by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

In 1632, six-year-old Christina, the only surviving child of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, became Queen of Sweden upon the death of her father in battle. Christina caused a scandal when she decided not to marry and then abdicated her throne in 1654. She left Sweden and subsequently converted to Roman Catholicism.

In 1649, Queen Christina’s first cousin Karl Gustav of Palatinate-Zweibrücken had been appointed heir and Hereditary Prince of Sweden. As the elder surviving son of Katarina of Sweden, the elder of the two surviving (both daughters) of the ten children from the two marriages of Karl IX, King of Sweden, Karl Gustav was the heir to the Swedish throne by primogeniture. Karl Gustav was crowned King Carl X Gustav of Sweden the day after his cousin Christina abdicated. The reigning house changed from the House of Vasa to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.

In 1720, there was another reigning house change. Ulrika Eleanora had become Queen of Sweden in 1718 upon the death of her unmarried brother King Karl XII. Two years later, she abdicated in favor of her husband Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel who reigned as King Fredrik I from the House of Hesse.

All photos are from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.

Riddarholmen Church

Riddarholmen Church is Stockholm’s oldest preserved building. It was originally built as a part of a Roman Catholic monastery in the late 13th century and is Stockholm’s only preserved medieval monastery church. During the Reformation, it was transformed into a Protestant church. Now it is used only as a burial place and a place for commemorative services.

From the time of the funeral of King Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus the Great) in 1634, Riddarholmen Church served as the royal burial church. Swedish monarchs from King Gustav II Adolf (died 1632, interred 1634) to King Gustaf V (died 1950) were buried at Riddarholmen Church except for Queen Christina who converted to Roman Catholicism, abdicated, and was buried at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

• Unofficial Royalty: Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
• Swedish Royal Court: Riddarholmen Church

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House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (1654 – 1720)

• Carl X Gustav, King of Sweden (reigned 1654 – 1660)
• Karl XI, King of Sweden (reigned 1660 – 1697)
• Karl XII, King of Sweden (unmarried, reigned 1697 – 1718)
• Ulrika Eleanora, Queen of Sweden (reigned 1718 – 1720, abdicated in favor of her husband)

House of Hesse (1720 – 1751)

• Fredrik I, King of Sweden (reigned 1720 – 1751, also Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, reigned 1730 – 1751)

• Unofficial Royalty: Kingdom of Sweden Index
• Wikipedia: House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
• Wikipedia: House of Hesse

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Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden (reigned June 6, 1654 – February 13, 1660)

• Unofficial Royalty: Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden

Born Karl Gustav of Palatinate-Zweibrücken on November 8, 1622, at Nyköping Castle in Nyköping, Sweden, Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden was the son of Johann Kasimir I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and Katarina of Sweden, the daughter of King Karl IX of Sweden and his first wife Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern. In 1654, he succeeded to the Swedish throne as King Carl X Gustav upon the abdication of his first cousin Queen Christina of Sweden. The same year he became king, Karl X Gustav married Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. They had one child who succeeded his father as Karl XI, King of Sweden when he was four years old.

Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden died, aged 37, on February 13, 1660, from influenza and pneumonia in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he had been attending the meeting of the Riksdag of the Estates. He was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm.

Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden

• Unofficial Royalty: Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden

Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp was born on October 23, 1636 at Gottorp Castle at Schleswig, Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. She was one of the six daughters of Friedrich III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Marie Elisabeth of Saxony. Hedwig Eleonora married Carl X Gustav, King of Sweden on her 18th birthday and was crowned Queen of Sweden two days later. The couple had one son.

