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Ulrika Eleonora d.y., drottning

1688-01-231741-11-24

Queen of Sweden

Ulrika Eleonora the younger was a reigning queen of Sweden from 1718–1720. The Crown then transferred to her consort King Fredrik I. Her period of reign marked the beginning of what has come to be known as ‘frihetstiden’ (the Age of Liberty) within Swedish historiography.

Ulrika Eleonora the younger was the youngest child of King Karl XI and Ulrika Eleonora the elder. Her parents had seven children in total, of which only three survived into adulthood: Hedvig Sofia, Karl, and Ulrika Eleonora, the youngest. Ulrika Eleonora lost her father when she was five years old, and her mother died four years later, at which point her brother Karl succeeded to the throne as King Karl XII. He spent most of his reign on campaigns abroad during the Great Northern War, whilst his sisters remained in Sweden.

Ulrika Eleonora’s education included religious studies, languages, and music, and she only received a cursory education in terms of history, geography, administration, and composition. In other words, Ulrika Eleonora’s schooling was not directed towards running the state. She did, however, participate in hunting and fishing activities. She maintained a regular correspondence with her older brother and was kept abreast of the military campaign and wartime developments whilst he was the reigning monarch.

Given that King Karl XII was both unmarried and childless this increased the chances that Ulrika Eleonora might become queen of Sweden. This obviously made her a desirable matrimonial prospect and in May 1710 she received her first letter of engagement from Crown Prince Fredrik of Hessen-Kassel. Some of their exchanges occurred through one of Ulrika Eleonora’s confidantes, Emerentia von Düben, who had made the transition from chambermaid to close friend. Once King Karl XII had given his blessings to the union Ulrika Eleonora and Fredrik married on 24 March 1715.

The correspondence between Ulrika Eleonora and Fredrik reveal that they viewed themselves as future monarchs of Sweden. Their hopes lay in Ulrika Eleonora inheriting the throne after Karl XII and that she would then share her power with Fredrik. The situation was complicated due to the existence of yet another claimant to the throne, namely Ulrika Eleonora’s nephew, Karl Fredrik, Duke of Holstein. Ulrika Eleonora had, meanwhile, gained experience in running the country as from 1713 onwards she had served as the king’s proxy in the privy council. In May 1718 she received a memorandum from Fredrik, produced by David von Hein, with instructions as to how they should proceed in the event of the king’s death.

When the announcement of King Karl XII’s passing arrived on 30 November that year Ulrika Eleonora did not hesitate and proclaimed herself queen. The privy council did not, however, recognise this proclamation and left the decision up to the parliamentary estates instead. Following lengthy negotiations the parliament decided that were Ulrika Eleonora to give up her right of succession they would accept her as monarch. This meant that her position was entirely dependent on the benevolence of the estates. Ulrika Eleonora thus had to accept that she was being forced into agreeing that she would not reinstate absolutism. At the same time parliament passed a form of government which made absolutism illegal and guaranteed a greater role to both parliament and privy council in policy-making, thereby reducing the monarch’s room to manoeuvre.

According to tradition Ulrika Eleonora was proclaimed “king of Sweden, the Geats, and the Wends” in Uppsala cathedral on 17 March 1719. The use of masculine terminology in the pronouncement is explained by the monarchical position being considered a masculine role and that the coronation ceremony thus highlighted Ulrika Eleonora’s position as king.

The Great Northern War came to an end during Ulrika Eleonora’s brief reign and she was hailed in tributes as a lover of peace and for her role as mother of the nation. Apart from this her political activities and perspectives remain poorly researched. Her desire to share power with her husband was never accepted by the parliament. She was instead forced to abdicate the throne in his favour, and gave up the Swedish Crown on 29 February 1720. However, during the coronation of King Fredrik I on 3 May that year she insisted on her right to carry the royal regalia, clarifying that in the event of the king’s death the Crown would return to her.

Ulrika Eleonora and Fredrik I’s marriage was a childless one. During her period as queen consort Ulrika Eleonora dedicated herself to reading, religious services, music, and dance, amongst other things, and she appears to have been interested in numismatics. On her death she left behind the Bromelius-Bromell coin cabinet, desiring that it should be accessible to the public. This wish was fulfilled by King Fredrik I in 1744 when it came to serve as the basis of the Royal Coin Cabinet.

