lands as well as the rule of the entire Baden-Rodemachern, officially as the guardians and regents of her son. When Cecilia sent representatives to Baden to secure her rights in 1576, they were turned away and her authority as regent was not acknowledged. At this time, Elizabeth I of England for some reason offered her the hand of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but Cecilia was advised to decline by her brother king, John III of Sweden, which she did. Cecilia converted to Catholicism as a way to secure her and her sons rights to the domains of her late spouse. Her conversion likely took place in connection to the visit of the papal legate Antonio Possevino to Sweden in 1577. In the summer of 1578, a Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Eraso, arrived to Sweden. John III wished to make an alliance with Spain to prevent Denmark and Poland to interfere with the Swedish war against Russia. He also wished Spanish assistance to secure the Italian lands which he had the right to after his mother-in-law Bona Sforza. John III suggested that Cecilia, being a Catholic, could be made governor in one of the Spanish lands in Europe, preferably Luxembourg. Cecilia invited Eraso to Arboga and issued her own negotiations with him. She supported the plans of making her Spanish governor and offered her own pirate fleet to serve in the Spanish war in the Netherlands. This caused a conflict with her Protestant brother Charles, who begun to attack her fleet with his own. According to Eraso's reports, Cecilia acted as a valuable informer to Spain. When John's negotiations with Spain failed, he became suspicious of Cecilia's dealings with Eraso. John had Eraso placed in house arrest and banned him from any contact with Cecilia. In the night of 17–18 June 1579, however, Cecilia bribed her way in to Stockholm in secret and attempted to see Eraso. The alarm rang, and Cecilia and her retinue was captured by the guard and brought to John, which caused a great scene between the siblings. Shortly after, Cecilia returned to Germany, followed by the exiled Francisco de Eraso. Baden Upon her return to Baden in 1579, Cecilia sought to take control over her dower lands and of Baden-Rodemachen from the relatives of her late consort in name of her son. Francisco de Eraso and Cecilia lived together in Baden for a time before