The Abdication of Queen Christina
Michael Roberts examines the end of the reign of a Swedish monarch of "natural genius".
On May 1st, 1654, Bulstrode Whitelocke, ambassador from the Commonwealth of England to the court of Sweden, took his place in the gallery of the great hall of Uppsala castle, to witness the opening of the Diet which was to receive the Queen’s abdication. In the vivid account of the proceedings which Whitelocke set down in his Journal, one passage in particular makes a memorable impression. After describing how the Archbishop of Uppsala, the Marshal of the Nobility, and the Speaker of the Burgesses each in turn answered the Queen’s speech on behalf of their respective Estates, he proceeds:
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