Charles X. Gustavus was one of the most remarkable men of his day, whose wonderful deeds of bravery and genius caused amazement through their brilliancy, and anxiety through their recklessness. At the first glance his appearance gave no idea of the real man. He was short, and of an unusually square and clumsy build, with a head of coarse proportions. But there was the fire of genius in his sharp blue eyes; under the black hair, and below the thin black mustache, there was a mouth of firm and resolute lines. In the versatility of his endowment, he stands as one of the first among Swedish kings, the rich gifts of the Vasas and the Wittelsbachs being united in him. As a warrior he was great, yet more of a tactician than a strategist. As a statesman his views were almost as clairvoyant as those of his grandfather, Charles IX., but he gave way to the impressions and impulses of the moment. He failed to make the Baltic a Swedish inland lake, but gained for his country the inestimable gift of a natural frontier to the east and south, by the acquisition of Bohuslæn, Halland, Scania and Bleking, provinces more valuable to Sweden than a whole empire south of the Baltic.
Charles XI. was a child of four years at the death of his father; his country at war with a world, and in a sorely afflicted condition. In the will of Charles X., the queen-dowager, Hedvig Eleonore, was named to preside over the government, with two votes, and the brother of Charles X., the duke Adolphus John, was to take a seat with her as Riksmarsk. This arrangement displeased the nobility, understanding that it was directed against their influence, and they had the duke excluded from the government. The lower Estates of the Riksdag sided with the duke, but soon gave up his cause as they found that he was utterly vain, quick-tempered, and without stability or genius. Lars Kagg, a good warrior, was appointed Riksmarsk in his place. Herman Fleming, the able state treasurer, was removed as disagreeable to the nobility, his ill-health being taken as an excuse, and was succeeded by Gustavus Bonde. Peter Brahe remained Riksdrotset, Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie state chancellor, and Charles Gustavus Wrangel state admiral. Kagg died in 1661 and was succeeded by Wrangel, Gustavus Otto Stenbock becoming state admiral.
The first duty of the new government was to make peace for the bleeding country. This was effected in 1660 through the treaties of Oliva and Copenhagen, and in a most satisfactory manner, speaking high for the diplomatic ability of the governing ones, but also of the ignorance of the powers of the utter helplessness of Sweden, in great contrast to her outward political grandeur. Poland ceded Livonia to Sweden, and Denmark all the territory gained by Charles X., except the district of Drontheim and the island of Bornholm, while Russia was satisfied with the boundaries set by Gustavus Adolphus.
The government, with care and consideration, made the necessary arrangements to have the new provinces intimately connected with the country. Representatives were sent to the Riksdag of 1664, and the University of Lund, in Scania, was founded in 1668. If to this is added that a good deal was done to encourage art and science, principally through Count Magnus de la Gardie, who was the Mæcenas of Sweden, the meritorious deeds of the government during Charles XI.’s minority are enumerated. The less that is said of it in addition, and of its leading men, the better for these. They were men of some patriotism, but, through their exceedingly aristocratic views and lack of stability, unable to further the interests of their country, so badly in need of reform. There was not one of them who possessed the abilities of a statesman. They lived like princes in their counties, each holding court and possessing various considerable castles, all the members of the higher aristocracy upholding the same standard of luxury and power, appointing clergymen and judges, founding towns, and discussing the necessity of having mints and coins of their own. Magnus de la Gardie, count of Leckœ, and married to a sister of Charles X., was the greatest of these lords. Close to him came Peter Brahe, count of Visingsborg, and Charles Gustavus Wrangel, count of Skokloster. The barons approached the counts in their display of wealth. The lower nobility, whose members often served at the courts of the great lords, were not satisfied with this state of affairs. But in the contempt and oppression in which they held the lower classes, they agreed with the higher nobility, who made no secret of their intention to reduce the peasants to slaves. The peasantry, suffering and neglected, became the prey of a superstition which was shared by the more educated members of society, accusations and legal executions of witches becoming numerous.
