View source for Charles XII of Sweden

{{Short description|King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718}}
{{Redirect|Carolus Rex|other uses|Carolus Rex (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the 18th-century king of Sweden|the 1925 Swedish film|Charles XII (film)|the horse|Charles the Twelfth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Charles XII
| succession   = [[List of Swedish monarchs|King of Sweden]]
| image        = Copy Charles XII - Nationalmuseum - 17886.png
| caption      = Portrait by [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]], {{circa|1715}}
| reign        = {{nowrap|5 April 1697 – 30 November 1718}} [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|O.S.]]<ref name="auto">{{cite web|last1=Nordling|first1=Carl O.|title=The Death of Karl XII|work=Scandinavian Studies |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-54588785/the-death-of-karl-xii|date=22 March 1999 |volume=71 |issue=1 |publisher=|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074354/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-54588785/the-death-of-karl-xii}}</ref>
| coronation   = 14 December 1697
| cor-type     = [[Coronation of the Swedish monarch|Coronation]]
| predecessor  = [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]]
| successor    = [[Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden|Ulrika Eleonora]]
| regent       = [[Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp]] (5 April – 15 December 1697)
| house        = [[House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken|Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]
| father       = [[Charles XI of Sweden]]
| mother       = [[Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark]]
| birth_date   = 17 June 1682
| birth_place  = [[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor]], [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1718|11|30|1682|6|17|df=y}}<ref name="auto"/>
| death_place  = [[Halden|Fredrikshald]], [[Denmark–Norway]]
| date of burial = 26 February 1719
| place of burial = [[Riddarholmen Church]], Stockholm
| signature    = Karl XII signatur.svg
| religion     = [[Lutheran]]
| module       = {{Infobox military person
  | embed      = yes
  | allegiance = [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]]
  | branch     = [[Swedish Army]]
  | battles    = [[#Battles of Charles XII|§ Battles of Charles XII]]
}}
}}

'''Charles XII''', sometimes '''Carl XII''' ({{langx|sv|Karl XII}}) or '''Carolus Rex''' (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 [[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]]),<ref name="auto"/> was [[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 of Sweden|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]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]]–[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland–Lithuania]] and [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]] launched a threefold attack on the Swedish protectorate of [[Holstein-Gottorp]] and provinces of [[Swedish Livonia|Livonia]] and [[Swedish Ingria|Ingria]], aiming to take advantage of the [[Swedish Empire]] being 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 significantly outnumbered. A major victory over a much larger Russian army in 1700, at the [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Battle of Narva]], compelled [[Peter the Great]] to [[Suing for peace|sue for peace]], an offer that Charles subsequently rejected. By 1706, Charles, now 24 years old, had forced all of his foes into submission. That year, Swedish forces under general [[Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld]] won a decisive victory over a combined army of Saxony and Russia at the [[Battle of Fraustadt]]. Russia was now the sole remaining hostile power.

Charles's subsequent [[Charles XII invasion of Russia|march on Moscow]] met with initial success as victory followed victory, the most significant of which was the [[Battle of Holowczyn]] where the smaller Swedish army routed a Russian army twice its size. The campaign ended with disaster when the Swedish army suffered heavy losses to a Russian force more than twice its size at [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]]. Charles had been incapacitated by a wound prior to the battle, rendering him unable to take command. The defeat was followed by the [[Surrender at Perevolochna]]. Charles spent the following years in exile in the [[Ottoman Empire]] before returning to lead an assault on Norway, trying to evict the Danish king from the war once more in order to aim all his forces at the Russians. Two campaigns met with frustration and ultimate failure, concluding with his death at the [[Siege of Fredriksten]] in 1718. At the time, most of the Swedish Empire was under foreign military occupation, though Sweden itself was still free. This situation was later formalized, albeit moderated in the subsequent [[Treaty of Nystad]]. The result was the end of the [[Swedish Empire]], and also of its effectively organized [[absolute monarchy]] and war machine, commencing [[Age of Liberty|a parliamentary government]] unique for continental Europe, which would last for half a century until royal autocracy was restored by [[Gustav III]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924071200822|title=A history of Sweden from the earliest times to the present day|last=Cronholm|first=Neander Nicolas|year=1902|location=New York|chapter=37}}</ref>

Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician, credited with introducing important tax and legal reforms. As for his famous reluctance towards peace efforts, he is quoted by [[Voltaire]] as saying upon the outbreak of the war: "I have resolved never to start an unjust war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies". With the war consuming more than half his life and nearly all his reign, he never married and fathered no children. He was succeeded by his sister [[Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden|Ulrika Eleonora]], who in turn was coerced to hand over all substantial powers to the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] and opted to surrender the throne to her husband Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel, who became King [[Frederick I of Sweden]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://runeberg.org/nfbh/0682.html|title=Svenskt Biografiskt Handlexikon – Uggleupplagan [Swedish Biographical Dictionary – The Owl Edition] 2nd Edition (In Swedish)|last1=Hofberg|first1=Herman|last2=Heurlin|first2=Frithiof|last3=Millqvist|first3=Victor|last4=Rubenson|first4=Olof|publisher=Albert Bonniers Förlag|year=1908|oclc=49695435|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312023525/http://runeberg.org/nfbh/0682.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Royal title ==
{{Main|Style of the Swedish sovereign}}
[[File:Karl XII 1697.jpg|thumb|right|190px|The 15-year-old Charles in 1697 as king of the Swedish Empire, painting belonging to the workshop of [[David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl]]]]
His title in full as the king of Sweden was as follows:

{{Quote|[[Royal we|We]] Charles XII, [[by the Grace of God]], King of Sweden, [[King of the Goths|the Goths]] and [[King of the Wends|the Wends]], [[Grand Prince]] of [[Finland under Swedish rule|Finland]], [[Duke]] of [[Scania]], [[Duchy of Estonia (1561–1721)|Estonia]], [[Swedish Livonia|Livonia]], [[Karelia (historical province of Finland)|Karelia]], [[Bremen-Verden|Bremen]], [[Bremen-Verden|Verden]], [[Szczecin|Stettin]], [[Swedish Pomerania|Pomerania]], [[Kashubia]] and [[Wenden (Sauerland)|Wenden]], [[Fürst|Prince]] of [[Rügen]], [[Lord]] of [[Swedish Ingria|Ingria]] and [[Swedish Wismar|Wismar]]; as well as [[Count Palatine of the Rhine]], [[Duke in Bavaria]], of [[Duchy of Jülich|Jülich]], [[Duchy of Cleves|Cleves]] and [[Duchy of Berg|Berg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eurulers.altervista.org/sweden.html|title=Sweden and Finland. Titles of European hereditary rulers|website=eurulers.altervista.org|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175605/http://eurulers.altervista.org/sweden.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Liljegren|2000|loc=p.11, "Den stormäktigste och allernådigste herren, Karl, med Guds nåde, Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung, storfurste till Finland, hertig uti Skåne, Estland, Livland, Karelen, Bremen, Verden, Stettin, Pommern, Kassuben och Wenden, furste till Rügen, herre över Ingermanland och Wismar, så ock pfalzgreve vid Rhen i Bayern, till Jülich, Kleve och Berg hertig".}}</ref>}}

