Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/597

CHARLES X. GUSTAVUS. SI- CHARLES XIL a-r.iinst him. Charles died in Gothenburg, Feb- ruary 13, 1660. Consult Geijer uiid Carlson, Oestliirhtc Schucdeiis, Vol. IV. (Gotha. l§o5-75). CHARLES XI. (1655-97). King of Sweden from 1660 to 16117. He was the son of Charles X. and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein, and was born November 24, 1655. During his minority the government was intrusted to his motlier, Hed« ig. as regent. By the Peaee of Oliva ( May ,'i. 1660) with Poland, Sweden ol>tained Esthonia, part of Livonia, and Oesel, and the Polish nion- arih renounced all pretensions to the Swedisli irown: that of Co|)enhagen (.June 6, 1660) was generally eonlirmatory of tlie treaty of Roeskilde with nenniark in 16.5S. (See Charles X.) A treaty with Russia on the basis of the status quo followed iu 1661 : and from this period till 1672 the kingdom was free from foreign wars, but it was misgoverned by the regeney and the educa- tion of the young King was neglected, willfully, it is charged, in order that he might longer be kept iu leading-strings. Intil lie reached man- hood he could neither read nor write. In De- cember, 1672, Charles assumed the reins of gov- ernment. In 1674 he wa^ called upon by Louis Xl'.. under a treaty made by the regency, to engjige in the war of France on the Gemian princes and Holland. The Swedes invaded Bran- <lenl)urg and met a severe defeat at Fehrbellin in 167.5. Charles, however, overthrew the Danes, ■who were allies of Brandenburg, at Halmstadt, T^und. and l.andskiona. but his fleet was de- feated by the Dutch near Oeland, and again by the Danes at Blekinge and Kioge; and many of Sweden's recent acquisitions were wrested from her. These, however, were restored by the peace of Saint-Gerniain-enLaye (September 17, 1679). Charles now entered upon an active period of reform in the administration, aided by his most trusted counselor, John Gyllenstem. In 16S0 a struggle commenced between the Crown, sup- ported by the burghers and peasants, on the one hand, and the nobles on the other; and a considerable diminution of the power of the nobles was the consequence. Tlie resumption of all the Crown lands which had been alienated since 1609 was a fatal blow to the power of the nobles, and by a voluntarj- declaration of the estates. December 9. 1682", the King was invested with absolute authority. By a judi- cious administration of the revenues. Charles was enabled to extinguish the public debt, reor- ganize the fleet and army, and by 1693 to dis- pense with extraordinary subsidies. Though absolute, he never imposed a tax but with the consent of the estates: and he published every year a detailed account of revenue and expendi- ture. He established the finances on a sound basis and brought the army and navy of the kingdom to a state of high efficiency. The codi- fication of the laws was conunenced, but was unfinished at his death, which took place in Stockholm, April 15. 1697. Consult Geijer and Carlson, fleschichlr t<f-liire(lrns. Vols. IV.-V. (fnitlia. ls.->.-,-75). CHARLES XII. (1682-1718). King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He was the eldest son of Charles XI. and of I'Irica Eleonora of Denmark, and wa.s born in Stockholm, .June 27, 1682. His youth gave no promise, either of ability or purpose befitting a sovereign, but he showed his mettle when Sweden, soon after his acc-ession, was tlifatened by a coalition of Frederick I'. of Denmark, Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and Peter of Russia, who was yet to win his title of 'the GresU.' Sweden had been for seventy years one of the great powers of Europe, as a result of the policy of the king.s of the house of Vasa (q.v.) ; it possessed territory all about the Baltic, and its troops were reputed the best in Europe. The Var of the Xorth that was now brought on by the coalition was at fir.st on Sweden's part "a war of defense: then, through the successes of Charles, a war of aggression and conquest, and finally, through his failure, a struggle for ex- istence. Its story is a mingling of brilliant tri- umph and disheartening defeat, both resulting from the meteoric and ill-balanced genius, reck- less ambition, and fatal obstinacy of the Swedish King, qualities that have won for him in history the name of 'Madman of the North.' He was a i>orn soldier, and had taken Alexander the Great for his favorite hero. He was fond of all daring sports, careless of exposure, and unsp:iring of himself and others. When intelligence of the hostile league that threatened him reached Stock- holm, the young King surprised every one around him by the energy and efficiency he displayed. Frederick IV. of Denmark had invaded Schleswig- Holstein, whose Duke, a brother-in-law of the Swedish King, had called the latter to his as- sistance. In a six weeks' campaign Denmark was brougl'.t to terms and Frederick signed the Peace of Travendal on August 8, 1700. Charles now turned promptly to the defense of the Swed- ish possessions on the Baltic menaced by Russia and Poland. Russia sought to obtain tiie Swed- ish provinces of Ingria and Carelia, while Livo- nia and Esthonia. whose nobility detested the firm and often severe rule of Sweden, wished to put themselves under the weaker Polish mon- archy. Hastening toward Riga. Charles com- pelled the Poles to raise the siege of that place, and then by forced marches brought his army of a little over 8000 men to the relief of Nan"a in Esthonia, which was beleaguered by 40,000 Russians, while Peter himself had gone to hasten the advance of 20.000 more. The disciplined Swedish troops, although jaded by forced marches, administered a severe defeat to the Rus- sians before the walls of the city (November 30, 1700), and Europe expected to see the whole Russian Empire brought under the sway of the joiuig Swede who seemed to have revived the martiaU glory of the great Gustavus. Unfortu- nately for Charles, he seems to have entertained the same mad dream of conquest. Only the as- tute Peter looked the situation squarely in the face and .sought to learn its lesson for Russia. He strengthened his alliance with Augustus of Poland, and at Birsen in February, 1701. it was agreed that Augtistus should occupy the atten- tion of the Swedes in the west and Peter in the east, and that they should divide the Baltic provinces. The war thus opened in Denmark and the Baltic provinces involved the control of the Baltic and lasted for twenty-one years, ending in the marked diminution of the power of Sweden and the rise of Rvissia as the great Baltic power. Its first years, however, pointed to no such result. Influenced by the advice of his generals, Charles did not follow up his suc- cess against Peter, who was really his dangerous antagonist, btit sought the overthrow of the King of Poland, while Peter was left to develop his