Francesco Algarotti

Sopra Carlo XII

Discorso IX dei XX Discorsi Militari
in Opere del Conte Algarotti, Cavaliere dell’Ordine del Merito e Ciamberlano di S. M. il Re di
Prussia, Tomo IIII, Livorno, MDCCLXIV, presso Marco Coltellini = Vol. V dell'Edizione 1779

David von Krafft (1706)

 Charles XII of Sweden
Duke of Bremen and Prince of Verden
Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reign 5 April 1697 – 30 November 1718 (21 years, 239 days)

Coronation 14 December 1697 (aged 15)
Predecessor Charles XI
Successor Ulrika Eleonora

House House of Pfalz-Zweibrücken

Father Charles XI of Sweden
Mother Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark
Born 17 June 1682 Tre Kronor (castle), Sweden
Died 30 November 1718 (aged 36) Fredrikshald, Norway
Burial 26 February 1719 Riddarholmen Church, Stockholm

Signature

Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, Swedish: Karl XII, Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the
Habitué[citation needed] (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718) was the King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. Charles was the only surviving
son of King Charles XI of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder, and he assumed the crown at the age of fifteen, at the death of his
father. He left the country three years later to embark on a series of battles overseas. These battles were part of the Great Northern
War, fought against Russia, Saxony and Denmark-Norway, countries that had joined in a coalition to attack Sweden. Charles XII was
a skilled military leader and tactician. However, although he was also skilled as a politician,[citation needed] he was reluctant in making
peace. Charles is quoted by Voltaire as saying upon the outbreak of the Great Northern War, "I have resolved never to start an unjust
war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies." Although Sweden achieved several large scale military
successes early on, and won the most battles, the Great Northern War eventually ended in Sweden's defeat and the end of the
Swedish Empire.
Royal title Charles, like all kings, was styled by a royal title, which combined all his titles into one single phrase. This was:
We Charles, by the Grace of God King of Sweden, the Goths and the Vends, Grand Prince of Finland, Duke of Estonia and Karelia,
Lord of Ingria, Duke of Bremen, Verden and Pommerania, Prince of Rügen and Lord of Wismar, and also Count Palatine by the
Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Count of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg, as well as Duke of Jülich, Cleve and Berg, Count of Veldenz, Spanheim
and Ravensberg and Lord of Ravenstein.
The fact that Charles was crowned as Charles XII does not mean that he was the 12th king of Sweden by that name. Swedish kings
Erik XIV (1560–1568) and Charles IX (1604–1611) gave themselves numerals after studying a mythological history of Sweden. He
was actually the 6th King Charles.[1] The non-mathematic numbering tradition continues with the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI
Gustaf, being counted as the equivalent of Charles XVI.
Early campaigns In 1700, Denmark-Norway, Saxony, and Russia united in an alliance against Sweden, using the perceived
opportunity as Sweden was ruled by the young and inexperienced King. Early that year, all three countries declared war against
Sweden. Charles had to deal with these threats one by one. Charles's first campaign was against Denmark-Norway, ruled by his
cousin Frederick IV of Denmark, which threatened a Swedish ally, Charles' brother-in-law Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp. For this
campaign Charles secured the support of England and the Netherlands, both maritime powers concerned about Denmark's threats to
close the Sound. Leading a force of 8,000 and 43 ships in an invasion of Zealand, Charles rapidly compelled the Danes to submit to
the Peace of Travendal in August 1700, which indemnified Holstein. Having defeated Denmark-Norway, King Charles turned his
attention upon the two other powerful neighbors, King August II of Poland (cousin to both Charles XII and Frederick IV of
Denmark-Norway) and Peter the Great of Russia, who also had entered the war against him, ironically on the same day that Denmark
came to terms. Russia had opened their part of the war by invading the Swedish-held territories of Livonia and Estonia. Charles
countered this by attacking the Russian besiegers at the Battle of Narva. The Swedish army of ten thousand men was outnumbered
four to one by the Russians. Charles attacked under cover of a blizzard, effectively split the Russian army in two and won the battle.
Many of Peter's troops that fled the battlefield drowned in the Narva River, and the total number of Russian fatalities reached about
17,000 at the end of the battle, while the Swedish troop lost 667 men. Charles did not pursue the Russian army. Instead, he turned
against Poland-Lithuania, which was formally neutral at this point, thereby disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by
the Swedish parliament. Charles defeated the Polish king Augustus II and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszow in 1702 and
captured many cities of the Commonwealth. After the deposition of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Charles XII
put Stanisław Leszczyński on the throne.
Russian resurgence While Charles won several battles in the Commonwealth, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great embarked on a
