La regina che amava la libertà

The rediscovery of an independent, unconventional woman, the true story of a controversial  17th-century queen who renounced her sexual identity and fought for religious freedom.

A queen at the age of six, an orphan of the legendary hero Gustavus Adolphus “the great”, Christina of Sweden is destined to amaze from the moment she is born. Suffering from a congenital condition, she is at first believed to be a boy. Raised like a prince and not a princess, she never wants to marry, saying, “It’s impossible for me to wed. I’ve often asked God to make me want to, but I never have.” When, at the age of eighteen, she comes to power, Christina is a prodigy of political and cultural perspicacity, speaks seven languages, converses in Latin and exchanges letters with scholars across Europe, including Descartes. In 1654, she experiences a deep religious crisis, which prompts her to convert to Catholicism, thereby unleashing a scandal. She gives up the crown but remains a queen in a different way: she settles in Rome, where she is welcomed with honours and celebrations, becomes friends with Bernini and takes up residence in Palazzo Corsini,  a focal point for art.
Called the “queen of Rome”, she stimulated admiration, curiosity and scandal all her life, becoming the most admired and criticised woman in Europe at the time.