Katharina Wasa (1539-1610)

"Katharina von Ostfriesland, née Princess of Sweden". Panel painting from around 1560.

Katharina Wasa (born June 6, 1539 in Stockholm , † December 21, 1610 in Berum ) was Princess of Sweden and as the wife of Edzard II. Countess of East Frisia . She was the first princess from the Wasa family .

Life

Katharina Wasa as Countess of East Frisia.

Katharina was born on June 6, 1539 at Tre Kronor Castle , the predecessor of today's Stockholm Palace , as the eldest daughter of the Swedish King Gustav I Wasa and his second wife Margareta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud . Her mother died when Katharina was only twelve years old. Like all her siblings, she had received a very careful upbringing and a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of the Lutheran faith.

Wedding initiation

Katharina's father Gustav liberated Sweden from Danish rule in 1523 and had been king of the country since June 6, 1523. He always tried to free his country from the dependence on Denmark , which largely denied the Swedes access to the North Sea. Hence his gaze fell on East Frisia. Gustav saw the county as a kind of outer bastion far from Danish influence. The port city of Emden in particular aroused his interest. In 1556 he offered the local rulers from the house of Cirksena a trade agreement. In order to support his offer, he also suggested the wedding of his daughter to Edzard II, the future sovereign. Edzard dragged out the marriage negotiations and repeatedly postponed the marriage. This in turn offended the Swedish king, who then wrote several angry letters to the East Frisian. Finally Edzard agreed to the wedding.

The Vadstena affair

Cecilia Wasa.

At Katharina's wedding with Edzard II, a scandal broke out that went down in history as Vadstenabullret ( Vadstena affair or Vadstena noise). Edzard had traveled to Stockholm for his wedding on October 1, 1559, accompanied by his brother Johann II . After the wedding, they both stayed in Sweden for a few months. At Christmas 1559 they stayed at Vadstena Castle . There Johann got involved in an affair with Katharina's sister Cäcilie Wasa . Agents of her half-brother, the Crown Prince Erik , caught the couple in Cäcilie's bedchamber red-handed. Erik, feeling oppressed by his father, used the opportunity to offend the king. He did not care about the reputation and honor of his half-sister and the family, but made the affair official. As the founder of a new royal dynasty, Gustav was very careful about his honor and had Johanns arrested and imprisoned. This completed the scandal, which not only put a strain on Swedish-East Frisian relations, but also caused a sensation across Europe. Edzard was more or less under house arrest as a result. Johann even threatened the death penalty. Numerous diplomatic attempts by the East Frisian Countess Anna to get her sons released from prison were unsuccessful. Ultimately, only the intercession of many potentates, including Queen Elizabeth I of England, saved the life of John . According to contemporary reports, Johann was emasculated as a punishment. In any case, he remained celibate and childless until his death.

In East Frisia

Katharina's coffin in the mausoleum of the Cirksena family

Edzard did not return to East Frisia with his young wife until 1561. There Katharina bought the glory Pewsum from Hoyko Manninga in 1565 . With that, Katharina also came into possession of the Manningaburg and the Pewsumer Mühle . Katharina paid the purchase price from her bride's treasure . The new owner subsequently had the castle enlarged.

In East Friesland Katharina was mainly active in the charitable sector. She had a hospital built in Hage , provided medicine and gave plenty of alms. The countess was a deeply religious woman. For example, she had a new chapel built in Berum . However, their religiosity was extremely intolerant. As a devout Lutheran, Katharina campaigned for vacant pastoral positions in Pewsum, Woquard and Loquard in the otherwise mostly Protestant-Reformed Krummhörn to be filled exclusively with preachers of the Wittenberg denomination. This decision continues to have an impact today as these three places still form Lutheran islands.

Katharina could never come to terms with the fact that her husband Edzard II had to share the rule with his brother. She was passionate about the major political conflicts in the county.

She had a happy marriage with her husband in which she set the tone as the stronger-willed. In total she gave birth to six sons and five daughters.

