Duchess and Regent of Lorraine
On 10 July 1541, Christina married Francis, Duke of Bar. Francis had been betrothed to Anne of Cleves, who became the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Francis succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine in 1544. He valued her political advice greatly, which was noted at the Council of Speyer (1544). Francis died in 1545, leaving Christina as Regent of Lorraine and the guardian of her minor son. In 1552, France invaded Lorraine and she was forced to resign as regent and give up her son to be raised at the French court as a hostage. Christina fled to the Netherlands.
In March 1557, she and Margaret of Parma visited the court of Mary I of England. The rumored reason for their visit was that they planned to take the Princess Elizabeth with them to give her in marriage to the Duke of Savoy. This marriage plan was blocked by the Queen.
When her aunt died in 1558, she worked to be appointed the new Governor and Regent of the Netherlands. This did not succeed, and when Margaret of Parma was appointed regent, she returned to Lorraine.
Read more about this topic: Christina Of Denmark
Famous quotes containing the word duchess:
“The earth is the earth as a peasant sees it, the world is the world as a duchess sees it, and anyway a duchess would be nothing if the earth was not there as the peasant sees it.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)