King Carl XIII of Sweden and Norway. Part III.

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Assassination, Carl XIII of Sweden and Norway, Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Coup, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway, King Gustaf III of Sweden, King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden

Reign of Gustav IV Adolf

On the assassination of Gustaf III in 1792, Carl acted as regent of Sweden till 1796 on behalf of his nephew, King Gustaf IV Adolf who was a minor when his father was shot in the Stockholm opera. Gustaf III had designated him regent in his earlier will. When he was dying, he altered the will, and while still appointing Carl as regent of his minor son, he was no longer to rule absolute, but restricted by a government consisted of the supporters of Gustaf III. After the death of the monarch, however, Carl successfully contested the will and was given unlimited power as sole regent.

Carl, as Duke-regent was in practice not willing or capable to manage the state affairs, reportedly because of his lack of energy and staying power. Instead, he entrusted the power of government to his favorite and adviser Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, whose influence over him was supreme. These four years have been considered perhaps the most miserable and degrading period in Swedish history; an Age of Lead succeeding an Age of Gold, as it has been called, and may be briefly described as alternations of fantastic jacobinism and the ruthless despotism.

Reuterholm ruled as the uncontested regent de facto the entire tenure of the regency, “only seldom disturbed by other influences or any personal will of charles”. The unexpectedly mild sentences of the involved in the regicide of Gustaf III attracted attention. In 1794 the discovery of the Armfelt Conspiracy exposed the opposition of the Gustavian Party. The marriage negotiations of the young king disturbed the relationship to Russia, and the alliance with revolutionary France was greatly disliked by other powers.

On the coming of age of Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden in November 1796, the duke’s regency ended. His relationship to Gustaf IV Adolf was cordial though never close, and he was not entrusted with much responsibility during the rule of his nephew. In 1797 and 1798, he and his consort had their first children, though in neither case the child lived. After this, the Duke and Duchess made a journey through Germany and Austria in 1798–99.

In 1803, the Boheman affair caused a severe conflict between Gustaf IV Adolf and the ducal couple. The mystic Karl Adolf Boheman (1764–1831) had been introduced to the couple by Count Magnus Stenbock in 1793 and gained great influence by promising to reveal scientific secrets about the occult.

Boheman inducted them into a secret society Yellow Rose in 1801, where both sexes where accepted as members, and to which the Counts and Countesses Ruuth and Brahe as well as the mother of the queen were introduced. Boheman was arrested upon an attempt to recruit the monarch, who accused him of revolutionary agendas and expelled him.

Duke Carl and Duchess Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte were exposed in an informal investigation by Gustaf IV Adolf, and the duchess was questioned in the presence of the royal council. In 1808, Carl was again chief commander during Gustaf IV Adolf’s stay in Finland. He is presumed to have been, if not involved, aware of the plans to depose Gustaf IV Adolf in 1809.

Carl kept passive during the Coup of 1809, and accepted the post of regent from the victorious party after having assured himself that the deposed monarch was not in mortal danger. Carl was initially not willing to accept the crown, however, out of consideration for the former king’s son, Crown Prince Gustaf, Prince of Vasa

Reign

On March 13, 1809, those who had dethroned Gustaf IV Adolf appointed Carl regent, and he was finally elected king by the Riksdag of the Estates. By the time he became king, as Carl XIII of Sweden and Norway, he was 60 years old and prematurely decrepit. In November 1809, he was affected by a heart attack, and was not able to participate in government. The new constitution which was introduced also made his involvement in politics difficult. A planned attempt to enlarge the royal power in 1809–10 was not put into effect because of his indecisiveness and health condition.

His incapacity triggered a search for a suitable heir. The initial choice was a Danish prince, Christian August, the son of Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1721–1794) and Princess Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1744–1770). He was a younger brother of Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Augustenburg, brother-in-law of Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark and an uncle of Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg, Queen consort of Denmark and Christian August, Duke of Augustenburg. He did not marry.

As heir to the throne of Sweden and Norway Christian August took the name Charles August upon being adopted by King Carl XIII. However, Charles August died only a few months after his arrival in Sweden.

One of Napoleon’s generals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, was then chosen as his successor. The new Crown Prince, adopting the name Carl Johan took over the government as soon as he landed in Sweden in 1810. Carl XIII’s condition deteriorated every year, especially after 1812, and he eventually became but a mute witness during the government councils chaired by the crown prince, having lost his memory and no longer being able to communicate.

By the Union of Sweden and Norway on November 4, 1814 Carl XIII became King of Norway under the name Carl II of Norway. After eight years as king only by title, Carl XIII died without a natural heir on February 5, 1818, and Bernadotte succeeded him as King Carl XIV Johan.

King Carl XIII of Sweden. Part II.

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Carl XIII of Sweden, Coup, Duke of Södermanland, Dukedom of Courland, Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, King of Norway, Russo-Swedish War

Carl was described as dependent and easily influenced. His numerous affairs gave him the reputation of being a libertine. He was reputed for his “harem” of lovers, of which the more well known were Augusta von Fersen, Charlotte Eckerman, Françoise-Éléonore Villain, Mariana Koskull and Charlotte Slottsberg, the last one reputed to have had political influence over him.

Carl unsuccessfully courted Magdalena Rudenschöld, and her refusal of his advances has been pointed out as the cause of the harsh treatment he exposed her to as regent during the Armfelt conspiracy. After the late 1790s, when his health deteriorated as a result of a series of rheumatic attacks, his relationship to his consort improved and she gained more influence over him.