The fact that Charles was crowned as Charles XII does not mean that he was the twelfth king of Sweden by that name. Swedish kings [[Erik XIV of Sweden|Erik XIV]] ({{reigned|1560|1568}}) and [[Charles IX of Sweden|Charles IX]] ({{reigned|1604|1611}}) gave themselves numerals after studying [[Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus|a mythological history]] of Sweden. He was actually the sixth King Charles.<ref>Article [https://runeberg.org/nfbm/0500.html Karl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130120522/http://runeberg.org/nfbm/0500.html |date=30 November 2019 }} in [[Nordisk familjebok]].</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Carl XI & Ulrica Eleanor weddding medal 1680.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Charles's parents King Charles XI and Queen Ulrica Eleonora]]
Prince Charles of Sweden was born on 17 June 1682 [[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] in the royal castle of [[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor]] in Stockholm. He was the first son born to King [[Charles XI of Sweden]] and his wife, the Danish princess [[Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark|Ulrika Eleonora]]. He had an older sister, [[Hedvig Sophia of Sweden|Hedvig Sophia]], born in 1681.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hatton |first=R. M. |title=Charles XII of Sweden |date=1968 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=9780297748267 |location=London |pages=19, 22–23}}</ref> He spent more time with his parents than would be typical in a European royal court of the time and traveled with them from a very early age. Four more sons were born to the royal couple in the years following Charles's birth: Gustav in 1683, Ulrik in 1684, Frederick in 1685, and Charles Gustavus in 1686. However, all of these four died in infancy. In 1688, Charles's younger sister [[Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden|Ulrika Eleonora]] was born, who later succeeded him as ruler of Sweden.<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, pp. 40–42.</ref> 

In 1693, Charles's mother died, and his father found consolation in spending more time with his son and heir. Charles XI brought his son with him to inspections and on other official business. Charles received an excellent education and was conscientiously prepared for the throne.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Nordlund |first1=Sven |last2=Hatton |first2=Ragnhild Marie |date=26 November 2024 |title=Charles XII |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-XII |access-date=30 November 2024 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=}}</ref> He learned to ride by the age of four<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, p. 44.</ref> and engaged in rigorous physical training in his adolescence. He was very strong-willed and as king often stubbornly stuck to the standards which had been instilled in him by his moral and religious education. In April 1697, Charles XI died, and Prince Charles ascended the Swedish throne. Charles XI had provided for a regency for his teenaged heir, but already in November 1697 the [[Riksdag of the Estates|Riksdag]] (Sweden's assembly of [[the Estates]]) recognized the fifteen-year-old Charles's majority. Charles XII was the first (and the last) Swedish ruler to inherit [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarchical authority]] from his predecessor.<ref name=":0" />

==Great Northern War==
{{Main|Great Northern War}}

=== Early campaigns ===
[[File:Karl XIIs staty.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Monument to Charles XII in Stockholm, with Charles pointing towards Russia. Stockholmers call this statue "the lion among four pots" ("Lejonet mellan fyra krukor") referring to the mortars. This contrasts with a nearby statue of [[Charles XIII of Sweden|Charles XIII]], which has lions similarly arranged; that statue is known as "the pot among four lions" ("Krukan mellan fyra lejon").<ref>{{cite book|author=William Pembroke Fetridge|title=The American Traveller's Guide: Harper's Hand-book for Travellers in Europe and the East: Being a Guide Through Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Tyrol, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ppPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA829|year=1875|page=829}}</ref>]]

Around 1700, the monarchs of [[Denmark–Norway]], Saxony (ruled by elector [[August II of Poland]], who was also the king of [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland-Lithuania]]) and Russia united in an alliance against Sweden, mainly through the efforts of [[Johann Reinhold Patkul]], a [[Livonian people|Livonian]] nobleman who turned traitor when the [[Reduction (Sweden)|"great reduction"]] of Charles XI in 1680 stripped much of the nobility of lands and properties. In late 1699, Charles sent a minor detachment to reinforce his brother-in-law Duke [[Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp]], who was attacked by Danish forces the following year. A Saxon army simultaneously invaded Swedish Livonia, and in February 1700 surrounded [[Riga]], the most populous city of the Swedish Empire. Russia also declared war (August 1700), but stopped short of an attack on [[Swedish Ingria]] until September 1700.<ref name=tucker>{{cite book|editor=Spencer C. Tucker|title=Wars That Changed History: 50 of the World's Greatest Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhGFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA182|year=2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=182–193|isbn=978-1610697866}}</ref>