Katharina was considered domineering. When she took over the offices of Norden and Berum as her Wittum after the death of her husband , she asked her son Enno III. the judiciary and the country's sovereignty over the two offices from which it held only all income loud marriage contract. She repeatedly refused to pay taxes to her son or the estates. It was only when the count moved 200 soldiers from Emden to Berum that Katharina finally gave in.

In 1610 Katharina died at the age of 71 at Berum Castle .

progeny

The marriage of Catherine and Edzard II had ten children:

• Margarete, born November 22, 1560, † September 8, 1588,
• Anna, born June 26, 1562 in Aurich , † April 21, 1621 in Neuhaus (Bohemia)
  • 1st marriage: Heidelberg , July 12, 1583 with Elector Ludwig VI. of the Palatinate (July 4, 1539 † October 22, 1583);
  • 2nd marriage: December 21, 1585 with Margrave Ernst Friedrich von Baden-Durlach (* 1560, † 1604);
  • 3rd marriage: Grabow, March 7, 1617 with Julius Heinrich von Sachsen-Lauenburg (* April 9, 1586, † November 20, 1665),
• Enno III. Count of East Friesland (1599–1625), * September 30, 1563, † Leerort August 19, 1625;
  • 1st marriage: January 29, 1581 Walburga Countess von Rietberg, a daughter of Count Johann II. Herr zu Esens , Stedesdorf and Wittmund and Agnes Countess von Bentheim-Steinfurt (* approx. 1556, † May 20, 1586);
  • 2nd marriage: Esens, January 28, 1598 Anna von Holstein-Gottorp (* February 27, 1575, † April 24, 1625), daughter of Adolf I.
• Johann III. , * 1566, † September 29, 1625; married his niece Countess Sabina Katharina von Rietberg on March 4, 1601 (* 1582, † May 31, 1618),
• Christoph, * 1569, † 1636; married on August 13, 1613 Lambertine de Ligne (* June 22, 1593, † February 14, 1651),
• Edzard, * approx. 1571, † 1572,
• Elisabeth, * approx. 1572, † 1573,
• Sophie, born June 5, 1574, † March 20, 1630,
• Karl Otto, * 1577, † February 28, 1603,
• Maria, born May 1, 1582, † July 9, 1616 in Dannenberg ; married Duke Julius Ernst von Braunschweig-Dannenberg in Dannenberg on September 1, 1614 (* March 11, 1571, † October 26, 1636).

literature

• Georg Hahn: Wedding in Stockholm: The marriage of Count Edzard II of East Frisia to Princess Catherine of Sweden in 1559 and the Vadstena affair . Neubauer publishing house. Lüneburg 1991 ISBN 3-929058-74-X
• Gustav Engelkes: Katharina von Sweden's death in Berum , in: Der Deichwart; 1960, p. 301.

Web links

• http://www.historiesajten.se/visainfo.asp?id=396
• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1570.htm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Georg Hahn: Wedding in Stockholm: The marriage of Count Edzard II of East Friesland to Princess Catherine of Sweden in 1559 and the Vadstena affair . Neubauer publishing house. Lüneburg 1991 ISBN 3-929058-74-X . P. 79.
2. ^ Heinrich Schmidt: Political history of East Frisia . Rautenberg, Leer 1975 (Ostfriesland in the protection of the dike, vol. 5), without ISBN. P. 188.
3. ↑ Ödberg, Fridolf: Om Prinsessan Cecilia Vasa, markgrefvina af Baden-Rodemachern . CE Fritze, Stockholm 1896, p. 96 .
4. ^ Walter Deeters : Johann (dM) <Graf von Ostfriesland> (PDF; 34 kB). In: Martin Tielke (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland , Ostfries. Scenic Verl.- u. Vertriebsges. Aurich, Vol. 2 ISBN 3-932206-00-2 (1997). P. 192
5. ↑ Manninga-Burg.de: The history of the Manninga castle (part 1) . Accessed April 11, 2013.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Georg Hahn: Wedding in Stockholm: The marriage of Count Edzard II of East Frisia to Princess Catherine of Sweden in 1559 and the Vadstena affair . Neubauer publishing house. Lüneburg 1991 ISBN 3-929058-74-X . P. 80f.