Waiting for the press conference!! ^_^ Watching a live stream and I don't know a ounce of Swedish!! XD But I don't care, I'm watching for the announcement!! XD
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I looked at wikipedia’s list of Swedish monarchs and saw a picture of Queen Margaret (okay, just a statue with a crown) and I’m kind of leaning toward Margaret now! Christina might be good, too.
Ehhh, technically speaking she was that queen of Denmark that started up the Kalmar union which basically made Sweden dependent on Denmark. While she from a pure technical standpoint a monarch that ruled Sweden, I wouldn't consider her a Swedish queen, nor really to have a part in Swedish royal traditions.
She was a rather impressive queen though, being able to put all of the Scandinavian countries under her rule through marital and military power.
I'm weak for Christina because she was the first Swedish queen regant, and she was struggling rather hard to deal with the financial situation that Sweden was in following the Thirty year war (war costs money, whether you're one of the main winners or not) and ended up abdicating in favor of her cousin. When I learned about her in history class, I mostly remembered stuff like how a great philosopher died of pneumonia because she insisted he'd get up as early in the morning as she did and how she converted to Catholicism after her father died protecting Protestantism. Problem was that he was a longtime Parisian coming to the much too cold Sweden, with much too fresh air for his well being. And well, the Thirty Year wasn't exactly as simple as Catholicism vs Protestantism as I had it in my head as a kid. While her father was indeed King Awesome in Swedish history, he was more looking out for the interest of expanding Sweden's wealth and territories than religious stuff. And I have this sneaking suspicion that part of why she converted to Catholicism was to make herself less missed when she abdicated.
The more I learn about her, the more I understand why she was admired in her time.
Oh, really? I was wondering why you didn't list her. I actually googled for a list of Swedish Ruling Queens (because I wanted to see just that list, not every king and queen), but couldn't find any at all. >_< I had to settle for Wikipedia. I did wonder why her page mentioned very little of Sweden and more about Denmark when she was supposed to be queen of both.
She sounds like she was quite the character! XD I'm kind of sad this wasn't the name chosen now.
Well, I think that she was first and foremost queen of Denmark, and the idea was that the countries of the union (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) were to work together, only with the Danish royalty as the head. It started with Sweden and Norway entering a union because of the intermarriage of their royal families leaving one king (the Swedish king) the ruler of both. Due to Norway being weaker (I think they had disease-related population problems), Sweden basically got to boss Norway around. Then came queen Margaret and got in on it too, and all of a sudden all the three Scandinavian royal families of the time were joined as one, the Kalmar union (named after the city in which the treaty was signed). Sweden and Norway got bossed around by Denmark until Sweden had enough, had a couple of rebellions until one stuck.
Sweden and Denmark became bitter enemies while Denmark and Norway were joined in the centuries long Denmark-Norway union. Up until the Napoleonic wars, when Sweden tried to take Norway away from Denmark. Denmark gave Norway independence, rather than have them taken away by the Swedes, Sweden didn't care, thus the last war that Sweden has been in, in 1814 when Norway was taken under the Swedish wing and the Norwegian Swedish union came to be. That lasted until 17th of May 1905 when Norway was granted independence, and that is why Norwegians are much more celebratory about their national holiday than Swedes are. (Theirs are an actual Independence Day, ours is an upgraded day that used to only celebrate the Swedish flag, and was set on Gustav I's coronation date for reasons of historical interest that no one cared about until relatively recently.) This history is also why it is not the least bit surprising that Norway always has and always will be adamantly against the European Union.
I thought of something that was kind of funny when the creator of Hetalia made a drawing of her. (Here, at the bottom) First thing was that it seemed hilariously mismatched with how she appeared. (She didn't exactly look "cute", and she was very mannish and tomboyish. Also, lots of historians think that she was probably a lesbian, in consideration of how she seemed to relate to people around her. Hard to tell, though the fact that she never married might be a clue.) Then I thought that she looked a bit like a 70's/80's Shoujou heroine. And that's when I came to think of Rose of the Versailles. If you know that anime, it was based around the history of Marie Antoinette, only through the eyes of a made up character (to avoid offense or historical inaccuracy or something like that). Interestingly, this other main character was woman raised as a man, who became a member of the royal guard. She wore mens' clothes, rode horses, sword fenced, hung out mostly with men but was charming to women. Basically, I realised that if you were to do an anime about Christina, you wouldn't need a made up character to get all the cross dressing, sword fighting fun you want. XD
I really need to brush up on Europe. I had no idea Norway wasn't part of the E.U. >_< I knew about that whole thing with the U.K. and the Euro, but I honestly thought every country in Europe was part of the E.U. Of course, I doubt this is something they would teach in class unless it's Current Events, maybe Government! But still! >_<
Yeah, that looks like a cuter version of her. But manga and anime have a habit of making everything cuter. Well, some drawing styles do. Yeah, I agree with you. She sounds like she'll fit right in to most anime shows! XD Wouldn't need to make up anything or it wouldn't be too far from the truth, at least! XD
Well, if you looked at currently minted Euro-coins, you might be tricked to think Norway was part of the EU. Technically, only members of the EU are supposed to be on the coin's map of Europe. But Sweden coupled with Finland, and minus Norway forms an... interesting image, if you look at a map, so that's why they include it in current mintings. I still have some of the older coins which does not include Norway.