Charles's first campaign was against Denmark–Norway, ruled by his cousin [[Frederick IV of Denmark]]. For this campaign Charles secured the support of England and the Netherlands, both maritime powers concerned with Denmark's threats too close to [[Øresund|the Sound]]. Leading a force of 8,000 and 43 ships in an invasion of [[Zealand (Denmark)|Zealand]], Charles rapidly compelled the Danes to submit to the [[Peace of Travendal]] in August 1700, which indemnified Holstein.<ref>Thomas Derry, ''History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland'' (2000), p. 154.</ref>
Having forced Denmark–Norway to make peace within months, King Charles turned his attention upon the two other powerful neighbors, King August II (cousin to both Charles XII and Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway) and [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] of Russia, who also had entered the war against him, ironically on the same day that Denmark came to terms.<ref name=tucker/>

Russia had opened their part of the war by invading the Swedish-held territories of [[Livonia]] and [[Estonia]]. Charles countered this by attacking the Russian besiegers at the [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Battle of Narva]] (November 1700). The Russians outnumbered the Swedish army of ten thousand men by almost four to one. Charles attacked under cover of a blizzard, effectively splitting the Russian army in two and won the battle. Many of Peter's troops who fled the battlefield drowned in the [[Narva River]]. The total number of Russian fatalities reached about 10,000 at the end of the battle, while the Swedish forces lost 667 men.<ref>Richard Cavendish,  "The Battle of Narva." ''History Today'' 50#11 (2000): 50+.</ref>

Charles did not pursue the Russian army. Instead, he turned against Poland-Lithuania, which was formally neutral at this point, thereby disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by the Swedish parliament. Charles defeated the Polish king [[Augustus II]] and his [[Saxony|Saxon]] allies at the [[Battle of Kliszow]] in 1702 and captured many cities of the Commonwealth. After the deposition of Augustus as king of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], Charles XII put [[Stanislaus I of Poland|Stanisław Leszczyński]] as his puppet on the Polish throne (1704).<ref>{{cite book|author=Renata Tyszczuk|title=The Story of an Architect King: Stanislas Leszczynski in Lorraine 1737–1766|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3W5fvGVt3fYC&pg=PA34|year=2007|publisher=Peter Lang|page=34|isbn=978-3039103249}}</ref>

=== Russian resurgence ===
[[File:Karl XII and Ivan Mazepa after The Poltava Battle by Gustaf Cederström.jpg|thumb|Charles XII and [[Ivan Mazepa]] at the [[Dnieper River]] after [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]] by [[Gustaf Cederström]]]]
While Charles won several decisive battles in the Commonwealth and ultimately secured the coronation of his ally [[Stanisław Leszczyński]] and the [[Swedish invasion of Saxony|surrender of Saxony]], the Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] embarked on a military reform plan that improved the Russian army, using the effectively organized Swedes and other European armies as role models. Russian forces managed to penetrate [[Ingria]], where they established a new city, [[Saint Petersburg, Russia|Saint Petersburg]]. Charles planned an [[Swedish invasion of Russia|invasion of the Russian heartland]], allying himself with [[Ivan Mazepa]], [[Hetman]] of the [[Cossack Hetmanate|Ukrainian Cossacks]]. The size of the invading Swedish army was peeled off as Charles left Leszczyński with some 24,000 German and Polish troops, departing eastwards from Saxony in late 1707 with some 35,000 men, adding a further 12,500 under [[Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt]] marching from Livonia. Charles left the homeland with a defense force of approximately 28,800 men, with a further 14,000 in Swedish Finland, as well as other garrisons in the Baltic and German provinces.<ref>''Karoliner'' by Alf Åberg, p. 117.</ref><ref>''Karl XII'' by Bengt Liljegren, pp. 151, 163.</ref>

