Karl XII
| Charles XII | |
|---|---|
Charles XII in 1706 by Johan David Schwartz
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| King of Sweden | |
| Reign | 5 April 1697 – 29 November 1718 O.S. |
| Coronation | 14 December 1697 |
| Predecessor | Charles XI |
| Successor | Ulrika Eleonora |
| Born | 17 June 1682 Tre Kronor, Sweden |
| Died | 30 November 1718 (aged 36) Fredrikshald, Norway |
| Burial | 26 February 1719 Riddarholmen Church, Stockholm |
| House | House of Pfalz-Zweibrücken |
| Father | Charles XI of Sweden |
| Mother | Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Signature |  |
Charles XII, also Carl (Swedish: Karl XII; 17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), Latinized to Carolus Rex, was the King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the only surviving son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. He assumed power, after a seven-month caretaker government, at the age of fifteen.
In 1700, a triple alliance of Denmark–Norway, Saxony–Poland–Lithuania and Russia launched a threefold attack on the Swedish protectorate of Swedish Holstein-Gottorp and provinces of Livonia and Ingria, aiming to draw advantage as Sweden was unaligned and ruled by a young and inexperienced king, thus initiating the Great Northern War. Leading the Swedish army against the alliance Charles won multiple victories despite being usually significantly outnumbered. A major victory over a Russian army some three times the size in 1700 at the Battle of Narva compelled Peter the Great to sue for peace which Charles then rejected. By 1706 Charles, now 24 years old, had forced all of his foes into submission including, in that year, a decisively devastating victory by Swedish forces under general Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld over a combined army of Saxony and Russia at the Battle of Fraustadt. Russia was now the sole remaining hostile power.
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