
Even The Royals Christina of Sweden Part 2: To Rome With Love | 43
Sep 30, 2024
A former queen flees tradition, cuts her hair, and travels incognito to Rome. Secret Catholic lessons and a public conversion shake up her life. Scandals, bold fashion, and a controversial romance test Church rules. Ambitious plots for new thrones collide with political backlash and personal loss.
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Conversion As A Route To Autonomy
- Christina chooses Catholicism and abdication chiefly to avoid marriage and childbearing, seeing the Church as a route to remain unmarriageable.
- Jesuit tutors insist on a public conversion, forcing her to choose between faith and the Swedish crown.
Christina's Incognito Count Disguise
- Christina disguises herself as Count Christophe, cutting her hair and wearing men's clothes to travel to Rome incognito.
- She even borrows a companion's name and flirts successfully while passing as a man, showing theatrical commitment to her escape plan.
Love Affair With A Cardinal Causes Scandal
- Christina falls in love with Cardinal De Cho despite celibacy rules; they become an open pair locally and provoke papal displeasure.
- Their relationship is widely gossiped about, prompting a papal decree restricting cardinals from visiting distinguished ladies.

