Charles XIII (October 7, 1748 - February 5, 1818), king of Sweden and Norway, the second son of king Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and Louisa Ulrica of Prussia, sister of Frederick the Great, was born at Stockholm on October 7, 1748.
In
1772 he co-operated in the revolutionary plans of his brother
Gustav III of Sweden. 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
Oland (July 26, 1789). On the latter occasion he would have won a signal victory but for the unaccountable remissness of his second-in-command, Admiral Liljehorn. On the death of Gustavus III, Charles, now duke of
Sudermania, acted as
regent of Sweden till 1796; but the real ruler of the country was the narrow-minded and vindictive
Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, whose mischievous influence over him was supreme. These four years were perhaps the most miserable and degrading in Swedish history (an age of lead succeeding an age of gold, as it has well been called) and may be briefly described as alternations of fantastic
jacobinism and ruthless
despotism. On the accession of
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (November 1796), the duke became a mere cipher in politics till the
March 13,
1809, when those who had dethroned Gustav IV Adolf appointed him regent, and finally elected king by
Riksdag of the Estates. But by this time he was prematurely decrepit, and
Jean-Baptist Bernadotte took over the government as soon as he landed in Sweden,
1810. By the union of Sweden and Norway
1814 Charles became king of Norway under the name
Carl II of Norway. After eight years as king only by title, Charles died on
February 5,
1818.
He had married his cousin Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of
Holstein-Gottorp[?] (1759-1818), on
July 7,
1774 but both of their children would die in infancy.
- Louisa Hedvig (1797)
- Carl Adolf, duke of Warmland (1798)
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