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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INSIGHT

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.
ANECDOTE

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.
ANECDOTE

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.
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