Swedish queen (1606 93), wife of Charles XI, daughter of the Danish king Frederick III. Pious, zealously helping all those in need, W. Eleanor sincerely became attached to her new fatherland and enjoyed great popularity in it. She… …
- (Ulrika Eleonora) Younger (23.I.1688 24.XI.1741) Queen of Sweden (1719 20), younger sister of Charles XII. She was elected queen with the support of the aristocrats. opposition, hostile to absolutism, but at the same time signed a law on a new form of government... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
Dat. Ulrika Eleonora af Danmark ... Wikipedia
Queen of Sweden (1688 1741). In 1715 she married Frederick, Crown Prince of Hesse. After the death of her elder sister, Hedwig Sophia (1708), W. Eleanor was the only one, besides her brother Charles XII, representative of the Palatinate... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron
Eleanor is a female name. Bearers known by the name Monarchs and aristocrats Eleanor of Austria (1498 1558) queen of Portugal in 1518 1521. and Queen of France in 1530-1547. Eleanor of Austria (1534 1594) Duchess ... ... Wikipedia
Ulrika: Ulrika is the feminine form of Ulrich. It is of German-Scandinavian origin. (885) Ulrike (885 Ulrike) is a main belt asteroid. Opened in 1917. Persons named Ulrika Eleonora (Swedish: Ulrika Eleonora; 1688 ... ... Wikipedia
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Ulrika Eleonora was a Swedish queen who reigned from 1718-1720. She is the younger sister of Charles XII. And her parents are Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark and Charles XI. In this article we will describe a short biography of the Swedish ruler.
Potential regent
Ulrika Eleonora was born in Stockholm Castle in 1688. As a child, the girl was not much spoiled with attention. Her elder sister Gedviga Sofia was considered her parents' favorite daughter.
In 1690, Ulrika Eleanor of Denmark was named by Charles as a possible regent in the event of his death, provided that their son did not reach adulthood. But due to frequent childbirth, the health of the king’s wife deteriorated greatly. After the winter of 1693 she was gone.
The Legend of the Queen's Death
There is a legend on this topic. It says that when Karl's wife was dying in the palace, Maria Stenbock (her favorite maid of honor) was lying sick in Stockholm. On the night when Ulrika Eleonora passed away, Countess Stenbock arrived at the palace and was allowed into the deceased’s room. One of the officers looked through the keyhole. In the room, the guard saw the Countess and the Queen talking by the window. The soldier's shock was so great that he began to cough up blood. Around the same time, Maria and her crew seemed to disappear. An investigation began, during which it turned out that that night the Countess was seriously ill and did not leave her house. The officer died of shock, and Stenbock died a little later. Karl personally gave the order never to talk about what happened anywhere.
Marriage and authority
In 1714, King Ulric's daughter Eleonora was engaged to Frederick of Hesse-Kassel. A year later their wedding took place. The princess's authority grew significantly, and those close to Charles XII had to take her opinion into account. The girl's sister, Gedviga Sophia, died in 1708. Therefore, in fact, Ulrika and Karl's mother were the only representatives of the Swedish royal family.
At the beginning of 1713, the monarch already wanted to make his daughter a temporary regent of the country. But he did not carry out this plan. On the other hand, the royal council wanted to enlist the support of the princess, so they persuaded her to attend all its meetings. At the first meeting where Ulrika was present, they decided to convene the Riksdag (parliament).
Some participants were in favor of appointing Eleanor as regent. But the royal council and Arvid Gorn were against it. They feared that new difficulties would arise with the change in government. Subsequently, Charles XII allowed the princess to sign all documents emanating from the council, except those sent to him personally.
Fight for the throne
In December 1718, Ulrika Eleonora learned of the death of her brother. She took this news calmly and forced everyone to call herself queen. The council did not oppose this. Soon the girl gave the order for the arrest of supporters of Georg Goertz and canceled all the decisions that came from his pen. At the end of 1718, at the convening of the Riksdag, Ulrika expressed a desire to abolish the autocracy and return the country to its previous form of government.
