Charles XII
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King Charles
XII of Sweden
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Born on the 17
th June 1682, Charles was a
skinny and rather frail child, however when he was only four years old
he was riding out with his father and taking part in tough masculine
pursuits.
[i] When he was
eleven years of age his mother, Queen Ulrika Eleonora died. The young
Prince came down with smallpox soon after, which left his face
pock-marked, but his mothers death caused a closer relationship to
develop between Charles and his father who, after his wife’s demise
spent much more time with his children; this, in turn affecting the
boy’s mannerisms, “… his speech became brief, dry and
understated, saved from being hopelessly cryptic by occasional
glimmers of sympathy and wit. Honour and sanctity of one’s word
became his two cardinal principles: A king must put justice and honour
ahead of everything; once given, his word must be kept.”
[ii]
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Sketch of
Charles on campaign
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With the death of his father in 1697 Charles, being
only fourteen years of age, came under a council of Regents who took
control of running Swedish affairs. This proved impractical as the
members of the Regency Council seldom agreed on policy, and realising
that Charles was not the kind of prince to be pushed into the
background, he was declared king in November, then aged only fifteen.
His coronation was something of a fiasco, with the entire entourage
being ordered to wear black in memory of the old king; the crown fell
off Charles’s head while he was mounting his horse, the archbishop
dropped the anointing oil, Charles refused to give the traditional
royal oath. Finally, taking the crown, he placed it upon his own head.
[iii]
A very colourful view of Charles’s character and
make up is given by General Fuller:
‘…Charles was knight errant and berserker in
one. He lived for war, loved its hardships and adventures even more
than victory itself, and the more impossible the odds against him, the
more eagerly he accepted them. Wrapped in an impenetrable reserve, his
faith in himself was boundless, and his power of self-deception
unlimited- nothing seemed to him to be beyond his reach. The numerical
superiority of his enemy; the strength of his position; the weariness
of his troops; their lack of armament or supplies; foundering roads,
mud, rain, frost and scorching sun appeared to him but obstacles set
in his path by Providence to test his genius. Nothing perturbed him,
every danger and hazard beckoned him on. High-spirited, but always
under self-control, faithful to his word and a considerate
disciplinarian, from the moment he took the field he became a legend
to his men, un étandard vivant which endowed them with a faith in his
leadership that has never been surpassed. His fearlessness was
phenomenal, his energy prodigious, and added to these qualities he
possessed so quick a tactical eye that one glance was sufficient to
reveal to him the weakest point in his enemy’s line or position,
which at once he attacked like a thunderbolt. Such was the boy king
whose Baltic provinces the self-indulgent Augustus and the boorish
Peter over their wine-cups had decided to filch and divide between
themselves.’[iv]
