Charles XI or Carl (; )This article uses the Julian calendar, which was used in Sweden until 1700 (see Swedish calendar for more information). In the Gregorian calendar, Charles was born 4 December 1655 and died 15 April 1697. was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death in 1697.
He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. His father died when he was four years old, so Charles was educated by his governors until his coronation at the age of seventeen. Soon afterward, he was forced out on military expeditions to secure the recently acquired dominions from Danish troops in the Scanian War. Having successfully fought off the Danes, he returned to Stockholm and engaged in correcting the country's neglected political, financial, and economic situation. He managed to sustain peace during the remaining 20 years of his reign. Changes in finance, commerce, national maritime and land armaments, judicial procedure, church government, and education emerged during this period. Charles XI was succeeded by his only son Charles XII, who made use of the well-trained army in battles throughout Europe.
Though Charles was crowned as Charles XI, he was not the 11th king of Sweden of that name. His father's name (as the 10th) was due to his great-grandfather, King Charles IX of Sweden (1604–1611), having adopted his own numeral by using a mythological History of Sweden. That ancestor was actually the third King Charles.Article Karl in Nordisk familjebok The numbering tradition thus begun still continues, with the present king of Sweden being Carl XVI Gustaf.
Under guardian rule
Charles was born in the Stockholm Palace Tre Kronor in November 1655. His father, Charles X Gustav, had left Sweden in July that year to fight in the war against Poland. After several years of warfare, the king returned in the winter of 1659, and gathered his family and the Riksdag of the Estates in Gothenburg. Here he beheld his four-year-old son for the first time. Only a few weeks later, in mid-January 1660, the king fell ill; one month later, he wrote his last will and died.Åberg (1958)
Charles X Gustav's will and testament left the administration of the Swedish Empire during Charles XI's minority to a regency led by Queen Dowager Hedwig Eleonora as both formal regent and chair of a six-member Regency Council with two votes and a final say over the rest of the council. Per Brahe was one member of the council. In addition, Charles X Gustav left command of the army and a seat on the council to his younger brother, Adolph John I, Count Palatine of Kleeburg. These provisions among others led to the remainder of the council immediately challenging the will. On 14 February, the day after King Charles X's death, Hedwig Eleonora sent a message to the council stating that she knew that they contested the will and that she demanded that it should be respected. The council answered that the will must first be discussed with the parliament, and at the following council in Stockholm on 13 May, the council tried to keep her from attending. The parliament questioned whether it would be good for her health or suitable for a widow to attend council, and that if not, it would be hard to keep sending a messenger to her quarters. Her reply that the council would be allowed to meet without her and only inform her when they considered it necessary was met with satisfaction from the council. Hedwig Eleonora's ostensible indifference to politics came as a great relief to the lords of the guardian government.
His mother, Queen Hedvig Eleonora, remained the formal regent until Charles XI attained his majority on 18 December 1672, but she was careful not to embroil herself in political conflicts.Rystad (2003), p. 26 During his first appearances in parliament, Charles spoke to the government through her. He would whisper the questions he had in her ear, and she would ask them aloud and clearly for him.Herman Lindqvist: Historien om Sverige: Storhet och Fall (History of Sweden: Greatness and fall) As an adolescent, Charles devoted himself to sports, exercise, and his favourite pastime of bear-hunting. He appeared ignorant of the very rudiments of statecraft and almost illiterate. His main difficulties are now seen as evident signs of dyslexia, a disability that was poorly understood at the time.Nationalencyclopedin, article Karl XIIRystad (2003), p. 23Åberg (1958) gives examples: he would start with the last letter when reading words, and would spell faton instead of afton, etc. According to many contemporary sources, the king was considered poorly educated and therefore not qualified to conduct himself effectively in foreign affairs.Upton, Anthony F. (1998). Charles XI and Swedish Absolutism, 1660–1697. Cambridge University Press, 1998. , p. 91: "There was a widespread contemporary impression that the king was poorly qualified and ineffective in foreign affairs [...] The Danish minister, M. Scheel, reported to his king how Charles XI seemed embarrassed by questions, kept his eyes down and was taciturn [...] The French diplomat, Jean Antoine de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux, described him as 'a prince with few natural talents', so obsessed with getting money out of his subjects that he 'does not concern himself much with foreign affairs'. The Dane, Jens Juel, made a similar comment." Charles was dependent on his mother and advisors to interact with the foreign envoys since he had no foreign language skills apart from German and was ignorant of the world outside Sweden.Upton, p. 91.