Ulrika Eleonora died in 1741. She is buried in the Carolinian funerary crypt of Riddarholmskyrkan.


Sari Nauman
(Translated by Alexia Grosjean)


Published 2018-03-08



You are welcome to cite this article but always provide the author’s name as follows:

Ulrika Eleonora d.y., drottning , www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/UlrikaEleonoradydrottning, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Sari Nauman), retrieved 2024-12-10.




Other Names

    Alternate name: Ulrika Eleonora, med Guds nåde, Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Drottning, Storfurstinna till Finland, Hertiginna uti Skåne, Estland, Livland, Karelen, Bremen, Verden, Stettin-Pommern, Kassuben och Wenden, Furstinna till Rügen, Fru över Ingermanland och Wismar, så och Pfalzgrevinna vid Rhein i Bayer, till Jülich Kleve och Bergen hertiginna, Lantgrevinna och arvprinsessa till Hessen, Furstinna till Hirschfeld, Grevinna till KatzenEllenbogen, Dietz, Ziegenhem, Nidda och Schaumburg etc.


Family Relationships

Civil Status: Married
  • Mother: Ulrika Eleonora, d.ä.
  • Father: Karl XI
  • Sister: Hedvig Sofia
more ...


Education

  • Privatundervisning i hemmet, Stockholm: Privatundervisning av informatorn Coelistin Friedrich Guthermuth i religionskunskap, franska, tyska, italienska, teckning och musik
  • Privatundervisning i hemmet, Stockholm: Privatundervisning av statssekreterare Samuel Barck i historia, geografi m m


Activities

  • Profession: Regerande drottning 1718–1720, drottninggemål 1720–1741


Contacts

  • Friend: Emerentia von Düben
  • Friend: Samuel Barck
  • Relative: Fredrik August I, kurfurste av Sachsen, kusin
more ...


Residences

  • Birthplace: Stockholm
  • Stockholm
  • Place of death: Stockholm


Sources

Literature
  • Fryxell, Anders, Berättelser ur svenska historien. D. 30, Ulrika Eleonoras regering, Hjerta, Stockholm, 1862

  • Holst, Walfrid, Ulrika Eleonora d. y., Karl XII:s syster, Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 1956

  • Karlström, Nina, 'Praising a Queen and a New Era? Gender and Rhetoric in One German-Language Panegyrical Text Written in Connection With the Coronation of Ulrika Eleonora the Younger of Sweden', (Re-)Contextualizing Literary and Cultural History: The Representation of the Past in Literary and Material Culture, Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Stockholm, 2013

  • Lundh-Eriksson, Nanna, Den glömda drottningen: Karl XII:s syster Ulrika Eleonora d.y. och henes tid, [Förf.], [Stockholm], 1976

  • Nauman, Sari, 'Att göra en kung: Kvinnligt och manligt i den tidiga frihetstidens kröningsmålningar', Bildligt talat: Kvinnligt, manligt i 3,2 miljoner år, Makadam, Göteborg/Stockholm, 2012

  • Persson, Fabian, 'From Ruler in the Shadows to Shadow King: Frederick I of Sweden', The Man behind the Queen: Male Consorts in History, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2014

  • Sjöberg, Maria, 'Drottningar och mätresser i ram', Bildligt talat: Kvinnligt, manligt i 3,2 miljoner år, Makadam, Göteborg/Stockholm, 2012

  • Tegenborg Falkdalen, Karin, Kungen är en kvinna: retorik och praktik kring kvinnliga monarker under tidigmodern tid, Institutionen för historiska studier, Univ., Diss. Umeå : Univ., 2003,Umeå, 2003

  • Thanner, Lennart, Revolutionen i Sverige efter Karl XII:s död: den inrepolitiska maktkampen under tidigare delen av Ulrika Eleonora d.y:s regering, Diss. Uppsala : Univ.,Uppsala, 1953



Further References



Ulrika Eleonora the younger. Portrait from 1730, attributed to Martin van Meytens (1695–1770). Nationalmuseum. (Wikimedia Commons)
Ulrika Eleonora the younger. Portrait from 1730, attributed to Martin van Meytens (1695–1770). Nationalmuseum. (Wikimedia Commons)

Keywords

18th century Numismatics Queens Politics