Life and Politics
Prince Charles was appointed grand admiral when he was but few days old. He was described as a good dancer at the amateur theatre of the royal court. Reportedly he was not very close to his mother; the Queen preferred her youngest children, Sophie Albertine and Frederick Adolf. Charles was, however, described as close to his brother Gustav during their childhood. In 1772 he cooperated in the revolutionary plans of his elder brother, King Gustav III of Sweden and as a sign of recognition, was appointed Duke of Södermanland.
Charles was early the object of his mother's plans to arrange political marriages for her children. Initially, he was to be married to Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt according to his mother's wishes, but the government refused to issue negotiations because of the costs. After the coup d'état which introduced absolute monarchy in 1772, his brother Gustav III arranged a marriage between Charles and his cousin Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp. They lived de facto separate private lives and both had extramarital affairs. Charles was known for his "harem" of mistresses, of which the most notable were Augusta von Fersen, Charlotte Eckerman, Charlotte Slottsberg, who also had influence over him, and Mariana Koskull. He unsuccessfully courted Magdalena Rudenschöld, who refused him, after which she was treated with what has been regarded as vindictiveness during the Armfelt conspiracy. After the late 1790s, his health deteriorated by a series of rheumatic attacks, his relationship to his consort improved and she gained more influence over him.
Charles was described as dependent and easily influenced by others, and his many affairs gave him the reputation of being a libertine. He was very interested in the supernatural, secret societies and mysticism. It is said that he was one of the best clients of the celebrated fortune teller Ulrica Arfvidsson and even asked her for political advice, and he also favoured the medium Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou, who also exercised great influence over the duke. He was also a member of the Freemasons and in 1811 founded the Order of Charles XIII, a Swedish order of chivalry awarded only to Protestant Freemasons.
Charles was given several official tasks during his period as duke. In 1777, he served as regent during Gustav III's stay in Russia, in 1780 he served as formal chief commander during the King's stay in Spa. 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 (7 June 1788) and Öland (26 July 1789). On the latter occasion he would have won a signal victory but for the unaccountable remissness of his second-in-command, Admiral Liljehorn.
In 1785, he was offered the Dukedom of Courland by the nobility of the Duchy and given the support of Gustav III. but the plans never materialized.
Charles was in close connection to the opposition against Gustav III, and it is debated whether he knew of and supported the plans to assassinate the King.
On the assassination of Gustav III in 1792, Charles acted as regent of Sweden till 1796 on behalf of his nephew, King Gustav IV, who was a minor when his father was shot in the Stockholm opera. The de facto regent, however, was in fact 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 well been called, and may be briefly described as alternations of the fantastic jacobinism and the ruthless despotism.
On the coming of age of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden in November 1796, the duke's regency ended. In 1803, the Boheman affair caused a severe conflict between Gustav 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 and founded what he described as a branch of the Freemasons 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. The ducal couple were exposed in an informal investigation by the monarch, and the duchess was questioned in the presence of the royal council. In 1808, he was again chief commander during Gustav IV Adolf's stay in Finland.
On 13 March 1809, those who had dethroned Gustav IV Adolf appointed him regent, and he was finally elected king by the Riksdag of the Estates. But by this time he was prematurely decrepit, and Crown Prince Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte took over the government as soon as he landed in Sweden in 1810. By the Union of Sweden and Norway on 4 November 1814 Charles became king of Norway under the name Carl II of Norway. After eight years as king only by title, Charles died without a natural heir on 5 February 1818, and Bernadotte succeeded him as King Charles XIV John.
He was the 872nd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain.
Read more about this topic: Charles XIII Of Sweden
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