Princess Sigrid of Sweden (Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

: Sigrid Eriksdotter Vasa; b. 15 October 1566 at Svartsjö Castle, Färingsö

Färingsö

Färingsö or Svartsjölandet is an island in Sweden's Lake Mälaren. It covers an area of 79km². The island is a part of Ekerö Municipality. The largest village on the island is Stenhamra. The island is also named after the village of Svartsjö....

 d. 1633), was a Swedish princess. She was the daughter of king Eric XIV of Sweden

Eric XIV of Sweden

-Family and descendants:Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter he had four daughters:#Margareta Eriksdotter , married 1592 to Olov Simonsson, vicar of Horn....

 and his mistress, the later Queen Karin Månsdotter

Karin Månsdotter

Karin Månsdotter was Queen of Sweden, first a mistress and then the spouse of King Eric XIV of Sweden...

.

Biography

Sigrid was born to King Eric and Karin Månsdotter before their marriage, but was from the beginning treated as if she was legitimate. She was taken care of by Johanna (Jeanne) de Herboville, the wife of a French noble immigrant. Eric XIV married Karin morganatically

Morganatic marriage

In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...

 in 1567, and officially in 1568, when she was ennobled and crowned queen under the name Katarina Magnusdotter. Sigrid was present at her mother's wedding and at her coronation, together with her brother Prince Gustav of Sweden

Prince Gustav of Sweden

Prince Gustav of Sweden, or Gustav Eriksson Vasa was a Swedish prince and the son of king Eric XIV of Sweden and Karin Månsdotter....

. The wedding was unique; never before had the children of the couple been present at a royal wedding. The presence of the children was a way to demonstrate their new status: both of them were officially confirmed as legitimate, and Sigrid and her brother were given all the privileges of a royal princess and prince.

In 1568, her father was deposed, and his family, including Sigrid was imprisoned with him. Sigrid was periodically allowed to live outside of the house arrest of her parents, in the care of Herboville and queen dowager Catherine Stenbock. She was removed from her father in 1573 and taken to Turku castle

Turku Castle

Turku Castle is a monument of Finnish history situated in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Finland. Turku Castle is the largest surviving medieval building in Finland and one of the largest surviving medieval...

 in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 with her mother. In 1575, she was separated from her brother, who was removed from her mother's custody. In 1577, her father died, and Sigrid and her mother was freed and allowed to settle in Liuksala Manor in Finland.

Her position after the deposition of her father was somewhat unclear, but she did not have the full position of a royal princess: in the painting attributed to her, she is called : "Fröken Sigrid Vasa, Konung Eriks äkta dotter" (in English: "Miss Sigrid Vasa, legitimate daughter of King Eric") not "Princess". The title of "Miss" was only used by noblewomen until the 19th century

Mamsell

Mamsell was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for middle class women and women in the cities.- History :...

. Nevertheless, she had a good relationship with her paternal family. She was made lady-in-waiting

Lady-in-waiting

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...

 to her cousin Princess Anna of Sweden in 1582, and traveled with her to Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, where she was present at the coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

 of King Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...

 in 1587. Soon after this, she met with her brother Gustav again in Poland. No other meeting between the siblings after this is mentioned.

In 1587, Sigrid was granted the fief of her mother's residence Liuksala Manor, as well as the right to inherit it. It is unclear whether this meant that Liuksala was now the property of Sigrid rather than Karin, but Sigrid was after this given her own income from the estate. Sigrid had a close relationship with her mother, and often visited her in Finland. It is unclear how long Sigrid remained at the court of Anna, but in 1596, she was again living in Finland, and at her wedding in 1597, she was given permission from Anna to marry, indicating that she was still formally a lady-in-waiting at that time. In 1599, Sigrid followed her spouse in exile to Riga, where he fled from Charles IX as a known loyalist of king Sigismund. She returned to Finland as a widow in 1603. After her second marriage in 1609, Sigrid lived at the Swedish court, where her husband had a position. It is confirmed that she occasionally had conflicts with Charles IX regarding financial matters, and that the king at such occasions called her a "bastard", but there is nothing to indicate that she was in any way disregarded at court.

Family

Sigrid married two noblemen. In 1597, she married Henrik Klasson Tott (died 1603).

Children with Henrik Klasson Tott

• Åke Henriksson Tott
  Åke Henriksson Tott
  Åke Henriksson Tott was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was born in Lohja to Princess Sigrid of Sweden. He was appointed Privy Councilor in 1630, and Field Marshal in 1631. In the Thirty Years' War , he commanded troops at the Battle of Grubin, in 1627 and the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631...
  
   (1598–1640)
• Anna Henriksdotter Tott, died as a child
• Erik Henriksson Tott (died 1621)

On 10 September 1609, she married the county chief and national council judge Nils Nilsson (Night and Day). Their wedding was held at Stockholm Palace

Stockholm Palace

The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...

.