Ebba Larsdotter Sparre (1629 – 19 March 1662) was a Swedish

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

and

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. She is known as the intimate friend and possible lover of

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

Life

Ebba Sparre was the daughter of statesman and marshal Lars Eriksson Sparre and Märta Banér and grandchild of chancellor Erik Larsson Sparre. She arrived at court in 1644, where she was appointed ''hovfröken'' (

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

) to the queen. Sparre was a celebrated beauty at the royal court and nicknamed ''La belle comtesse'' (french: The beautiful countess). She frequently played the part of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

in the amateur

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s performed by the nobility at court. Her intimate relationship with Queen Christina gave rise to the speculation that they were lovers. This has been widely accepted by historians, who look to Christina's attitude and interactions with Sparre as proof of her sexuality. However, besides Sparre and a few other ladies of the court, notably

Lady Jane Ruthven Lady Jane Ruthven or Lady Jean Ruthven, (died 1668), of noble Scottish descent, was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden. She served as ''hovfröken'' (maid of honour) to the queen. Ruthven was a daughter of the Scottish g ...

and

Louise van der Nooth Louise van der Nooth (1630s–1654) was a ''hovfröken'' (maid of honour) and favorite of Queen Christina of Sweden. She was born in the Dutch Republic as the daughter of the colonel Lamoraal van der Noot (died November 1644 in Grave) and Lucretia ...

, Queen Christina did not show any interest in her female courtiers, and generally mentions them only to express contempt over their femininity and portray herself as more masculine than them. In 1639 she mentions her attitude toward her ladies in waiting in regard to

Beata Oxenstierna Beata Oxenstierna (1591 in Reval Castle – 16 March 1652), was a Swedish aristocrat and courtier. She served as ''överhovmästarinna'' to Christina, Queen of Sweden, from 1639 to 1647. Life Beata Oxenstierna was born to Baron Erik Gabrielsson ...

and her daughter, maid of honor Märta Ulfsparre: "The Mistress of the Robes Lady Beata Oxenstierna and her daughter arrived just now. The more of them that comes here the worse it is". Most of Christina's spare time was spent with "la belle comtesse", and she often called attention to her beauty. She introduced her to the English ambassador

Bulstrode Whitelocke Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (6 August 1605 – 28 July 1675) was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. Early life He was the eldest son of Sir James Whitelocke and Elizabeth Bulstrode, and was ...

as her 'bed-fellow', assuring him that Sparre's intellect was as striking as her body. When Christina left Sweden she continued to write passionate love-letters to Sparre, in which she told her that she would always love her. Such emotional letters were relatively common at that time, and Christina would also use the same style when writing to women she had never met, but whose writings she admired. Ebba was engaged to

Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna Count Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna (1623–1702) was a Swedish soldier and statesman, who served as Foreign Minister from 1680 to 1697. During this period, he ensured Sweden remained neutral and moved away from its traditional French alliance. ...

but broke the engagement to marry Count Jakob Kasimir de la Gardie, younger brother of the queen's favourite Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, on the initiative of Christina. They married in 1652. The marriage was unhappy. Sparre and Christina kept in touch after Christina left Sweden in 1654. In 1661, Christina invited Sparre to visit her in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and she also wished to see her during her visit to Sweden in 1660, but this was prevented by Sparre's family.Leif Lekeby (Swedish): ''Kung Kristina - Drottningen som ville byta kön'' (King Christina - the queen who wished to change sex) (2000) p. 44

References

Wilhelmina Stålberg: Anteqningar om Svenska kvinnor
(Notes on Swedish women)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparre, Ebba 1629 births 1662 deaths 17th-century Swedish people Swedish ladies-in-waiting Swedish countesses People of the Swedish Empire Court of Christina, Queen of Sweden Sparre family