Catherine The	Faithful	Queen	Dowager Charles	E.J.	Moulton* Abstract: Most	of	the	young	aristocratic	women	during	the	Renaissance	had	no say	in	who	they	were	to	marry.	If	they	were	Queens,	or	holding	influential positions	of	power	of	any	higher	kind,	they	could	pick	and	choose	between bridegrooms.	In	Lucrezia	Borgia's	case,	her	arranged	marriage	to	the	Lord of	Val	d'Ayora	was	annulled	less	than	two	months	later.	Today,	one	would say	that	there	were	"irreconcilable	differences". That	was,	however,	a	very rare	case.	Her	father	was	Pope	Alexander	VI. Catherine	Stenbock's father	was	not	a	pope.	He	was,	nevertheless, a nobleman	and	belonged	to	one	of	the	most influential families in	Sweden. When King Gustav Vasa proclaimed having chosen Catherine as his new Queen,	the	young	girl	had	no	other	choice	than	to	accept	his	offer.	It	wasn't that	she	didn't	fight	or	try	to	run	and	hide. She	did	hide.	Where?	Behind	a	bush. Eventually, she had to come out and her father could again smile. His daughter	would	become	the	most	powerful	woman	in	the	country. The	real	achievement	was	the	grace,	dignity,	intelligence	and	nobility with	which Catherine handled the situation. She silenced the sceptics by becoming	a	faithful	and	hardworking	Queen	and	a	regal	personality. Working	as	a	trilingual	tour	guide	at	Kalmar	Castle	during	the	1990's, I came	across	stories about this	woman	on	many	occasions.	This	paper is the	result	of	two	decades	of	research:	I	present	to	you	now	Sweden's	most dignified	and	faithful	Queen	Dowager:	Catherine	Stenbock. Keywords:	Swedish	history,	Renaissance	women,	Arranged	marriages,	16th century	royalty.