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Charles XIII of Sweden, Charles XIV Johan of Sweden, Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden, Gustav V of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden
Today marks the 200th Anniversary of the House of Bernadotte on the Swedish throne.
The House of Bernadotte (/ˌbɜːrnəˈdɒt/ BUR-nə-DOT; Swedish pronunciation: [bɛɳäˈdɔtː]) is the royal house of Sweden, which has reigned since February 5, 1818. Between 1818 and 1905, it was also the royal house of Norway. Its founder, Carl XIV-III Johan of Sweden and Norway born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte and was adopted by the elderly King Carl XIII-II of Sweden and Norway who had no other heir and whose Holstein-Gottorp branch of the House of Oldenburg thus was soon to be extinct.
History of the Royal House
Following the conclusion of Finnish War in 1809, Sweden lost possession of Finland, which had constituted roughly the eastern half of the Swedish realm for centuries. Resentment towards King Gustav IV Adolf precipitated an abrupt coup d’état. Gustav Adolf (and his son Gustav) was deposed and his uncle Carl XIII was elected King in his place. However, Carl XIII was 61 years old and prematurely senile. He was also childless; one child had been stillborn and another died after less than a week. It was apparent almost as soon as Carl XIII ascended the throne that the Swedish branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp would die with him. In 1810 the Riksdag of the Estates, the Swedish parliament, elected a Danish prince, Prince Christian-August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Augustenborg, as heir-presumptive to the throne. He took the name Carl-August, but died later that same year.
At this time, Emperor Napoleon I of France controlled much of continental Europe, and some of his client kingdoms were headed by his brothers. The Riksdag decided to choose a king of whom Napoleon would approve. On August 21, 1810, the Riksdag elected Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a Marshal of France, as heir presumptive to the Swedish throne.
Bernadotte was elected partly because a large part of the Swedish Army, in view of future complications with Russia, were in favour of electing a soldier, and partly because he was also personally popular, owing to the kindness he had shown to the Swedish prisoners in Lübeck. The matter was decided by one of the Swedish courtiers, Baron Karl Otto Mörner, who, entirely on his own initiative, offered the succession to the Swedish crown to Bernadotte.
On February 5, 1818 following the death of Carl XIII-II of Sweden and Norway The Crown Prince became King Carl XIV Johan in Sweden and King Carl III Johan in Norway. Initially the king was popular in both countries. The democratic process and forces steadily matured under the King’s restrained executive power. With the accession of Carl-Johan as king the old dynasty of Holstein-Gottorp was replaced with the House of Bernadotte.
Genealogically the current occupant of the Swedish throne, King Carl XVI Gustav, is a descendant of both the House of Bernadotte and the old House of Holstein-Gottorp. Princess Sofia Wilhelmina of Sweden (May 21, 1801 – July 6, 1865), was the eldest daughter of the deposed king, Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden and Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden (1781–1826). Princess Sofia Wilhelmina married Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, and their granddaughter Victoria of Baden would marry the Bernadotte king Gustaf V of Sweden on September 20, 1881 thus making the present King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden as Gustav IV Adolph’s heir.
The coat of arms of the House of Bernadotte dimidiates the coat of arms of the House of Vasa (heraldic right) and the coat of arms of Bernadotte as Prince of Pontecorvo (heraldic left). It is visible as an inescutcheon in the Greater Coat of Arms of the Realm.
When elected to be Swedish royalty the new heir had been called Prince Bernadotte according the promotions he received from Emperor Napoleon I, culminating in sovereignty over the Principality of Pontecorvo. Some Swedish experts have asserted that all of his male heirs have had the right to use that Italian title, since the Swedish government never made payments promised Carl-Johan to get him to give up his position in Pontecorvo.
Some members of the house who lost their royal status and Swedish titles due to unapproved marriages have also been given the titles Prince Bernadotte and Count of Wisborg in the nobility of other countries.