Brita Persdotter Karth is a fictional person in
Swedish history. She was earlier believed to have been the
mistress or perhaps even wife of the exiled
prince Gustav of Sweden, son of king
Eric XIV, and her eldest son Lars was believed to have been the forefather of the
noble Swedish families of Eldstierna and Stierneld.
The story behind the legend
The history about Brita Karth and her alleged children with prince Gustav was the product of baron
Adolf Ludvig Stierneld (1755-1835), courtier and a well-known collector of historical documents, whom historians have later found also to be a ruthless forger of such documents. Wishing to claim a royal ancestry for his own family Stierneld reported having found handwritten notes by Brita Karth herself regarding her relation and family with Gustav in an old pious book that was to have been given to her by Gustav's mother,
Karin Månsdotter.
Although Stierneld's claims were at the time accepted by the
Swedish House of Nobility they were also soon refuted by historians and genealogists, beginning with an essay by A.T.G. Oxenstierna in 1869 and later by noted archivist and genealogist
Victor Örnberg (1839-1908) in ''Svenska ättartal''. Today Brita Karth and her children are regarded as completely fictional.
Brita Karth according to the legend
Brita Karth was said to have been born about 1568 in
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
as the daughter of a Swedish warrior named Peder Karth and to have died somewhere after 1594. She is said to have married prince Gustav in
Kashin in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
in 1594 after already having delivered four children of his: Lars (or Laurentius) (1586-1660), Eric (1588-?), Carl Gustav (1590-?) and Catherine Sigrid (1592-?).
References
*
Gustaf Elgenstierna: ''Svenska adelns ättartavlor'', vol. II (Stockholm 1926; facsimile edition 1998)
* Bengt Hildebrand: entry on the family of "Eldstierna" in ''
Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', vol. XIII (Stockholm 1950)
*
Ulf Sundberg: ''Kungliga släktband'' (Lund 2004).
External links
The fictional story of Brita Karth as related by Wilhelmina Stålberg & P. G. Berg in ''Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor'' (Stockholm 1864)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persdotter Karth, Brita
Fictional Swedish people