military reform plan that improved the Russian army. Russian forces managed to retake Ingria and established a new city, Saint
Petersburg, there. This prompted Charles to attack the Russian heartland with an assault on Moscow, allying himself with Ivan
Mazepa, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The size of the invading Swedish army altogether was 77,400 men. Charles left the
homeland with a defense of approximately 28,800 men. Peter the Great defeated Swedish forces near the Baltic coast before Charles
could combine his forces, and Charles' Polish ally, Stanisław Leszczyński, was facing internal problems of his own. Charles expected
the support of a massive Cossack rebellion led by Mazepa in Ukraine but the Russians destroyed the rebel army before they could aid
the Swedish troops. The harsh climate took its toll as well, as Charles marched his troops through Ukraine. By the time of the
decisive Battle of Poltava, Charles had been wounded, one-third of his infantry was dead, and his supply train was destroyed. The
king was incapacitated by a coma resulting from his injuries and was unable to lead the Swedish forces. Charles had 14,000 men
while Peter had 45,000. The battle was a disaster, and the king fled with a small entourage south to the Ottoman Empire, where he set
up camp at Bender with about 1,000 men who were called Caroleans ("Karoliner" in Swedish). The Swedish defeat at Poltava is
considered by some historians to be the point where the downfall of the Swedish Empire started and the Russian Empire started to
rise.
Exile in the Ottoman Empire The Turks initially welcomed the Swedish king, who managed to incite a war between the Ottomans
and the Russians. His expenses during his long stay in the Ottoman Empire were covered from the Ottoman state budget, as part of
the fixed assets (Demirbaş in Turkish), hence his nickname Demirbaş Şarl (Fixed Asset Charles) in Turkey. Demirbaş, the Turkish
word for fixed asset, is literally ironhead (demir = iron, baş = head), which is the reason why this nickname has often been translated
as Ironhead Charles. Eventually a small village named Karlstad had to be built near Bender to accommodate the ever growing
Swedish population there. Sultan Ahmet III, as gesture to the King, had bought some of the Swedish women and children put up for
sale by the Russians and turned them over to the Swedes, thus further strengthening the growing community of Caroleans. However,
the sultan Ahmed III's subjects in the empire eventually got tired of Charles' scheming. His entourage also ended up piling huge
amounts of debt to Bender merchants. Eventually "crowds" of townpeople attacked the Swedish colony at Bender and Charles had to
defend himself against the mobs and the Ottoman Janissaries involved. This uprising was called "kalabalik" (crowd) which after this
event found a place in Swedish lexicon as "kalabalik" referring to uprising. The Janissaries did not shoot Charles during the skirmish
at Bender, but captured him and put him under house-arrest at Dimetoka and Constantinople. During his semi-imprisonment the King
played chess and studied the Turkish navy and the naval architecture of the Ottoman galleons. His sketches and designs eventually
led to the famous Swedish war ships Jarramas (Yaramaz) and Jilderim (Yıldırım). Meanwhile, Russia and Poland regained and
expanded their territories. Great Britain, an ally of Sweden, defected from its alliance obligations while Prussia attacked Swedish
holdings in Germany. Russia seized Finland and Augustus II regained the Polish throne.
Death Charles succeeded in leaving his imprisonment in Constantinople and returned to Swedish Pomerania on horseback, riding
across Europe in just fifteen days. A medal with Charles on horseback, his long hair flaring in the wind, was struck in 1714 to
commemorate the speedy ride. Rhyming in German, It reads Was sorget Ihr doch? Gott und Ich leben noch. (Why then are you sad?
God and I are still alive.). His efforts to reestablish the Swedish empire failed. He had two Turkish-style warships built in Sweden,
the Yildirim ("The Lightning") and the Yaramaz or Jarramas ("The Rogue"). Charles's last efforts to reinstate Sweden as an empire
were to invade Norway. He first invaded Norway in 1716 with a combined force of 7,000 men, occupied the capital Christiania,
today Oslo, and laid siege to the Akershus fortress. However, the Norwegian forces were intact, and forced a retreat from the capital
at 29 April after inflicting significant losses of men and material. Mid-May following the retreat from Christiania, Charles invaded
the border town Fredrikshald, now Halden, in an attempt to take the fortress of Fredriksten. The Swedes came under heavy
bombardment from the fortress and were forced to flee from Fredrikshald when the town was set on fire by the Norwegians. Swedish
casualties in Fredrikshald were estimated to 500. During the siege in Fredrikshald the Swedish supply fleet was defeated by
Tordenskjold at the Battle of Dynekilen[2]. In 1718 Charles once more invaded Norway. The main force consisting of 40,000 men
laid siege to the strong fortress of Fredriksten, overlooking the border town of Fredrikshald. While inspecting trenches close to the
perimeter of the fortress on 11 December (30 November Old Style), 1718, Charles was killed by a projectile. The shot penetrated the
left side of his skull and exited out of the right, destroying most of his brain in the process. The invasion was abandoned, and Charles'
body was brought across the border. Another army corps under Carl Gustaf Armfeldt marched against Trondheim with 10,000 men,
