Catherine was 18 years old when Gustav's proposal was accepted, and she travelled to Sweden in the company of her mother. They married on 24 September 1531. The short marriage was stormy and full of conflicts, and remained so after the birth of their son, later Eric XIV of Sweden in 1533. Catherine never learned to speak Swedish, which made her alone and unhappy: as her husband's German was less than perfect, they had difficulties communicating, and they did not spent much time together. Queen Catherine did not become popular. She was considered to be plotting, melancholy, and full of whims. She also complained about her husband to, among others, count Johan of Hoya, husband of her sister-in-law Margareta Vasa.

During a visit of her brother-in-law Christian the recently-crowned King of Denmark, she accused Gustav of planning to murder Christian. On a ball at the palace, she and Christian fell during a dance, which caused her a miscarriage. She died soon after Christian's departure, 23 September 1535, two weeks after the fall on the ball, and was buried in Uppsala Cathedral.

After her death, rumors about the cause of death were spread by Gustav's enemies. They said that Gustav had killed Catherine with a large hammer of silver. It is still unclear if Gustav ended her life, though no formal accusation was made by Catherine's family. An analysis of her remains, made during the 20th century, showed no damage on her skeleton.

[edit] References

• Alf Henriksson (1963). Svensk Historia (Swedish history). Bonniers
• (Swedish) Article in the Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon
• Herman Lindquist, Historien om Sverige, Gustav Vasa och hans söner och döttrar (History of Sweden. Gustav Vasa and his sons and daughters) (1997)
• Wilhelmkina stålberg: Anteqningar om svenska qvinnor (Notes on Swedish women) (Swedish)
• Herman Lindvist: Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar (History of all the queens of Sweden) (Swedish) (2006)

[edit] Succession

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg House of Ascania Born: September 24 1513 Died: September 23 1535
Swedish royalty
Preceded by Isabella of Burgundy	Queen consort of Sweden 1531-1535	Succeeded by Margaret Leijonhufvud