The Duke was known for his interest in the supernatural and mysticism, and he was engaged in several secret societies. He was a member of the Freemasons. He was reportedly a client of the fortune teller Ulrica Arfvidsson, and he also favored the medium Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou.

Duke Carl was given several political tasks during his tenure as a duke. In 1777, he served as regent during Gustaf III’s stay in Russia. In 1780, he served as formal chief commander during the king’s stay in Spa. The same year, Gustaf III named him regent for his son should he succeed him while still a minor. However, he was not appointed regent during the journey of the king to Italy and France in 1783-84, and in the following years, he came under the influence of Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, who was in opposition to the monarch, and came to be less trusted by Gustaf III.

In 1785, he was offered the Dukedom of Courland by the nobility of the Duchy and given the support of Gustaf III. This however never materialized.

On the outbreak of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788 he served with distinction as admiral of the fleet, especially at the battles of Hogland (June 7, 1788) and Öland (July 26, 1789). On the latter occasion he would have won a signal victory but for the remissness of his second-in-command, Admiral Liljehorn.

The autumn of 1789, Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte wished to depose Gustaf III and place her husband Duke Carl upon the throne. Her ideal was the Swedish Constitution of 1772, which she saw as a good tool for an enlightened aristocracy, and the war and the Union and Security Act had made her a leading part of the opposition. She cooperated with Prince Fredrik Adolf of Sweden and Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm. The plan was to force Carl to act as a symbol of the opposition to the Union and Security Act when the time was right. When the time arrived to make Carl act, however, he refused, which effectively foiled the coup.

Carl was in close connection to the opposition against Gustaf III, and it is debated whether he knew of and supported the plans to assassinate the king.

October 1, 1754: Birth of Emperor Paul I of Russia. Part I.

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Caroline of Zweibrücken, Coup, Emperor Paul I of Russia, Emperor Peter III of Russia, Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia, Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt, Russian Empire, Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt

Paul I (October 1, 1754 – March 23, 1801) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great.

Paul was born in the Palace of Elizabeth of Russia, Saint Petersburg. His father, the future Emperor Peter III, was the nephew and heir apparent of the Empress. The last edition of Catherine’s memoirs explained that Peter III was certainly Paul’s father after all, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her lover Sergei Saltykov.

His mother, born the daughter of a minor German prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, would later depose her own husband (Paul’s father) and reign in her own right as Catherine II, known to history as Catherine the Great.

Paul was taken almost immediately after birth from his mother by the Empress Elizabeth, whose overwhelming attention may have done him more harm than good. Once Catherine had done her duty in providing an heir to the throne, Elizabeth had no more use for her and Paul was taken from his mother at birth and allowed to see her only during very limited moments. In all events, the Russian Imperial court, first of Elizabeth and then of Catherine, was not an ideal home for a lonely, needy and often sickly boy

Empress Elizabeth died in 1762, when Paul was 8 years old, and he became crown prince with the accession of his father to the throne as Peter III. However, within a matter of months, Paul’s mother engineered a coup and not only deposed her husband but, for a long time, was believed to have had him killed by her supporters. It was later found that Peter III probably died due to a fit of apoplexy when exerting himself in a dispute with Prince Feodor, one of his jailers. Some historians believe that he was murdered by a vindictive Alexei Orlov. After the death of Peter III, Catherine then placed herself on the throne in a surpassingly grand and ostentatious coronation ceremony. 8 year old Paul retained his status as heir to the Imperial throne.

In 1772, Paul, turned eighteen. Paul and his adviser, Panin, believed he was the rightful Emperor Russia, as the only son of Peter III. His adviser had also taught him that the rule of women endangered good leadership, which was why he was so interested in gaining the throne.

Distracting him, Catherine took trouble to find Paul a wife among the minor princesses of the Holy Roman Empire. She chose Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstad, who acquired the Russian name “Natalia Alexeievna”, a daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Caroline of Zweibrücken.

(Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstad)

The bride’s older sister, Frederika Louisa, was already married to the Crown Prince of Prussia, the future King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and she became Queen of Prussia.

Around this time, Catherine allowed Paul to attend the council in order that he might be trained for his work as Emperor. Wilhelmina died in childbirth on April 15, 1776, three years after the wedding. It soon became even clearer to Catherine that Paul wanted power, including his separate court. There was talk of having both Paul and his mother co-rule Russia, but Catherine narrowly avoided it. A fierce rivalry began between them, as Catherine knew she could never truly trust him and Paul wanted his mother’s power.

(Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg)

After her daughter-in-law’s death, Catherine began work forthwith on the project of finding another wife for Paul, and on October 7, 1776, less than six months after the death of his first wife, Paul married again. The bride was the beautiful Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, who received the new Orthodox name Maria Feodorovna. Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg was the daughter of Duke Friedrich II Eugene of Württemberg and Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt

Their first child, Alexander, (future Emperor) was born in 1777, within a year of the wedding, and on this occasion the Empress gave Paul an estate, Pavlovsk. Paul and his wife gained leave to travel through western Europe in 1781–1782. In 1783, the Empress granted him another estate, Gatchina Palace, where he was allowed to maintain a brigade of soldiers whom he drilled on the Prussian model, an unpopular stance at the time.