When her husband died in 1660, their four-year-old son became Karl XI, King of Sweden. Hedwig Eleonora became Regent of Sweden for her son during his minority. For the rest of her life, Hedwig Eleonora was regarded as the first lady of the royal court. Hedwig Eleonora survived her husband by fifty-five years and her son by eighteen years, dying on November 24, 1715, in Stockholm, Sweden at the age of 79. She was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Karl XI, King of Sweden (reigned February 13, 1660 – April 5, 1697)

• Unofficial Royalty: Karl XI, King of Sweden

The only child of Carl X Gustav, King of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Karl XI, King of Sweden was born on November 24, 1655, at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden. When his father died in 1660, four-year-old Karl became King of Sweden with his mother serving as Regent of Sweden until he reached his majority. Karl XI married Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik III of Denmark, and the couple had seven children but only three survived childhood. Ulrika Eleonora predeceased her husband dying in 1693.

Karl XI had complained of stomach pains since 1694. He died on April 5, 1697, aged 41, at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden. An autopsy showed that he had cancer throughout his entire abdominal cavity. Karl XI, King of Sweden was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Queen of Sweden

• Unofficial Royalty: Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Queen of Sweden

Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 11, 1656
Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Frederik III, King of Denmark, and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Ulrika Eleonora married Karl XI, King of Sweden in a simple ceremony at Skottorp Manor in Skottorp, Halland County, Sweden, on May 6, 1680. She gave birth to seven children but only three survived to adulthood including Karl XII, King of Sweden who succeeded his father, and Ulrika Eleanora, Queen of Sweden who succeeded her unmarried brother.

From 1690 onward, Ulrika Eleonora suffered from an undiagnosed illness that kept her bedridden. By the spring of 1693, she could no longer walk. She died at the age of 36, on July 26, 1693, at Karlberg Castle in Solna, Sweden, and was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Karl XII, King of Sweden (reigned April 5, 1697 – November 30, 1718

• Unofficial Royalty: Karl XII, King of Sweden

Born on June 17, 1682, at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden, Karl XII, King of Sweden was the only surviving son of Karl XI, King of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. His father died in 1697, and fifteen-year-old Karl XII assumed complete power after a seven-month caretaker government. Karl XII never married. He was encouraged to find a suitable wife to secure the succession but he would avoid the subject of sex and marriage. Karl III, aged 36, was killed during the Great Northern War on November 30, 1718, in Fredrikshald, Norway, when a projectile struck his head. He was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden (reigned December 5, 1718 – February 29, 1720, abdicated in favor of her husband)

• Unofficial Royalty: Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden

Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden was born on January 23, 1688, at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. She was one of the three surviving children of Karl XI, King of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. On March 24, 1715, Ulrika Eleonora married Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel. Ulrika Eleonora suffered two miscarriages and there is no record of any other pregnancies.

Ulrika Eleonora wished for her husband Fredrik to become her co-monarch, in the fashion of William III and Mary II of England. However, this was not permitted by the Riksdag (legislature) but the Riksdag was willing to replace her with Fredrik as sole monarch if she abdicated, an idea that had the support of Frederik. On February 29, 1720, Ulrika Eleonora abdicated in favor of her husband on the condition that she should succeed him if he should die before her.

Ulrika Eleonora did not survive her husband. She died at the age of 53 from smallpox on November 24, 1741, at Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, and was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

Fredrik I, King of Sweden (reigned March 24, 1720 – April 5, 1751)

• Unofficial Royalty: Fredrik I, King of Sweden

Born Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel on April 28, 1676, in Kassel, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Frederik I, King of Sweden was the eldest surviving son of Karl I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and Princess Maria Amalia of Courland. Upon the death of his two elder brothers, Friedrich became Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel.

Friedrich married his first wife Princess Louise Dorothea of Prussia in 1700 but she died in childbirth in 1705. Friedrich married Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden in 1715. Friedrich’s name was changed to Fredrik, the Swedish version, and he was granted the title Prince of Sweden and the style Royal Highness. The couple had no children.

Fredrik became King of Sweden in 1720 after his wife abdicated as described above. Ten years after becoming King of Sweden, Fredrik became Frederick became Landgrave of Hesse upon the death of his father. He appointed his younger brother Wilhelm as governor of Hesse-Kassel.

Fredrik survived his wife by ten years, dying on April 5, 1751, at the age of 74, at Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, and was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden. He was buried with his wife in the same sarcophagus at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden.

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