Ancestral Trails 2016 » Christina of DENMARK (1521-1590)

Personal data Christina of DENMARK 

• She was born November 1521 in Nyborg, Fyn, Denmark.

  Attention: Age at marriage (September 23, 1533) below 16 years (11).

  Attention: Age at marriage (May 4, 1534) below 16 years (12).

• Title: Duchess of Milan
• She died on December 10, 1590 in Tortona, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy, she was 69 years old.
• A child of Christian II of DENMARK and Isabella von OSTERREICH

Household of Christina of DENMARK

(1) She is married to Francois de LORRAINE.

They got married on September 23, 1533 at Brussels, Brabant, Flanders, Belgium, she was 11 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Dorothea de LORRAINE  1545-1621
2. Charles de LORRAINE  1543-1608 
3. Renata de LORRAINE  1544-1602 

(2) She is married to Francesco II SFORZA.

They got married on May 4, 1534, she was 12 years old.

Notes about Christina of DENMARK

Christina of Denmark (Danish: Christine af Danmark; November 1521 - 10 December 1590) was a Danish princess, the younger surviving daughter of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Isabella of Austria. She became the duchess-consort of Milan, then duchess-consort of Lorraine. She served as the regent of Lorraine from 1545 to 1552 during the minority of her son. She was also a claimant to the thrones of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in 1561-1590. Finally, she was sovereign Lady of Tortona in 1578-1584.

Christina was born in Nyborg in central Denmark in 1521. On 20 January 1523, nobles forced her father to abdicate and offered the throne to his uncle, Duke Frederick of Holstein. Christina and her sister and brother followed their exiled parents to Veere in Zeeland, the Netherlands, and were raised by the Dutch regents, their grandaunt and aunt, Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary. Her mother died on 19 January 1526. In 1532, her father Christian II of Denmark was imprisoned in Denmark after an attempt to retake his throne. The same year, her brother died, and she became second in line to her father's claim to the Danish throne after her elder sister Dorothea.

Christina was given a good education by her aunt, the regent of the Netherlands, under supervision of her governess, Madame de Fiennes. She was described as a great beauty, intelligent and lively, and enjoyed hunting and riding. As a ward of her uncle the Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and a member of the Imperial house, she was a valuable pawn on the political marriage market. In 1527, Thomas Wolsey, Primate of England, suggested that the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, be married to Christina or Dorothea, but the Habsburgs did not wish for them to marry someone born out of wedlock. In 1531, Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan proposed to marry either of the sisters, as he wished to make an alliance to the Imperial house. Charles V denied him a match with Dorothea, but agreed to a marriage with Christina.

On 23 September 1533 in Brussels, Christina was married by proxy to Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, through his representative Count Massimiliano Stampa. On 3 May 1534, Christina made her official entry in Milan among great festivities, and on 4 May, the second wedding ceremony was celebrated in the hall of the Rocchetta. Christina's relationship with Francesco was reportedly good, and she was very popular in Milan, where she was regarded as a symbol of peace and hope for the future after decades of war, and her beauty was much admired. She enjoyed hunting parties, and the palace was redecorated and beautified for her. When she was given her own court, her chief lady in waiting was Francesca Paleologa of Montferrat, spouse of Constantine Comnenus, titular Prince of Macedonia, who was to become one of her most intimate lifelong friends.

Francesco II Sforza was at that time very weak, as his health had never recovered after he survived a poison attempt years before, and there was concern that he would never be able to have children, and die without heirs. According to the marriage settlement, the Duchy of Milan was to become a part of the Empire if it did not result in issue. She and Francesco had no children.

Francesco II Sforza died in October 1535, leaving her widowed when she was thirteen. Her rights as a widow to the town of Tortona for life was secured, while the Duchy was incorporated with the Empire. However, Massimiliano Stampa remained in charge as castellan of Milan, and Christina remained in the ducal residence. Charles V supported her wish to stay in Milan, as she was very popular there and her presence was regarded as a protection to Milanese independence and calm. As a way to save Milanese independence, Stampa suggested that she marry the heir to the throne of Savoy, prince Louis of Piedmonte, but the plan failed because of his death shortly thereafter. Pope Paul III suggested that she marry the son of his niece Cecilia Farnese, who, though a few years older than her, was raised as her foster son in the court of Milan after the death of his mother. When the French king repeated his claims to the throne of Milan on behalf of his son, the duke of Orléans, a marriage was suggested to the youngest son of the French monarch, the duke of Angoulême, but Charles V refused the match unless Angoulême, instead of Orléans, was granted the Duchy of Milan, should he recognize the French claims on the Duchy. Christina welcomed duchess Beatrice of Savoy when Savoy was occupied by the French, and was present on the meeting between Beatrice and the Emperor in Pavia in May 1536. In December of that year, Milan was officially given over to the command of an Imperial official, and Christina was escorted to Pavia. Before she left, she took the title Lady of Tortona, and had a governor named to manage her dower city for her.