Sweden doesn't use Euro, in fact the election on whether we were to start using them or not was the first time I voted. (I voted "Yes" on the Euro, but I wouldn't do so today due to evolution of political opinion. Current situation in Greece doesn't help either.)
She was the last member of the House of Wasa (though technically speaking, her cousin was of the Wasa blood, it just hapened to be on his mother's side) and they were a colorful bunch. I think most Swedish monarchs did a pretty good job of not being boring, one way or the other. You got Gustav III, got assasinated at a masquerade, Eric XIV, married a commoner who was loved by the people and looked down on by the nobility, Gustav II Adolf, put the fear of Sweden into the heart of Europe, Charles XII, wrestled with bears in the forest before moving on to bigger prey like Russia, and Jean-Paul Bernadotte, went from being a French marshal to personal rival of Napoleon to king of Sweden and Norway, and then you got our current king who has trouble spelling his name and remembering what city he is in.
That's not even getting into how textbook fantasy adventure Gustav I of Wasa was. Lets see, his father died in the Stockholm bloodbath, which was when the Danish king of the time had rebellious members of the Swedish nobility executed under false pretenses. They had all been gathered under the pretense that they would be pardoned for conspiring against him, if they just came and showed their loyalty. Then there's the fact that he ran around gathering a great rebellion, which of course has been greatly embellished to include stories of clever people helping him escape Danish detection.
I've actually never seen an Euro coin before. Ooo collector coins! Well, not quite, but any changes to a coin makes the old ones collectable! XD
Gah! Of course, only the Britain's opposition to the Euro is noted. >_< Sweden? No... It might have helped to make it look like Britain isn't alone or maybe that's the point? Britain...alone against Europe, fighting to save its pound! Makes for a better soundbite than Britain and Sweden...together, but alone against Europe, fighting to save its pound and krona! I suppose... >_<
I noticed that. Whoa! Yeah, they are a colorful bunch! Hee Charles XII wrestled bears before tackling Russia! XD Really? King Carl XVI Gustaf has trouble spelling his name and remember what city he's in? I hadn't heard that. I usually just follow the Japanese and British Royal Family while keeping my ear to the ground for news on my other favorite royals (Princess Maxima (it's heartbreaking over Prince Friso, just heartbreaking! T_T), Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Victoria). Well, I guess Gustaf might be hard to spell, I would have trouble with that! XD
I seriously need a history book on Swedish monarchs! Seriously. XD
Ehhh, technically speaking she was that queen of Denmark that started up the Kalmar union which basically made Sweden dependent on Denmark. While she from a pure technical standpoint a monarch that ruled Sweden, I wouldn't consider her a Swedish queen, nor really to have a part in Swedish royal traditions.
She was a rather impressive queen though, being able to put all of the Scandinavian countries under her rule through marital and military power.
I'm weak for Christina because she was the first Swedish queen regant, and she was struggling rather hard to deal with the financial situation that Sweden was in following the Thirty year war (war costs money, whether you're one of the main winners or not) and ended up abdicating in favor of her cousin. When I learned about her in history class, I mostly remembered stuff like how a great philosopher died of pneumonia because she insisted he'd get up as early in the morning as she did and how she converted to Catholicism after her father died protecting Protestantism. Problem was that he was a longtime Parisian coming to the much too cold Sweden, with much too fresh air for his well being. And well, the Thirty Year wasn't exactly as simple as Catholicism vs Protestantism as I had it in my head as a kid. While her father was indeed King Awesome in Swedish history, he was more looking out for the interest of expanding Sweden's wealth and territories than religious stuff. And I have this sneaking suspicion that part of why she converted to Catholicism was to make herself less missed when she abdicated.
The more I learn about her, the more I understand why she was admired in her time.
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She sounds like she was quite the character! XD I'm kind of sad this wasn't the name chosen now.
