The Order of Amaranta of Christina of Sweden

Urbanus VII

Urbanus VII

On 6 January 1653, Queen Christina of Sweden instituted the Order of Amaranta, a brotherhood founded with the aim of reviving the celebrations of the building, whose decoration in diamonds led, in Latin and Italian, the motto of Petrarch: "Memoria Dulcis/Dolce nella memoria" (sweet in memory). The Order had as its emblem an evergreen garland (the flower of amaranth, from greek αμαραντος "that lasts forever"), symbol of eternal life. For the ancient Greeks, the leaves Amaranta grew in Colchis, beyond the shores of the Black Sea.
But what if Cristina had chosen as the emblem the cypress (symbol of eternal life after death) or the snowdrop (Galanthus, symbol of life and hope)?

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JonasResende

JonasResende

Urbanus VII said:
On 6 January 1653, Queen Christina of Sweden instituted the Order of Amaranta, a brotherhood founded with the aim of reviving the celebrations of the building, whose decoration in diamonds led, in Latin and Italian, the motto of Petrarch: "Memoria Dulcis/Dolce nella memoria" (sweet in memory). The Order had as its emblem an evergreen garland (the flower of amaranth, from greek αμαραντος "that lasts forever"), symbol of eternal life. For the ancient Greeks, the leaves Amaranta grew in Colchis, beyond the shores of the Black Sea.
But what if Cristina had chosen as the emblem the cypress (symbol of eternal life after death) or the snowdrop (Galanthus, symbol of life and hope)?
Click to expand...

This is the first I've ever heard of this, and wikipedia doesn't help much besides saying that it was disbanded after Christina abdicated. The order of 1760 has some masonic connections, but I can't think that her order would've had the Masonic overtones back in the 1650s, but I suppose anything's possible.

Though if I may ask "founded with the aim of reviving the celebrations of the building", what building and what celebrations?
 

Makemakean

As someone who's usually in the loop about obscure factoids of Swedish history, even I stand in awe to how you found out about this, because I'd never heard of it.

I bow before you, master.
 
Uhura's Mazda

Uhura's Mazda

Banned
Urbanus VII said:
On 6 January 1653, Queen Christina of Sweden instituted the Order of Amaranta, a brotherhood founded with the aim of reviving the celebrations of the building, whose decoration in diamonds led, in Latin and Italian, the motto of Petrarch: "Memoria Dulcis/Dolce nella memoria" (sweet in memory). The Order had as its emblem an evergreen garland (the flower of amaranth, from greek αμαραντος "that lasts forever"), symbol of eternal life. For the ancient Greeks, the leaves Amaranta grew in Colchis, beyond the shores of the Black Sea.
But what if Cristina had chosen as the emblem the cypress (symbol of eternal life after death) or the snowdrop (Galanthus, symbol of life and hope)?
Click to expand...

That is one hell of a deep cut. Mad props, bro. But is your question seriously "What if she'd named this short-lived order after a slightly different flower"?
 
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