Princess Cecilia of Sweden - Countess of Arboga

Countess of Arboga

In 1571 Cecilia and her family, as Protestants, felt threatened by the religious war in the Netherlands and the troops of the Duke of Alba nearby and moved to Sweden. When she arrived, she was told that an English merchant, John Dymosh, had arrived in the country recently; this was one of her old creditors from England, and Cecilia took revenge by confiscating his ship and having him put in jail; he remained there five years.

Cecilia was given the city of Arboga as a fief and she lived there ruling the city under the title Countess of Arboga. She supported herself by its taxes, by financing a fleet of pirates on the sea to plunder foreign ships and hiding the profit from her brothers; she also engaged in mining and merchandise. After her husband's death in 1575 she converted to Catholicism to secure the domains of her sons, which had been captured by Catholic troops. At this time, Elizabeth I of England for some reason offered her the hand of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but Cecilia was advised to decline by her brother king, John III of Sweden, which she did.

In 1578 Cecilia became involved with the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Eraso, to give her fleet of pirates to the Spanish King in exchange for the post of governor in Luxembourg or some other Spanish province. She was suspected of plotting against her brother the King, John III of Sweden, as the Spanish ambassador often visited her, and one night, she was captured visiting his house incognito in Stockholm. She left Sweden in 1579 and returned to Rodemack, where she gave birth to the child of Francisco de Eraso, a girl she called Caritas and left in a convent.