Martha Leijonhufvud

Martha Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud (24 December 1520 in Ödeby Lillkyrka, Ekeberg, Närke – 15 January 1584 in Stegeholm), known as , was a politically active Swedish noblewoman. She was the sister of Queen Margaret Leijonhufvud and sister-in-law of King Gustav Vasa: she was also the maternal aunt of Queen Catherine Stenbock and the daughter-in-law of the regent Christina Gyllenstierna. In 1568, she financed the deposition of King Erik XIV, which placed her nephew John III of Sweden on the throne.

Biography Martha was born to Erik Abrahamsson Leijonhufvud (d. 1520), a victim of the Stockholm Bloodbath, and Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa, and relative of Gustav Vasa, who became king of Sweden in 1523.

Marriage Her sister Margaret was engaged to Svante Stensson Sture, the son of former regent Christina Gyllenstierna, but the engagement was broken in 1536 when king Gustav decided to marry her. Instead, Sture was married to Märta. There is a well known legend as to how this came about: Svante Sture threw himself at the feet of Margaret, and the king entered the room and discovered them. The king asked: "What is this?" Margaret replied: "My lord Sture is asking me for the hand of my sister Märta!", at which the king said: "Granted!"

Martha and Svante Stensson Sture were married 3 March 1538 at Nyköping Castle. By marriage, she became the wife of the head of the most powerful family in Sweden after the royal family, as Svante Sture was considered the highest ranking nobleman in the realm, and in addition to being the sister of the queen, she became one of the highest ranking women in Sweden next after the royal women.

King Martha Like her sister, Märta was almost always pregnant, giving birth to at least fifteen children in just twenty-one years, but only ten of them lived to adulthood. She and Sture resided in Stegeborg Castle. In 1542, Stegeborg was besieged by Nils Dacke during the Dacke War, and Dacke offered the couple to become the king and queen of Sweden. They denied the offer.

Svante was often absent on his official missions: he became marshal in 1543 and commander in Finland in 1556, and governor of Livonia and Reval in 1562. During his absence, Märta took the responsibility for Stegeborg and his estates, and her dominance earned her the nickname King Märta, by which she is known in history. As such, she is known to have exerted her authority in the justice system in her fiefs and appointing local officials.

As the sister of the Queen and by marriage to the head of one of the most prestigious families in Sweden, Martha had a position of high status and participated in certain ceremonies in court life. Martha, as well as her sister Brita and her mother-in-law, often took care of the royal children. After the death of her sister, the queen, in 1551, the royal children were placed in the care of her and her sister Brita, after her mother-in-law Christina Gyllenstierna had asked to be relieved of the duty, until the King's remarriage to the daughter of Brita, Martha's niece Catherine Stenbock. Martha used both her sister and later her niece, Queens in succession, successfully as her channel to the monarch.

The Duke's Rebellion After the Sture Murders, the King disappeared, and was found in a bad state outside of the city three days later. He was calmed by Karin Månsdotter and brought back to the capital, where he was isolated for several weeks. The first audience was granted to Queen Dowager Catherine, who was given the task to act as mediator between the King and the relatives of the murder victims, and presented with a written document giving her the authority to negotiate the Settlement (litigation) with the relatives of the murder victims, among them her aunt Martha Leijonhufvud. In 1573, after ten years had passed without any change in the matter, Erik convinced Prince Charles to provide them with 200 men to help them elope. Erik asked Malin to take a trip on the sleigh with him, and when they were seated, the prince's guards came forward and the couple departed from the estate.

Martha convinced her royal nephew the king to arrest Erik and confiscate his property. He was eventually released and his property was restored to him, after the siblings and spouse of the king as well as his own family, among them his aunt (and Martha's niece) Queen Dowager Katarina Stenbock, had united in convincing the king to accede to it, and married Malin in 1574. According to the legend, it took one year of begging from the couple's relatives to convince Malin's powerful mother to forgive the couple for defying her authority; the women of the family begged her "crying upon their knees" before she agreed to see her daughter. According to legend, her daughter had to crawl on her knees up to her while pregnant.