Margaret Leijonhufvud - Biography

Biography

Margaret Leijonhuvfud was a member of one of Sweden's most powerful noble families, daughter of Erik Abrahamsson Leijonhufvud, a man executed in the Stockholm bloodbath, and Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa (a relative of the king) and was already engaged when the king decided to marry her. The engagement was broken off for the sake of the king, and her fiancé was married to her sister instead.

There is a story that describes this: The king caught his new queen and her former fiancé together alone, with the young man, Svante Sture, on his knees before the queen. The king asked in a rage: "What is this?!" and Queen Margaret then swiftly told him: " My lord Sture is asking me for the hand of my sister!", at which the king just as swiftly answered: "Granted!", and Svante Sture was hastily married to the queen's sister Martha Leijonhufvud, a woman known to be so dominating that she was nicknamed "King Martha". It does not seem that Queen Margaret and Svante Sture ever again did anything that could be seen as improper; if they did, they were not discovered. During the first years of their marriage, Margaret's mother Ebba played a dominating role in the royal court, and it was said that even the king did not dare to oppose his mother-in-law; her influence, however, was not political.

Margaret was described as intelligent and beautiful, and the marriage was considered a happy one; her husband was not known to be unfaithful to her. She devoted her life to domestic duties and family life. She remained a Catholic her entire life, and it was painful for her to make clothes and curtains of the textiles the king confiscated from old Catholic convents, but it does not seem that she ever used any influence to promote her own beliefs in politics, in religion or otherwise. She allegedly had the ability to keep his temperament under control, was a calming influence on him, managed to get punishments he meted out reduced, advised him to show mercy and leniency, all of which made her popular. She gave donations to the still active Vadstena Abbey, following the example of her family: her mother was also the benefactor of Vreta Abbey. Margaret often used the services of a cunning woman, the peasant-wife Brigitta Andersdotter, whom she often hired to see to the health of herself, her sister Märtha and their children, and much appreciated for her skill. She was almost constantly pregnant, which devastated her health. In August 1551, she and her children made an excursion by boat on Mälaren between Gripsholm and Västerås, and on their return, she took ill with pneumonia. When she died, she was deeply mourned by the king.