Ebba Leijonhufvud

Ebba Mauritzdotter Leijonhufvud, also called Ebba Mauritzdotter Lewenhaupt (1595 – 25 January 1654), Countess of Raseborg, Lady of Käggleholm, Eksjöhovgård and Tullgarn, was a Swedish noble and courtier. She served as Mistress of the Robes in 1633-1634 and foster mother in 1639-1644 to Queen Christina of Sweden. She was also known for her donations to various churches.

Family life

Ebba Mauritzdotter was born to count Mauritz Stensson Leijonhufvud and Amalia von Hatzfeld: her paternal grandmother was her controversial name sake Ebba Månsdotter (Lilliehöök), after which her father and herself inherited the County of Raseborg. She married riksråd and chancellor count Svante Sture (d. 1616) in 1613, and riksråd and general governor Claes Horn of Kanckas (d. 1632) in 1618. As was the custom in the Swedish nobility until the late 18th-century, however, she kept her own name Leijonhufvud after marriage. By her daughter Anna Margareta Sture, she was the mother-in-law of Johan Oxenstierna, son of Axel Oxenstierna, the regent of the guardian government. In 1631, she accompanied her second spouse Horn to Germany. Widowed in 1632, she returned to Sweden with the niece of her late spouse, Agneta Horn, to whom she acted as guardian until 1636: she is described as a hard foster parent in the famous memoirs of Agneta Horn.

Court life

She served as Mistress of the Robes to the under age monarch, queen Christina, in 1633-1634. After the death of the queens foster mother and aunt, Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg in 1638, the council decided that the queen should have not one, but two foster mothers, as well as two mistress of the robes. The reason for splitting these two positions in four, was the wish that Christina should not be dependent upon one single individual and favorite. In 1639, the position of Mistress of the Robes was thereby shared between Beata Oxenstierna and Ebba Ryning (though the former was given a higher rank), and the position of foster mother was shared by Ebba Mauritzdotter Leijonhufvud and Christina Natt och Dag. Formally, however, also Leijonhufvud and Natt och Dag was given the title of Mistress of the Robes in name though not in regard to their task. This order meant a change in the Swedish royal court: during the reign of Christina, she continued to have several Mistress of the Robes in parallel, and after her reign, a new court protocol was instigated were it became the custom to have one high ranked Mistress of the Robes called overhovmastarinna (Chief Court Mistress) over several, normally two, of lower rank called hovmastarinna (Court Mistress), which had previously been the title for the only Mistress of the Robes.

The choice of Ebba Mauritzdotter Leijonhufvud and Christina Natt och Dag as suitable foster mothers was motivated by their reputation of possessing the qualities of "honesty and virtue, seriousness and steadfastness". In the case of Leijonhufvud in particular, it was pointed out that she had given her daughter Anna Margareta an ideal education. In reality though unofficially, her position of being the mother-in-law to the son of the regent in the guardian government, Axel Oxenstierna, by that very same daughter, is believed to have played a part; Beata Oxenstierna and Ebba Ryning was also connected to the Oxenstierna party.

The motivation of giving Christina several foster mothers to avoid her being attached to a specific person seem to have worked: Christina does not mention any of her two foster mothers in her memoirs and does not seem to have formed any attachment to them, nor do they seem to have played any part at court after their term in service ended. With some exceptions, such as Ebba Sparre, lady Jane Ruthven and Louise van der Nooth, Christina did not show any interest in her female courtiers, and she mentioned them in her memoirs not by name and only to compare herself favorably toward them by referring to herself as more masculine than them. In 1639 she mentions her attitude toward her ladies in waiting in regard to Beata Oxenstierna 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".

In 1642, her colleague, Christina Natt och Dag, died, and Christina was declared to be of legal maturity in 1644. Because her only child died childless before her, Ebba Mauritzdotter Leijonhufvud appointed her former son-in-law Johan Oxenstierna as her heir.

References

• Erik Petersson: Maktspelerskan : drottning Kristinas revolt (2011), ISBN 978-9127131231
• Marie-Louise Rodén: Drottning Christina : en biografi (2008) ISBN 978-9151849034

Footnotes

Court offices
Preceded by Brita Gylta	Mistress of the Robes to the Queen of Sweden 1633–1634	Succeeded by Elisabet Gyllenstierna