July 5 In History

 

  • Karin Månsdotter was crowned queen on July 5 in 1568. The coronation was celebrated with great festivities in Stockholm to confirm the new queen's legitimacy. Karin's peasant relatives—her three maternal uncles from Uppland—Hans Jakobsson, Jakob Jakobsson and Erik Nilsson, were present, dressed in clothes made for them by the royal tailor. During the coronation, the Lord Chancellor Nils Gyllenstierna, who was carrying the crown, fainted and dropped the crown to the floor. This was regarded as a bad omen. Painting: “Erik XIV och Karin Månsdotter” a painting by Georg von Rosen from 1871.
  • July 5 in history,
    1568: Karin Månsdotter is crowned Queen of Sweden, after having wed Erik XIV at an official wedding ceremony the day before. Karin (1550-1612) was the daughter of Måns, first soldier and later jailkeeper, and his wife Ingrid. According to legend, Erik XIV first noticed Karin as she was selling nuts at a square in Stockholm, and was so astonished by her beauty, that he took her to court as his lover. In reality, however, Karin Månsdotter was in 1564 employed as a servant to Karin, the wife of the king's court musician, Gert Cantor, who held a tavern and a guest house in his home, and she likely helped to serve the guests as a waitress. She was a maid to the king's sister, Princess Elisabet, when she became mistress to the king in 1565. During her marriage to Erik, he was plagued by mental problems. Due to problems with his family, both Erik and Karin were imprisoned. Eventually Karin and her children were separated from her husband. She and their children were taken to the Castle of Turku in Finland, where she remained under house arrest until the death of her husband four years later. She lived in Finland for the rest of her life.