After securing his "favorite" victory in the [[Battle of Holowczyn]], despite being outnumbered over three to one by the new Russian army, Charles opted to march eastwards on Moscow rather than try to seize [[Saint Petersburg]], founded from the Swedish town of [[Nyenskans]] five years earlier.<ref>''Svenska slagfält'', p.  280.</ref> Peter the Great managed, however, to ambush Lewenhaupt's army at [[Battle of Lesnaya|Lesnaya]] before Charles could combine his forces, thus losing valuable supplies, artillery and half of Lewenhaupt's men. Charles's Polish ally, Stanisław Leszczyński, was facing internal problems of his own. Charles expected the support of a massive Cossack rebellion led by Mazepa in Ukraine, with estimates suggesting Mazepa was able to muster about 40,000 troops. However, the Russians subjugated the rebellion and destroyed its capital, [[Baturyn|Baturin]], before the arrival of the Swedish troops. The harsh climate took its toll as well, because Charles marched his troops to winter camp in [[Ukraine]].<ref>''Svenska folkets underbara öden'', book four by Carl Grimberg, about the numbers of Mazepa's army.</ref>

By the time of the decisive [[Battle of Poltava]], in July 1709, Charles had been wounded, one-third of his infantry was dead, and his supply train had been destroyed. The king was incapacitated by a gunshot wound to the foot and was unable to lead the Swedish forces. With the numbers of Charles's army reduced to some 23,000, with many wounded or involved on the siege of Poltava, his general [[Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld]] had a clearly inferior force to face the fortified and modernized army of Tsar Peter, with some 45,000 men.<ref>''Bra Böckers Lexikon'', the article of Karl XII.</ref> The Swedish assault ended in disaster, and the king fled south to the [[Ottoman Empire]] with a small entourage, and set up camp at [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] with some 1,000 of his ''[[Caroleans]]'' ("Karoliner" in Swedish). The remainder of the army surrendered days later at [[Perevolochna]] under Lewenhaupt's command, most of them (including Lewenhaupt himself) spending the rest of their days in Russian captivity.

The Swedish defeat at Poltava marked the downfall of the [[Swedish Empire]],<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Kalevi Holsti|author=Kalevi Jaakko Holsti|title=Peace and War: Armed Conflicts and International Order, 1648–1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XeRWvk3TP_gC&pg=PA69|year=1991|page=69|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521399296}}</ref> as well as the founding of the [[Russian Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Dominic Lieven|title=The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia, 1689–1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzR0cmnP3J8C&pg=PA29|year=2006|page=29|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521815291}}</ref>

=== Exile in the Ottoman Empire ===
[[File:Royal Monogram Of King Charles XII Of Sweden.svg|thumb|150px|Royal Monogram]]
The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] initially welcomed the Swedish king when he went to [[Abdi Pasha the Albanian|Abdurrahman Pasha]], commander of [[Ochakiv|Özü]] Castle, as he was about to fall into the hands of the Russian army, and he was able to take refuge in the castle at the last moment. Afterward, he settled in [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] at the invitation of its governor, [[Ağa Yusuf Pasha]].

In the meantime, Charles sent [[Stanisław Poniatowski (1676–1762)|Stanisław Poniatowski]] and {{ill|Thomas Funck (1672–1713)|lt=Thomas Funck|sv}} as his messengers to [[Constantinople]].<ref name="linquist" >Herman Lindquist (in Swedish): Historian om Sverige. Storhet och Fall. (History of Sweden. Greatness and fall) ISBN 9172630922 (2000) Nordstedts förlag, Stockholm</ref> They managed to indirectly contact [[Gülnuş Sultan]], mother of Sultan [[Ahmed III]], who became intrigued by Charles, and took an interest in his cause, and even corresponded with him in Bender.<ref name="linquist"/>

During his stay in the Ottoman Empire, Charles earned the nickname {{Lang|tr|demirbaş}} (literally "iron-head"). This word can mean stubborn or persistent, and it is usually assumed that this is why the Turks called Charles by this nickname. However, the term {{Lang|tr|demirbaş}} commonly referred to state-owned articles in general and the furniture, equipment, etc. in state offices in particular. Thus, the nickname may be an ironic reference to Charles's visits to Ottoman government offices over a prolonged period.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2012 |orig-date=Orig. published in print in 1965 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |title=Demi̇rbas̲h̲ |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1791 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English) |publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1791 }}</ref>