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Sweden and Denmark became bitter enemies while Denmark and Norway were joined in the centuries long Denmark-Norway union. Up until the Napoleonic wars, when Sweden tried to take Norway away from Denmark. Denmark gave Norway independence, rather than have them taken away by the Swedes, Sweden didn't care, thus the last war that Sweden has been in, in 1814 when Norway was taken under the Swedish wing and the Norwegian Swedish union came to be. That lasted until 17th of May 1905 when Norway was granted independence, and that is why Norwegians are much more celebratory about their national holiday than Swedes are. (Theirs are an actual Independence Day, ours is an upgraded day that used to only celebrate the Swedish flag, and was set on Gustav I's coronation date for reasons of historical interest that no one cared about until relatively recently.) This history is also why it is not the least bit surprising that Norway always has and always will be adamantly against the European Union.
I thought of something that was kind of funny when the creator of Hetalia made a drawing of her. (Here, at the bottom) First thing was that it seemed hilariously mismatched with how she appeared. (She didn't exactly look "cute", and she was very mannish and tomboyish. Also, lots of historians think that she was probably a lesbian, in consideration of how she seemed to relate to people around her. Hard to tell, though the fact that she never married might be a clue.) Then I thought that she looked a bit like a 70's/80's Shoujou heroine. And that's when I came to think of Rose of the Versailles. If you know that anime, it was based around the history of Marie Antoinette, only through the eyes of a made up character (to avoid offense or historical inaccuracy or something like that). Interestingly, this other main character was woman raised as a man, who became a member of the royal guard. She wore mens' clothes, rode horses, sword fenced, hung out mostly with men but was charming to women. Basically, I realised that if you were to do an anime about Christina, you wouldn't need a made up character to get all the cross dressing, sword fighting fun you want. XD
Reply
I really need to brush up on Europe. I had no idea Norway wasn't part of the E.U. >_< I knew about that whole thing with the U.K. and the Euro, but I honestly thought every country in Europe was part of the E.U. Of course, I doubt this is something they would teach in class unless it's Current Events, maybe Government! But still! >_<
Yeah, that looks like a cuter version of her. But manga and anime have a habit of making everything cuter. Well, some drawing styles do. Yeah, I agree with you. She sounds like she'll fit right in to most anime shows! XD Wouldn't need to make up anything or it wouldn't be too far from the truth, at least! XD
Reply
Sweden doesn't use Euro, in fact the election on whether we were to start using them or not was the first time I voted. (I voted "Yes" on the Euro, but I wouldn't do so today due to evolution of political opinion. Current situation in Greece doesn't help either.)
She was the last member of the House of Wasa (though technically speaking, her cousin was of the Wasa blood, it just hapened to be on his mother's side) and they were a colorful bunch. I think most Swedish monarchs did a pretty good job of not being boring, one way or the other. You got Gustav III, got assasinated at a masquerade, Eric XIV, married a commoner who was loved by the people and looked down on by the nobility, Gustav II Adolf, put the fear of Sweden into the heart of Europe, Charles XII, wrestled with bears in the forest before moving on to bigger prey like Russia, and Jean-Paul Bernadotte, went from being a French marshal to personal rival of Napoleon to king of Sweden and Norway, and then you got our current king who has trouble spelling his name and remembering what city he is in.
That's not even getting into how textbook fantasy adventure Gustav I of Wasa was. Lets see, his father died in the Stockholm bloodbath, which was when the Danish king of the time had rebellious members of the Swedish nobility executed under false pretenses. They had all been gathered under the pretense that they would be pardoned for conspiring against him, if they just came and showed their loyalty. Then there's the fact that he ran around gathering a great rebellion, which of course has been greatly embellished to include stories of clever people helping him escape Danish detection.
Reply
Gah! Of course, only the Britain's opposition to the Euro is noted. >_< Sweden? No... It might have helped to make it look like Britain isn't alone or maybe that's the point? Britain...alone against Europe, fighting to save its pound! Makes for a better soundbite than Britain and Sweden...together, but alone against Europe, fighting to save its pound and krona! I suppose... >_<
I noticed that. Whoa! Yeah, they are a colorful bunch! Hee Charles XII wrestled bears before tackling Russia! XD Really? King Carl XVI Gustaf has trouble spelling his name and remember what city he's in? I hadn't heard that. I usually just follow the Japanese and British Royal Family while keeping my ear to the ground for news on my other favorite royals (Princess Maxima (it's heartbreaking over Prince Friso, just heartbreaking! T_T), Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Victoria). Well, I guess Gustaf might be hard to spell, I would have trouble with that! XD
I seriously need a history book on Swedish monarchs! Seriously. XD
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