but had to make a retreat, during which many of the 5,800 remaining men perished in a severe winter storm. The exact circumstances
around Charles' death are unclear. The most likely theory is that he was hit by a bullet from a Norwegian musket, but he may also
have been killed by a grapeshot bullet from a cannon. Another theory is that he was killed by a uniform button re-made into a bullet.
This theory is coupled with speculation that he was shot from the Swedish side (due to the great force of entry by the bullet), making
his death an assassination, because allegedly he was unpopular in Sweden at the time. A theory is that the murder was an act of
conspiracy made by his sister Ulrika Eleonora's husband, Fredrik, who was crowned Fredrik I. It is believed that the murder was
committed by an officer who confessed before he died in a fever. There are today two major theories about who and what killed the
king. A study was presented in 2005 by Peter From, where he argued that the mortal bullet was fired by a Norwegian musket at close
range.[citation needed] The theory has gained support by historian Dick Harrison. Another theory by Svante Ståhl proposes that Charles
was shot by a grapeshot bullet made of forged iron from a Norwegian cannon. Such ammunition of the correct calibre has been
proven to have been used by the Norwegians at the time of the siege.[citation needed] This would explain the absence of lead in Charles'
mortal head wound. This study is embraced among others by historian and the Chairman of the Swedish Academy, Peter Englund.
Charles was succeeded to the Swedish throne by his sister, Ulrika Eleonora. As Palatinate-Zweibrücken required a male heir, Charles
was succeeded as ruler there by his cousin Gustav Leopold. Georg Heinrich von Görtz, Charles' minister, was beheaded in 1719.
Legacy Exceptional for abstaining from alcohol and women, he felt most comfortable during warfare. Contemporaries report of his
seemingly inhuman tolerance for pain and his utter lack of emotion. The king brought Sweden to its pinnacle of prestige and power
through his brilliant campaigning and victories, although the Great Northern War eventually ended in Sweden's defeat and end of the
Swedish Empire.
Scientific contributions Apart from being a monarch, the King's interests included mathematics, and anything that would be
beneficial to his warlike purposes. He is attributed as having invented an octal numeral system, which he considered more suitable
for war purposes because all the boxes used for materials such as gunpowder were cubic. According to a report by contemporary
scientist Emanuel Swedenborg, the King had sketched down a model of his thought on a piece of paper and handed it to him at their
meeting in Lund in 1716. The paper was reportedly still in existence a hundred years later, but has since been lost. Several historians
of science suspect that either the multi-talented Emanuel Swedenborg or the brilliant inventor Christopher Polhem – also present at
the meeting in Lund – may have been the true inventor behind this feat, or at least a main contributor.
Literature Charles fascinated many in his time; Voltaire, who could be very sardonic, stopped in front of Charles and took off his
hat.[citation needed] Samuel Johnson, a devoted anti-militarian,[citation needed] wrote in his poem "The Vanity of Human Wishes":
“ On what Foundation stands the warrior's pride,
How just his hopes let Swedish Charles decide;
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,
No dangers fright him, and no labours tire;
O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,
Unconquered lord of pleasure and of pain;
No joys to him pacific sceptres yield;
War sounds the trump, he rushes to the field;
Behold surrounding kings their power to combine,
And one capitulate, and one resign;
Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain;
"Think nothing gained," he cries, "till nought remain,
On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly,
And all be mine beneath the polar sky."
The march begins in military state,
And nations on his eye suspended wait;
Stern Famine guards the solitary coast,
And Winter barricades the realms of Frost;
He comes, not want and cold his course delay; -
Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's day:
The vanquished hero leaves his broken bands,
And shows his miseries in distant lands;
Condemned a needy supplicant to wait,
While ladies interpose, and slaves debate.
But did not Chance at length her error mend?
Did no subverted empire mark his end?
Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound?
Or hostile millions press him to the ground?
His fall was destined to a barren strand,
A petty fortress, and a dubious hand;
He left the name, at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral or adorn a tale. ”
Swedish author Frans G. Bengtsson and Professor Ragnhild Hatton have written noted biographies of Charles XII of Sweden.
In popular culture A character based on Charles XII plays a major role in The Age of Unreason, a series of four alternate history
novels written by American science fiction and fantasy author Gregory Keyes.
References
1. ^ Article Karl in Nordisk familjebok
2. ^ Charles XII's march on Norway - national library
3. ^ Associated Press (16 September 1917). "A ROYAL AUTOPSY DELAYED 200 YEARS". The New York Times.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E2DC103AE433A25755C1A96F9C946696D6CF. Retrieved 20
November 2008.
Ragnhild Hatton, Charles XII. London, 1968.
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charles XII of Sweden

