CARLO XII, RE DI SVEZIA

CARL XII, King of Sweden. — Son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, born 17 June 1682, killed during the siege of Fredrikshald (Norway), 30 November 1718. Having assumed direct power at the age of fifteen, after a seven-month regency (April–November 1697) shortened by the will of the regents and the Riksdag, he governed according to the strictest absolutism. Attacked in 1699 in his Baltic territories by Denmark, Russia, and Poland-Saxony, allied to partition them, he fought them separately with bold and brilliant tactics, first the Danes, then the Poles, and finally the Russians (Narva, 30 November 1700). Yet, through a fatal strategic error, he sought to complete the conquest of Poland, leaving Peter of Russia seven precious years to recover. Pursuing Augustus II as far as Saxony, he forced him into the Peace of Altranstädt (14 September 1706) and to recognize Stanislaus Leszczyński, but turning against Russia with only 34,000 men, most perished in futile advances and the rest were defeated at Poltava (8 August 1709). Wounded, he crossed into Turkish territory, where he was detained for five years as a virtual voluntary prisoner, deluded by the hope of drawing the Turks against the Russians. Returning to Sweden in November 1714, he resumed feverish preparations for war and administrative reforms. A rigid Protestant, he had a translation of the Bible published in 1703, begun under his father; and, resuming Sweden’s traditional role of protecting Lutheranism, he wrested concessions from the emperor in favor of the Lutherans of Austrian Silesia.