On October 1537, Christina went to live at the court of her aunt, the Governor of the Low Countries, Dowager Queen Mary of Hungary, by way of Innsbruck, visiting her sister at the palatinate before arriving in Brussels in December. Christina was a favorite of Mary.

On 10 July 1541, Christina married Francis, Duke of Bar in Brussels. Francis had been betrothed to Anne of Cleves, who became the fourth wife of Henry VIII. In August, Christina and Francis reached Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine, were they visited the dowager duchess Philippa, and continued to the capital in Nancy escorted by the Guise family. In November 1541, Christina, her spouse, and father-in-law visited the French court in Fontainebleau, where they were forced to cede the fort of Stenay to France. Christina prevented this from creating a rift between Lorraine and the Emperor. During the war between France and the Emperor in 1542, she lived in the French court at several occasions visiting her aunt, Queen Eleanor. In February 1544, Christina and her sister Dorothea visited the Emperor at Spires, reportedly to implore him to make peace with France, though without success.

On 19 June 1544, Francis succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine. In July, he and Christina hosted the Emperor in Lorraine, but failed to convince him to start peace negotiations. In August, the Emperor ordered that the residence of the Guise family in Joinville be spared by the Imperial army on Christina's request, as she had asked him for this favor out of consideration of Anne of Lorraine. The same month, Charles V asked Christina to prevent Francis from visiting the French court, as he would take this as a sign of peace negotiations, but she replied that he had already left. When the war was finally ended later the same year, Christina was present at the peace celebrations in Brussels. Christina acted as the political adviser of Francis.[4] This was noted during the 1544 Council of Speyer. Their relationship was described as happy: they shared a common interest in music and architecture, and planned to redecorate the palace in Nancy. At one occasion during the marriage, Christina referred to herself as the happiest woman in the world.

Francis died on 12 June 1545, leaving Christina as Regent of Lorraine and the guardian of her minor son. His will was contested by a party headed by Jean de Salm, who regarded Christina as a puppet of the emperor, and so wished to place her brother-in-law as her co-regent. Christina, being pregnant at the time, postponed the funeral, withdrew to her dower estate, and sent word to Charles V. On 6 August, after mediation from the emperor, Christina and her brother-in-law were declared co-regents during the minority, with both of their seals necessary to issue orders, but with Christina as the main regent with sole custody of the minor monarch. In October 1546, she hosted the French king at Bar, who tried to convince her to marry the Count of Aumale. However, she refused to marry again. Christina was present at the Diet of Augsburg in 1547 with her aunt Mary of Hungary and dowager princess Anne of Orange. A marriage was discussed between Christina and king Sigismund of Poland during the diet. She was also courted by Marquis Albert of Brandenburg, Lord of Culmbach and Burgrave of Nuremberg, whose infatuation with her attracted attention. She opposed the marriage of her brother-in-law Nicolas of Vaudemont and Margaret of Egmont, because she feared it would displease France. In March 1549, she made an official visit to Brussels to be present at the welcome of Prince Philip of Spain to the Netherlands. On this occasion, Philip gave her so much attention that it caused discontent, and she left for Lorraine to avoid any complications. In Lorraine, Christina was careful to maintain good relations to the Guise family, who were closely affiliated with the French court, and she had Stenay, Nancy and several other strongholds fortified against an expected French attack. In September 1550, she had Charles the Bold reburied in Lorraine. The same year, she attended the Diet of Augsburg for the second time, and was much celebrated as a hostess for the attending princes. In May 1551, she hosted her sister and brother-in-law in Lorraine.

In September 1551, France prepared for war against the Empire. Being counted as an Imperial ally, Lorraine was in immediate danger. Christina tried to ally herself with the Guise family, sent warnings to the Emperor, and asked both him and Mary of Hungary for assistance in defending Lorraine, as she had noted French war preparations along the border. She warned that Lorraine had no army of its own, and that there was opposition to the Emperor among the local nobility, which would welcome a French invasion. On 5 February 1552, Henry II of France marched toward the German border, reaching Joinville on the 22nd. Christina, having failed to secure help from the Netherlands and the Emperor, and on 1 April, she traveled to the duchess Antoinette of Guise in Joinville, in the company of princess dowager Anne of Lorraine, to ask the French monarch to respect the neutrality of Lorraine. Her appeal was successful, and the king assured her that Lorraine was in no danger of being attacked.

