Ebba rafter

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Ebba rafter

Ebba Larsdotter Sparre (* 1629 - March 19, 1662 ) was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and was known as the best friend of Queen Kristina .

Live and act

Ebba was the daughter of the marshal and statesman Lars Eriksson Sparre (1590–1644) and Märta Banér, as well as granddaughter of the chancellor Erik Larsson Sparre (1550–1600). Her nickname was la belle comtesse (French for: the beautiful countess), as she was a famous beauty at the royal court. She often played the role of Venus in amateur ballet performed by the nobility at court. Her intimate relationship with Queen Kristina gave rise to speculation that they were lovers. However, these have never been confirmed.

Kristina spent most of the time with Ebba. She also introduced Ebba to the English ambassador Withelocke, as her "bed mate", and assured him that her intellect was just as conspicuous as her body. When Queen Kristina left Sweden, she wrote passionate love letters to Sparre saying that she would always love Ebba. However, such emotional letters were relatively common at that time, and Kristina would have written like this, in the same style, to a woman she had never met but whose writings she admired.

Ebba was engaged to Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna , but broke off the engagement in order to marry Count Jacob Casimir de la Gardie, the brother of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie , the queen's favorite , on the initiative of the Queen. The two married in 1652. However, the marriage was unhappy and Ebba remained Kristina's only female darling. After Kristina left Sweden, the two stayed in contact.

In 1661 Kristina invited Ebba to visit her in Hamburg and she wished to see Ebba while she was visiting Sweden, but this was prevented by Ebba's family.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Sven Stolpe: Kristina: Drottning & Rebell. 2004, p. 56 (Swedish)
  2. Veronica Buckley: Christina; Queen of Sweden . Harper Perennial, London 2005, ISBN 1-84115-736-8 .
  3. Elisabeth Aasen: Barokke damer . Pax, Oslo 2003, ISBN 82-530-2817-2 (Norwegian)
  4. Leif Lekeby: Kung Kristina - Drottningen som ville byta Kön . 2000, p. 44 (Swedish)