Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, Katarina in Swedish, (1513 - September 23, 1535), was the first consort of Gustav I of Sweden and Queen of Sweden from 1531 until her death. She was daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Duchess Catherine of Braunschweig .
King Gustav married Catherine of political reasons. He wanted closer connection with German protestant rulers to gain support for his reformation efforts and his throne. The marriage also gave Gustav closer connections with the throne of Denmark because Catherine's older sister, Dorothea was engaged with Christian, the Crown Prince of Denmark.
Catherine was only 18 years old when she accepted Gustav's proposal and they married in September 24, 1531. The short marriage was stormy and full of conflicts, and remained so even after the birth of their son Eric in 1533. During a visit of the resently crowned King of Denmark and her brother in law, Christian, she accused Gustav of planning to murder Christian. She died soon after Christian's departure, September 23, 1535 and was buried in the Cathedral of Uppsala.
After her death rumors about the cause of death was spread by Gustav's enemies. They said that Gustav had killed Catherine with a large hammer. It is still unclear if Gustav ended her life and no formal accusation was made by Catherine's family.
References
- Alf Henriksson (1963). Svensk Historia. Bonniers.
- Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon (1906), Katarina. [1]