Gunilla Bielke
Gunilla Bielke (born 1568, died 1597) was the second wife and queen consort of John III of Sweden.
Early life
She was born as the daughter of the king's cousin, the former governor of Östergötland, Johan Axelsson Bielke, and had been raised at the royal court since she was ten years old, a playmate of the king's daughter, Princess Anna. Just like two of the previous queens, Margareta Leijonhufvud and Katarina Stenbock, she was engaged when the king decided to marry her, and refused the king's proposal; the king was so enraged by this that he slapped her in the face with his gloves. But her family forced her to agree, the engagement was broken, and she was married to the king in 1585, to the rage of the king's sisters, who considered it a mesalliance despite the fact that their own mother was also a noblewoman; the king's brothers and sisters all refused to attend.
Gunilla Bielke was a very beautiful, blonde girl at the time of her marriage, (no portraitis said to have done her justice) and apparently, the king married her mainly for sexual reasons and as a remedy for depression in old age, caused by the death of his first wife; these was the reasons he himself told the government, and asked why he did not marry a princess, he told them he wished to have a beautiful wife and that portraits of foreign princesses were not to be trusted.
She was given a very large allowance and is regarded one of the richest of the queens of Sweden. Queen Gunilla had a large influence on the ageing king; she is in history described as having influenced him in Protestantism the same way his former Queen, Catherine Jagiellon, had influenced him in Catholicism, and the king openly admitted to having changed his decision, or having a new idea, "for the sake of our mistress the dear Queen's wishes". In 1589, they had a son, John, Duke of Östergötland.
Widowhood
After the king's death she remained at the Castle in Stockholm, prepared to fight for the inheritance of herself and her son, accused by her brother in law, the future Charles IX of Sweden, to stay in the capital as the only royal representative to steal from the Royal Castle's belongings, and she was also accused by King Sigismund's wife Anna of Austria of having stripped the Castle when the new King and Queen arrived from Poland in 1593; the two Queens hated each other for religious reasons, but Gunilla refused to leave Stockholm before she had secured her inheritance. She was given some of it and then retired to Bråborg Castle, where she remained the four years until her death.
See also
Sources
- Herman Lindquist, "Sveriges Drottningar", (Queens of Sweden).
| Preceded by Catherine Jagellonica of Poland (Queen consort) |
Royal Consort of
Sweden (Queen consort) 1585 - 1592 |
Succeeded by Anna of Austria (Queen consort) |
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