The Swedish military high command voted to abolish absolutism, not recognize the right of succession, and award Eleanor the title of queen. Members of the Riksdag had a similar position. But in order to gain the support of the royal council, the girl announced that she had no right to the throne.
Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleonora
At the beginning of 1719, the princess renounced hereditary rights to the throne. After that, she was proclaimed queen, but with one caveat. Ulrika approved a form of government composed by the estates. According to this document, most of her power passed into the hands of the Riksdag. In March 1719, Eleanor's coronation took place in Uppsala.
The new ruler was unable to cope with the difficulties that arose when she assumed a new position. Ulrika's influence dropped significantly after disagreements with the head of the Chancellery A. Gorn. She also did not have a good relationship with his successors - Krunjelm and Sparre.
Upon ascending the throne, the Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleonora wanted to share power with her husband. But in the end she was forced to abandon this idea due to the persistent resistance of the nobility. The inability to adapt to the new constitution, the autocracy of the ruler, as well as the influence of her husband on her decisions gradually pushed government officials to the desire to replace the monarch.
New King
Ulrika's husband Friedrich of Hesse began to actively work in this direction. To begin with, he became close to A. Gorn. Thanks to this, in 1720 he was elected Landmarshal at the Riksdag. Soon, Queen Ulrika Eleonora submitted a petition to the estates to rule jointly with her husband. This time her proposal was met with disapproval. On February 29, 1720, the heroine of this article abdicated the throne in favor of her husband, Frederick of Hesse-Kassel. There was only one stipulation - in the event of his death, the crown was returned to Ulrike. On March 24, 1720, Eleanor's husband became monarch of Sweden under the name Frederick I.
Far from power
Ulrika was interested in public affairs until her last days. But after 1720 she distanced herself from them, preferring to engage in charity work and reading. Although from time to time the former ruler replaced her husband on the throne. For example, in 1731 during his trip abroad or in 1738, when Frederick became seriously ill. It is worth noting that, replacing her husband on the throne, she showed only her best qualities. November 24, 1741 is the date when Ulrika Eleonora died in Stockholm. The Swedish queen left no descendants.
This is a portrait of the sister of the Swedish king Charles XII, the same one who fought against Russia in the Northern War of 1700 - 1721. (However, he did not live to see the end of the war and the crown passed to his sister Ulrike-Eleanor).
On this occasion, I remembered a “bearded” joke (however, it is so old that it may have long been forgotten).
However, this anecdote can also be considered a parable. Well, I think you yourself will draw certain parallels with our time.
ANECDOTE-PARABLE
The monarch of one of the powerful states, who spent his entire life in numerous warriors and lost his right leg and right eye in them, decided to capture himself for posterity in a ceremonial portrait.
For this purpose, three artists were invited to the king’s court: a romanticist, a realist and a socialist realist. They were warned that if the king did not like the portrait, then a terrible execution awaited them (the king was, not surprisingly, a cruel tyrant), and if he liked it, then they would receive a reward that they could not even dream of.
The first artist to offer his painting to the king was a representative of the romantic movement in painting. On it, the great monarch was depicted as a real handsome man, 20 or even 30 years younger than in reality, with two legs and two eyes.
“All this is very beautiful,” the king said calmly and looked at the romantic artist with his only eye so that even the courtiers, who knew well the harsh disposition of their sovereign, had cold sweat running down their backs. “But don’t you see that in your portrait I don’t look like myself at all? And if you show this portrait to my loyal subjects, they will laugh at me, is that what you want?!!!”
Two royal guards immediately grabbed the unfortunate romantic artist by the arms, and since he himself could no longer walk for fear of the inevitable punishment, they dragged him towards the dungeon, where the executioner, a true professional who adores his work like all true professionals, sharpened a huge ax with an ominous smile.
The realist artist always believed that true art should reflect reality as it is, because truth is always above all, and to embellish something or someone is unworthy of a true artist. Therefore, he depicted the king as he was: one-legged and one-eyed, with a large wart on his nose, a bloody, ugly scar on his cheek and disgusting ulcers all over his face. At the same time, the abscesses were drawn out especially carefully, and the king’s empty eye socket in his portrait was framed by boils. Since there was nothing left of the monarch’s once luxurious hair, the artist especially emphasized the royal bald spot, his lumpy skull and the pitiful remnants of hair hanging in gray strands behind his protruding ears, making the crowned lady look like an elderly comedian.
