Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe was a Swedish countess, landowner, and courtier.
15 Facts About Ebba Brahe
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Ebba Brahe is foremost known for being the love object of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who wished to marry her prior to his own marriage, a plan which was however never realized.
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Ebba Brahe was born to Magnus Brahe and Britta Stensdotter Leijonhuvud.
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Ebba Brahe was the cousin of Margareta Brahe, Nils Brahe and Per Brahe the Younger.
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Ebba Brahe was described as a beauty who suffered from a "chronic cough" and recurring fever.
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Ebba Brahe wished for her son to enter an arranged dynastic marriage of political convenience, and she regarded a marriage to a member of the national nobility politically risky and regarded the late queen Gunilla Bielke, who had been criticized for using her position to benefit her family, as a bad example of such a marriage.
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The queen dowager harassed her maid of honor Brahe and told her not to trust the promises of the king, which made the father of Brahe unwilling to give his blessing.
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Ebba Brahe stepped forward and wrote in reply: "I am happy with what I have and thank my God for the grace of that".
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Ebba Brahe was very fashion-conscious and became known for her extravagant lifestyle and her taste for luxury.
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Ebba Brahe favored her son Magnus Gabriel and was said to have spoiled him while attending to his career.
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Ebba Brahe was proud of his position as favourite to Queen Christina of Sweden and supported his marriage to the queen's cousin, Princess Maria Eufrosyne von Zweibrucken-Kleeburg.
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When Magnus Gabriel lost his position as favorite with the queen in 1653, Ebba Brahe fell upon her knees before the queen to ask him to forgive him, and she sought the help of Axel Oxenstierna to reinstate him in favor, though she privately blamed the Oxenstierna party for having caused the fall of Magnus Gabriel.
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Ebba Brahe actively used her influence over her son to put forward both her own and various supplicants demands, recommendations and suggestions.
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Ebba Brahe became a successful landholder, managed her estates and expanded them.
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Ebba Brahe acquired new estates from the formerly Danish province Skane, which became a Swedish province in 1658 and had many large estates which were left behind by the Danish nobility.