On 13 April 1552, France invaded the Duchy of Lorraine, and the French king entered the capital of Nancy. The day after, Christina was informed that she was deprived of the custody of her son, who the king was to take with him when he left, and who was thereafter to be brought up at the French court, and that she and all other Imperial officials in Lorraine was deprived of any offices in the rule of Lorraine. All Imperial officials were to leave the duchy: Christina herself was not asked to leave, but she was deprived of any share in the regency, and Lorraine was to be ruled solely by her former co-regent, the duke of Vaudemont, who would be asked to make an oath of loyalty to France. On a famous occasion, Christina entered the hall Galerie des Cerfs, where the king and his court were gathered. Dressed in her widow's black and a white veil, begged him to take all he wished save her son. This scene was described as touching by the courtiers present, but the king merely replied that Lorraine was too close to the enemy border for him to leave her son, and escorted her out.

Christina retired to her dower house in Denœuvre. In May 1552, her brother-in-law Vaudemont informed her of his wish to open the gates for the Imperial army, and letters of her were intercepted, after which Henry II of France ordered her to leave Lorraine. Because of the warlike state of the area, she could not reach the Netherlands, but took refuge in Schlettstadt, until she could reunite with her uncle the emperor when he reached the area with his army in September. She was then able to depart for the court of her sister in Heidelberg, in the Palatinate, with her daughters and former sister-in-law Anne, and from there, finally, to the court of her aunt Mary in Brussels in the Netherlands, where she settled.

Christina received marriage proposals from King Henry of Navarre, Adolf of Holstein, the prince of Piedmont, and by Albert of Brandenburg. The latter promised to recover the kingdom of her father for her. However, she refused to marry, and focused on negotiations with France to recover the custody of her son. She was present at the abdication of Emperor Charles V in Brussels in October 1555, followed by the ceremony when her aunt Mary of Hungary stepped down from the regency of the Netherlands. She took leave of them on their departure to Spain in October 1556. The emperor suggested that Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy should marry her, and in parallel be made governor of the Netherlands, but though he replaced Mary as governor that year, the match never took place.

After the war between France and the Empire ended, she had applied with the French for permission to return to Lorraine and reunite with her son there. This was not possible. The French monarch pointed out in 1556 that her son would be declared of legal majority, and her claim to regency moot in any case in another year. Furthermore, king Philip did not wish to give her permission to leave Brussels, because he enjoyed her company, and her popularity in the Netherlands was of use to him.

She visited England for the first time in April 1555, though not much information are recorded of this first visit. In February-May 1557, she and Margaret of Parma visited the court of Mary I of England. They were welcomed by Queen Mary with a grand banquet at Whitehall. The rumoured reason for their visit was that they planned to take the Princess Elizabeth with them to give her in marriage to the Duke of Savoy. This marriage plan was blocked by the Queen. Christina made a good impression in London during her visit, and reportedly made friends with the Lords Arundel and Pembroke, visited several Catholic shrines, and was shown the Tower of London. There was however some displeasure from the side of Queen Mary, because of the affection and attention she was given by Philip. She was also denied a visit to see princess Elizabeth, who was kept in seclusion at Hatfield at the time. In May, she returned to the Netherlands.

Christina was finally, through the negotiation of her former brother-in-law Nicolas de Vaudemont, given permission to meet her son. The meeting took place in the border village Marcoing in May 1558. She was invited to his wedding in Paris in 1559, but declined as she was by then in mourning for her foster-mother, Mary of Hungary, and because she had by then accepted the task of presiding at the peace conference between France and Spain.

In October-September 1558, Christina presided as a mediator in the peace negotiations at Cercamp, upon request. The negotiations were discontinued because of the death of Mary of Hungary. When the peace conference was opened again, she again resumed her post as the president of the conference, which took place in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, in February-April 1559. The peace treaty was regarded as a triumph of Christina's diplomacy skills.

When the Duke of Savoy resigned from his post as governor of the Netherlands in May 1559, Christina was a popular choice to be his successor. She was popular in all classes in the Netherlands, where she had been raised and by whom she was regarded as Dutch. She had strong connections among the Dutch nobility, and her success during the peace conferences in Cercamp and Câteau-Cambrésis had given her a good reputation as a diplomat. She had already been suggested for the post as governor during the summer of 1558. However, her advantages did in fact not work in her favor in the eyes of King Philip of Spain, as he regarded her popularity with the Dutch and especially her friendship with Prince William of Orange with suspicion, and in June, Margaret of Parma was appointed instead. This caused a conflict between Christina and Margaret, and in October, Christina joined her son Charles and his wife in Lorraine.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

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Timeline Christina of DENMARK

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