Italian writer Lorenzo Magalotti visited Stockholm in 1674 and described the teenage Charles XI as "virtually afraid of everything, uneasy to talk to foreigners, and not daring to look anyone in the face". Another trait was a deep religious devotion: he was God-fearing, frequently prayed kneeling and attended sermons. Magalotti otherwise described the king's main pursuits as hunting, the upcoming war, and jokes.Rystad (2003) p. 37Åberg (1958), pp. 63–65
Scanian War
The situation in Europe was shaky during this time and Sweden was going through financial problems. Charles XI's guardians decided to negotiate an alliance with France in 1671. This would ensure that Sweden would not be isolated if there was a war, and that the national finances would improve thanks to French subsidies.Åberg (1959) pp. 50–53 France directed its aggression against the Dutch in 1672, and by the spring of 1674, Sweden was forced to take part by directing forces towards Brandenburg, under the lead of Karl Gustav Wrangel.Åberg, p. 66
Denmark was an ally of the Habsburg Holy Roman Empire, and it was evident that Sweden was on the verge of yet another war with that country. A remedy was attempted by chancellor Per Brahe, who traveled to Copenhagen in the spring of 1675 to try to get the Danish princess Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark engaged to the Swedish king. In mid-June 1675, the engagement was officially proclaimed. However, when news arrived of the Swedish defeat at the Battle of Fehrbellin, King Christian V of Denmark declared war on Sweden that September.Åberg (1958), pp. 71–72
The Swedish Privy Council continued its internal feuds, and the king was forced to rule without them.Åberg (1958), pp. 72–74 The 20-year-old king was inexperienced and considered ill-served amidst what has been called the anarchy in the nation. He dedicated autumn in his newly formed camp in Scania to arm the Swedish nation for battle in the Scanian War. The Swedish soldiers in Scania were outnumbered and out-equipped by the Danes. In May 1676, they invaded Scania, taking Landskrona and Helsingborg, then proceeding through Bohuslän towards Halmstad. The King had to grow up quickly. He suddenly found himself alone and under great pressure.Åberg (1958), pp. 75–76
Victory at the Battle of Halmstad (17 August 1676), when Charles and his commander-in-chief Simon Grundel-Helmfelt defeated a Danish division, was the king's first glimmer of good luck. Charles continued south through Scania, arriving on the tableland of the flooded Kävlinge River – near Lund – on 11 November. The Danish army commanded by Christian V was positioned on the other side. It was impossible to cross the river and Charles had to wait for weeks until it froze over. This finally happened on 4 December and Charles launched a surprise attack on the Danish forces to fight the Battle of Lund. This was one of the bloodiest engagements of its time. Of the over 20,000 combatants, about 8,000 perished on the battlefield.Åberg (1958), pp. 77–79Rystad (2003), p. 95, estimates that 8,000–9,000 men fell out of 20,000 All the Swedish commanders showed ability, but the chief glory of the day was attributed to Charles XI and his fighting spirit. The battle proved to be a decisive one for the rule of the Scanian lands and it has been described as the most significant event for Charles' personality. Charles commemorated this date the rest of his life.Åberg (1958) p. 81Rystad (2003) p. 97
In the following year, 13,000 men led by Charles routed 12,000 Danes at the Battle of Landskrona. This proved to be the last pitched battle of the war since, in September 1678, Christian V evacuated his army back to Zealand. In 1679, Louis XIV of France dictated the terms of a general pacification, and Charles XI, who is said to have bitterly resented "the insufferable tutelage" of the French king, was forced at last to acquiesce to a peace that managed to leave his empire practically intact. Peace was made with Denmark in the treaties of Fontainebleau (1679) and Lund, and with Brandenburg in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679).
Post-war actions
Charles devoted the rest of his life to avoiding further warfare by gaining larger independence in foreign affairs, while he also promoted economic stabilization and a reorganization of the military. His remaining 20 years on the throne were the longest peacetime of the Swedish Empire (1611–1718).Nationalencyklopedin, article Karl XI
In the early years, he was assisted by the man who had become his trusted prime-minister, Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna (1635–1680). Some sources say the king was basically dependent on Gyllenstierna.Åberg (1958), pp. 106–107 His sudden death in 1680 opened up the road to the monarch, and many men tried to get close to the king to take Gyllenstierna's place.Rystad (2003) p. 165
Financial restoration
Sweden's weak economy had suffered during the war and was now in a deep crisis. Charles assembled the Riksdag of the Estates in October 1680. The assembly has been described as one of the most important held by the Riksdag of the Estates.Rystad (2003), p. 167 Here, the king finally pushed through the reduction ordeal, something that had been discussed in the Riksdag since 1650. It meant that any land or object previously owned by the crown and lent or given away – including counties, baronies and lordships – could be recovered. It affected many prominent members of the nobility, some of whom were ruined by it. One of them was the former guardian and Lord Chief Justice Magnus De La Gardie, who, among many other Estates, had to return the extravagant 248-room Läckö Castle.Rystad (2003) p. 181 The reduction process involved the examination of every title deed in the kingdom, including the dominions, and it resulted in a complete readjustment of the nation's finances.Åberg (1958), pp. 93–94
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