Not the Scandal Rag on Queen Christina that I was Looking For

As this publication isn’t directly concerned with same-sex relations, I’ll only be summarizing and quoting a few pertinent details. In general, the work is a hit piece on Christina, alleging all manner of immoral and criminal behavior, with as great a salacious spin as possible. While Christina was capable of autocratic and violent behavior, I’d hesitate to put credence in any specific detail given here without corroboration. Nevertheless, it speaks to the types of opinions floating around. The claim in the subtitle that it is “rendered into English from the French original” is fiction. I believe the best current scholarship is that the work was originally written in German. Nor is there any confirmable truth in the text’s assertion that the original text was in Italian.

The text asserts that the primary reason for Christina’s abdication was falling in love with an inappropriate man and the desire to “give herself up to her own fancies,” whereas more reliable evidence points to her conversion to Catholicism and a stated belief that she was not suited for marriage.

There are regular references to romantic encounters with men (though it is less explicit whether these are claimed to be sexual), such as the Duke of Guise and the Marquess Monaldeschi, a cardinal in Christina’s household, whom she did, in documented fact, have murdered for some indiscretion. Then in Rome, she is asserted to have returned the advances of Cardinal Azzolini, who had been appointed as something of an advisor and household manager for her by the Pope. [Note: There is an inescapable anti-Catholic flavor to the whole text, in accusations of sexual impropriety against church officials, as well as motivated by Christina’s conversion. This isn’t to say that Catholic officials of the 17th century werent having sexual affairs right and left–only that there is a somewhat delighted emphasis on these things.]

During travels away from Rome, there are several mentions of a woman named Fanchon Laudini “a she-favorite of the Queen” who had access to her personal correspondence. Christina is said to have taken her into service “for her talkativeness and because she was tolerably handsome and very handy in whatsoever she did.” She was made a woman of the chamber and given in marriage to one of Christina’s household staff. There’s no particular implication associated with the reference to Laudini’s attractiveness and, in fact, this is followed by a claim that Laudini became mistress to another man in the household and pregnant by him. But evidently Christina liked her well enough to forgive this.

A reference to Christina cross-dressing comes when she is traveling in Hamburg and needs to escape a mob, infuriated by her public performance of Catholicism. The passage simply notes that she was “in men’s apparel.”

Another reference to women being appreciative of another woman’s appearance comes when an Italian noblewoman escaping ill-treatment by her husband begs Christina’s protection. “Her majesty, seeing a woman is so fine, well shaped, and of considerable quality, had all the consideration and regard for her possible.” Christina did, indeed, go to some trouble to protect her. [Note: I included these references to Christina admiring other women’s appearance specifically because the text doesn’t attribute any homoerotic context. Although it’s clear that the author was focused on heterosexual indiscretions (despite presumably knowing of Christina’s reputation otherwise), same-sex admiration is depicted as ordinary and expected.]

The text’s emphasis on Christina’s connections with men also appears in a passage discussing the Duchess of Poli becoming “first lady of honor to the Queen” which notes that she had few duties as such “for besides that her Majesty had other ladies and damsels, she had so little inclination for her sex, at least in the beginning, that women were seldom seen with her, and when she went abroad, she had never any followed her.”

Some interesting gender-bending appears in a passage about a valet in the Queen’s household who is dressed up as a woman as part of a masquerade entertainment, at which the Queen “took great pleasure in seeing him in this habit” and afterward employed him as a spy in women’s disguise on several occasions.

There is one ambiguous anecdote regarding a woman referred to as “the fair Riga,” mistress of the Marquess Del Monte. And operatic entertainment was arranged by Del Monte which Riga, along with other ladies, joined Queen Christina in viewing boxes in the Queen’s great hall. The text then says:

“The Queen was pleased to the highest point, that her opera succeeded so well, commended the Marquess before his face, and withdrew very late; and the scandalous chronicle said, that she went to abandon herself with the fair Riga.”

If this is, indeed, a reference to Christina and Riga having a sexual encounter–something hinted at by the reference to a “scandalous chronicle” as the source–it is glossed over with little fanfare. It’s interesting, perhaps even significant, that this detail is attributed to a different source, thus retaining the author’s focus on heterosexual scandals.

In sum, this is a curious tract. It has a clear intent to besmirch Christina’s reputation, yet in sexual terms, primarily does so by detailing the intrigues of her household and male friends. It mentions cross-dressing but only in the most pragmatic context. It notes her admiration of specific women but also claims she had little interest in female attendants. And it hints only once at a possible erotic encounter with a woman, but undermines it by attributing it to a “scandalous” source and failing to make any substantial commentary. So if we want to find gossip about Christina’s same-sex affairs, we need to continue looking.