Not Just the Tudors

King Christina of Sweden

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Episode notes

Not Just the Tudors’ month-long season on Queenship continues with a look at the fascinating Christina Varsa, who was crowned King of Sweden on 20 October 1650.

Christina was one of the most learned women of the 17th century. She never married and after her abdication, she converted to Catholicism and is one of the few women to be buried in the Vatican. She was memorably played by Greta Garbo as a cross-dressing, swashbuckling adventurer. But who was the real Christina of Sweden? How did she come to be crowned King? And is there any truth in the many legends about her? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb tries to get to the truth with Julia Holm from Uppsala University.

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. The Producer was Rob Weinberg. It was edited by Thomas Ntinas.

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