• Charles XII and his aftermath

• The Great Northern War and Charles XII
• Charles XII and his Life and Death (Swedish)
• BBC News item: Who killed Sweden's Warrior King?
• Timeline of 1700-1720 in Sweden
Karl XII
House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach
Born: 17 June 1682 Died: 30 November 1718
Regnal titles
Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Sweden
Ulrika Eleonora
Karl XI 1697–1718
as Queen regnant of Sweden
Preceded by Succeeded by
Duke of Bremen and Prince of Verden
Karl II Ulrika Eleonora
1697–1718
as Duke of Bremen and Prince of as Duchess regnant of Bremen and
(dispossessed by Danish occupation since 1712)
Verden Princess regnant of Verden
Preceded by Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken Succeeded by
Karl I 1697–1718 Gustav Samuel Leopold
as Duke of Zweibrücken as Duke of Zweibrücken

Part of the Monument to Charles XII in Stockholm, with Charles pointing towards Russia
Charles XII and Mazepa at the Dnieper River after Poltava by Gustaf Cederström
Karl_XIIs_likfärd_(1884),_målning_av_Gustaf_Cederström_(1845-1933) The funeral transport of Charles
XII. A romanticized painting by Gustaf Cederström, 1884

From the autopsy of Charles XII in 1916[3]

Carolus - the autograph of the king.

 Carl XII's sarcophagus in Stockholm

Berömda svenska slag, 1700-tal (1)

http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/slb_slag_2.htm