The king looked for a long time at his portrait, presented by a realist artist, then went to the mirror, which he also peered into for a long time. Then his face was distorted by an angry grimace, which did not bode well for either the artist or those courtiers who were present at the demonstration of this portrait.
“So, so, so...,” the king said slowly and measuredly. “So you want me to remain a terrible freak in the memory of my descendants and the descendants of my subjects?!!!”
At these words of the king, those courtiers who stood near the doors tried to sneak out of the main hall unnoticed, which they were unable to do, since the royal guards blocked their exit, closing their halberds almost in front of their noses.
The realist artist tried to remain calm, and it should be noted that he did it well. His fear and excitement were revealed only by slightly trembling hands (however, this may have been a consequence of his excessive passion for absinthe) and drops of sweat on his forehead (it was not hot at all in the hall, rather cold, and two lit fireplaces on both sides of the royal throne warmed only the king himself and two ceremonial guards, who, in their long caftans and huge hats made of bear skins, were waiting for only one thing - when they would finally be replaced).
“Your Majesty,” the realist artist began to say, not completely overcoming his excitement, “I depicted you exactly as you should remain in the memory of posterity - a great warrior, wounded in battles in the name of the greatness of our country. The eye and leg you lost are nothing more than visible evidence of your exploits in the name of the greatness of our Fatherland. I hoped that you would appreciate this and..."
“Enough!” the king interrupted the artist, rising from his throne. “In the wars that I waged, many lost their limbs! But I am the king!!! And you portrayed me as a simple cripple!!! Take him away,” he gave the order to his to the guards. “And these cowards who tried to hide from my righteous anger, also take them away from my eyes. Let them suffer the same punishment as this truth-loving artist!”
The guards immediately rushed to the four courtiers and dragged them into the torture chamber. And the artist, spitting on the floor in front of the royal throne, pushed the “guides” away from him, finally looking boldly into the king’s only eye, and went to the slaughter himself.
The executioner, on whose ax blood stains were still visible, left after the execution of the romantic artist (his headless body was unceremoniously pushed into the corner of the dungeon, and the severed body was ready with for some reason eyes wide open and a mouth twisted in horror, in the corner of which a drop of blood froze , lying like a cabbage next to the block), stretched his hands, but seeing that not only the artist was being led to him, but also six courtiers, two of whom were counts, and the rest barons, he was somewhat confused.
However, his confusion quickly passed. “Throw these six in the torture room, I’ll deal with them later,” he ordered his henchmen, “And give the artist here!”
After a few seconds, the head of the realist artist joined the head of the romantic painter.
The angry king ordered a third artist, known for his ceremonial portraits in the style of socialist realism, to be brought in. The artist did not enter alone; his huge painting was carried in by four assistants.
The painting depicted the king on horseback. The rearing front legs of the horse symbolized the king’s desire for new conquests; his (the horse’s) bared teeth were supposed to emphasize intolerance towards defeated enemies. And the great ruler himself sat on a horse (naturally black) in profile: in such a way that no one could see either the absence of his right eye or the stump of his right leg. The royal bald head was covered with a wide-brimmed hat, from under which the curls of a luxurious wig curled.
The king was silent for some time, examining the painting of the socialist realist artist in all its details. He was not disturbed by either the groans of the courtiers, who were impaled, or the whispers of the courtiers remaining in the hall, who were awaiting their fate in horror.
He assessed his image, which showed the most truth as he imagined it.
The socialist realist artist, knowing that the king could not dislike his work (this was not the first order for him), was completely calm.
“It’s these kind of artists that I need!” the king unexpectedly and loudly declared. “Now he will become my chief minister! And whoever doesn’t agree with these, I’ll put him on a stake!!!”
The courtiers obediently bowed their heads before the new prime minister: “As you say, Your Majesty!”
