Lady Jane Ruthven or Lady Jean Ruthven, (died 1668), of noble Scottish descent, was a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

at the court of

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

. She served as ''

hovfröken A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen ...

'' ( maid of honour) to the queen. Ruthven was a daughter of the Scottish general Patrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth, who was in Swedish service from 1609 to 1637, and Jane Henderson. She was also the maternal niece of General John Henderson. Her father and uncle were both in Swedish service, and she kept in contact with the latter after he left Sweden. She had Roman Catholic sympathies through her mother and uncle. With some exceptions, such as Ebba Sparre, Jane Ruthven and Louise van der Nooth, Queen Christina showed little interest in her female courtiers, and mentions them only to express contempt over their femininity and portray herself as more masculine than them. In 1639 she mentions her attitude toward her ladies in waiting in regard to Beata Oxenstierna and her daughter, maid of honor Märta Ulfsparre: "The Mistress of the Robes Lady Beata Oxenstierna and her daughter arrived just now. The more of them that comes here the worse it is".Eva Österberg, ed. (1997). ''Jämmerdal & Fröjdesal. Kvinnor i stormaktstidens Sverige''. Stockholm: Atlantis AB. ; p. 321 Ruthven belonged to a small circle of female favorites. It is known that the English ambassador Bulstrode Whitelocke cultivated her company because of her influence at the Swedish court. Before July 1661, she married James Forrester, 2nd

Lord Forrester The title Lord Forrester was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1633 for Sir George Forrester, Bt who had already been created a baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1625. When his only son died, Forrester was given a regrant of the p ...

of Corstorphine.

References

* Eva Österberg, red (1997). Jämmerdal & Fröjdesal. Kvinnor i stormaktstidens Sverige. Stockholm: Atlantis AB.
Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial And Covert Associations in Northern ... Steve Murdoch
* http://www.thepeerage.com/p20500.htm#i204995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthven, Jane Swedish ladies-in-waiting Swedish maids of honour 17th-century Swedish people 17th-century Scottish women Scottish emigrants to Sweden Daughters of Scottish earls Forrester 1668 deaths People of the Swedish Empire Christina, Queen of Sweden Swedish royal favourites Court of Christina, Queen of Sweden