Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) She was the daughter and sole heir of the warrior king Gustavus Adolphus II who devastated large part of Germany during the The Thirty Years' War. She put an end to this ghastly war, she redirected the finances of the state from warfare to culture and science thus shaping a new Swedish identity as part of Europe. At the age 28 she abdicated from the crown. She had two reasons. One was that she did not want to marry and thereby lose her sovereignty and be subordinated to a king, since she thought of herself not as a queen but namely as king. The other reason was that she wanted to renounce her Protestant faith. She moved to Rome, converted to Catholicism and seems to have led quite an interesting life till the age of 63. She is buried in St Peter in Rome as one of few women.