Katarina Vasa
| Catherine Vasa | |||||
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| Countess consort of East Frisia | |||||
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| Born | 6 June 1539 | ||||
| Died | 21 December 1610 (aged 71) | ||||
| Spouse | Edzard II, Count of East Frisia | ||||
| Issue | Countess Margareta Anne, Electress Palatine Enno III, Count of Ostfriesland John III of Rietberg Count Christopher Count Edzard Countess Elizabeth Countess Sophia Count Karl Otto Maria, Duchess of Brunswick-Dannenberg |
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| House | Vasa | ||||
| Father | Gustav I of Sweden | ||||
| Mother | Margaret Leijonhufvud | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Swedish: Katarina Gustavsdotter Vasa |
Catherine Vasa (Swedish: Katarina Gustavsdotter Vasa; 6 June 1539 – 21 December 1610) was a Swedish princess, and the Countess consort of East Frisia as the spouse of Edzard II, Count of East Frisia. She was the oldest daughter of Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud. She was the eutonomous Regent of Berum and Norden in Ostfriesland (East Frisia) from 1599 to 1610.
During her early childhood, she, as well as her siblings in the royal nursery, were primarily under the care of her mother the queen's trusted nurse, Brigitta Lars Anderssons, her mothers cousin lady Margareta and the noble widow Ingrid Amundsdotter. After the death of her mother in 1551, she as well as her siblings were placed in the care of Christina Gyllenstierna and then under her aunts Brita and Martha Leijonhufvud before her father's remarriage to Catherine Stenbock. In 1556, she and her sisters were given a dowry of 100.000 daler, had their portraits painted and their personal qualities described in Latin by the court poet Henricus Mollerus and presented on the Dynastic marriage market. The same year, her father presented Ostfriesland with a trading treaty and a marriage alliance. Ostfriesland was chosen because it was strategically placed toward Denmark, and because the Calvinistic Emden was a rival to Lubeck and a treaty could break the domination of the Hanseatic league in Sweden. In 1557, the trading treaty was completed, and in 1558, Edzard visited Sweden to meet Catherine and her sister Cecilia and chose one of them to complete the marriage treaty.
Edzard chose Catherine, but the negotiations took a long time, so much so that Gustav Vasa stated in his frustration that it was a blessing that his daughter was at least neither "limped or blind". Edzard's mother, the dowager Regent Anna of Oldenburg, was afraid that the marriage would lead to Swedish domination, and therefore split the power in Ostfriesland between her sons, something which the king tried to prevent. In the marriage contract of 12 August 1558, Catherine was assured Berum and Norden as her dower lands and the post of Regent if Edzard should be succeeded by an underage son of hers.
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Wikipedia