The government was not agreed between themselves upon many questions and turned to the state council for support. The old privileged class of councillors forced their influence upon the government, and the position between the two became quite intimate, at the same time difficult to define. The state council was as divided in its opinions as the government, which fact had a disastrous influence upon state politics and administration. Great negligence was shown in the various departments, the records of receipts and expenditures being imperfect, and a constant lack of funds existing. Forgery and thefts were committed by high and low officials. Administrative orders were not obeyed. The army and the navy suffered utter neglect.
During such a state of affairs the abominable practice of receiving “subsidies” came into use. The government received, now from one foreign power, now from another, a large sum of money to back its respective interests with the military forces or the diplomatic influence of Sweden. This practice, ignoble in itself, injured the dignity of the state and had a demoralizing influence. Thanks to it, Sweden sided sometimes against, but mostly with, France, her old ally, who, in Count de la Gardie, had an enthusiastic friend. In 1662, Sweden schemed with France for the election of a French prince as king of Poland; in 1667, she formed, with England and Holland, a triple alliance against France. Louis XIV. soon won back the friendship of the government of Sweden, thus having this country as his only ally when reaching the climax of his success. At last the Swedish promises to send an army against the elector of Brandenburg were fulfilled. It was under the command of the old and invalid Count Wrangel, and suffered defeats at Ratenau and Fehrbellin, in 1675. These were of little importance, or extension, in themselves, but they injured the prestige of Sweden, so long supremely victorious on German soil, and caused her enemies to combine their efforts in order to regain their lost possessions.
Charles XI. was declared of age at seventeen, in 1672, when he himself took charge of the government, yet for a few years standing under the influence of Count de la Gardie. King Charles was, as a child, physically weak, and the astrologers had prophesied that he would die an infant. For this reason the queen-dowager, a very ordinary woman, gave all her attention to have her son develop a strong and sound constitution. The child was given its own way in everything, casting aside books and rules for his individual pleasures. King Charles grew up an ignorant self-willed and headstrong youth, who delighted in hunting and reckless riding on horseback. His companions, manners and language were not of the choicest order, and he remained all his life shy and awkward in demeanor. From his thirteenth year he was made acquainted with the routine of state affairs, but he lacked the qualifications to grasp them in detail. He surrounded himself with members of the lower nobility, but was well at ease only among ministers, burghers and peasants. Charles XI. was all his life of an unrestrained temper and an indomitable will, coming to the throne the most ignorant king Sweden had had for centuries. But he was pious, sincere and just, and his morals pure and severe. Through the hardest of lessons, Charles XI. was to develop his great uncultivated gifts, to become the liberator of his people and one of its most remarkable rulers.
Sweden had to encounter many enemies after the battle of Fehrbellin, and a chain of disasters followed, nearly crushing the young king under their weight. Holland, Austria, Brandenburg and Denmark attacked the Swedish possessions, which were all captured, one after the other. Charles was not able to send reinforcements, the navy being in a miserable condition, and when rejuvenated, through strenuous effort, defeated by the excellent admirals Juel, of the Danish, and Tromp, of the Dutch, navy. The treasury was empty, the administration in disorder, and mistrust and strife reigned supreme. But the young king showed that he wanted to be obeyed, and managed, by hard work, to establish order, the Riksdag sacrificing means to organize the defence.
The Danes were successful in their first expeditions on land also, their army having undergone a reorganization. King Christian V. marched into Scania, while his general, Gyldenlœve, invaded Bohuslæn and West Gothland. The hostile fleets captured the islands of Œland and Gothland. Charles XI., in a sinister state of mind verging on despair, at last had his army collected, and entered Halland, where Danish troops were encountered and defeated at Halmstad. This gave courage to the Swedes, who soon thought themselves invincible, when commanded by the young king himself. Charles received reinforcements through peasant troops, and was desirous to meet Christian in open battle. But the Danish army in Scania retreated until forced to meet the enemy near Lund. Here a bloody and decisive battle was fought, more than 8,000 men being killed, and resulting in a victory for the Swedes, who took 2,000 prisoners, fifty-one cannon, and the whole hostile camp, December 3, 1676.
In the following year Sweden suffered two defeats at sea, through the hands of Juel, but won another victory on land, at Landskrona, when the Danes lost 3,000 men.