Eventually, a small village named Karlstad ([[Varnița, Anenii Noi|Varnița]]) had to be built near Bender to accommodate the ever-growing Swedish population there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://varldsinbordeskriget.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/sweden-the-ottoman-empire-and-the-crimean-tartars-c-1580-%E2%80%93-1714-%E2%80%93-the-realpolitik-of-a-christian-kingdom/|title=Sweden, The Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tartars, c 1580 – 1714 – The Realpolitoik of a Christian Kingdom |website=Världsinbördeskriget|publisher=Wordpress|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011203211/https://varldsinbordeskriget.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/sweden-the-ottoman-empire-and-the-crimean-tartars-c-1580-%E2%80%93-1714-%E2%80%93-the-realpolitik-of-a-christian-kingdom/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gülnuş Sultan convinced her son to declare [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)|war against Russia]], as she thought that Charles was a man worth taking a risk for. Later on, the Ottomans and Russians signed the [[Treaty of the Pruth]] and [[Treaty of Adrianople (1713)|Treaty of Adrianople]] to end the hostilities between them. The treaties dissatisfied the pro-war party supported by King Charles and Stanislaw Poniatowski, who failed to reignite the conflict.

[[File:King Karl XII of Sweden (David von Krafft) - Nationalmuseum - 20352.tif|thumb|left|Portrait by [[David von Krafft]] 1707]]

However, the Sultan Ahmed III's subjects in the empire eventually got tired of Charles's scheming. His entourage also accumulated huge debts with Bender merchants. Eventually, "crowds" of townspeople attacked the Swedish colony at Bender and Charles had to defend himself against the mobs and the Ottoman [[janissaries]] involved. This uprising was called {{Lang|tr|kalabalık}} (Turkish for crowd) which afterward found a place in Swedish lexicon referring to a [[:wikt:ruckus|ruckus]]. The janissaries did not shoot Charles during the [[skirmish at Bender]], but captured him and put him under house-arrest at [[Dimetoka]] (nowadays [[Didimoticho]]) and Constantinople. During his semi-imprisonment the King played [[chess]] and studied the [[Ottoman Navy]] and the naval architecture of the Ottoman galleons. His sketches and designs eventually led to the famous Swedish war ships ''Jarramas'' (Yaramaz) and ''Jilderim'' (Yıldırım).{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Meanwhile, Russia and Poland regained and expanded their borders. Great Britain, an adversary of Sweden, defected from its alliance obligations while Prussia attacked Swedish holdings in Germany. Russia occupied Finland (the [[Greater Wrath]] 1713–1721). After defeats of the Swedish army, consisting mainly of Finnish troops in the Battle of [[Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Helsinki (1713)]], the Battle of [[Battle of Pälkäne|Pälkäne 1713]] and the Battle of [[Battle of Storkyro|Storkyro 1714]], the military, administration and clergymen escaped from Finland, which fell under Russian military regime.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen|isbn=978-951-0-14253-0|page=265|last1=Zetterberg|first1=Seppo|year=1987}}</ref>

During his five-year stay in the Ottoman Empire, Charles XII corresponded with his sister (and eventual successor), Ulrika Eleonora. According to Ragnhild Marie Hatton, a Norwegian-British historian, in some of those letters Charles expressed his desire for a peace treaty which would be defensible in the future Swedish generations' eyes. However, he emphasized that only a greater respect for Sweden in Europe would enable him to achieve such a peace treaty.  Meanwhile, the Swedish Council of State (government) and Estates/Diet (Parliament) tried to keep the beleaguered Sweden somehow organized and independent.  Eventually, in the autumn of 1714, their warning letter reached him.  In it, those executive and legislative bodies told the absentee King that unless he quickly returned to Sweden, they would independently conclude an achievable peace treaty with Russia, Poland and Denmark. This stark admonition prompted Charles to rush back to Sweden.<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968.</ref><ref>Seppo Zetterberg et al. (eds.), ''A Small Giant (Compendium) of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen''. 2nd ed.,  Helsinki, (2003) {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{Page number needed|date=November 2024}}

Charles traveled back to Sweden with a group of Ottomans, soldiers such as escorts and businessmen to whom he promised to repay his debts during his stay in the Ottoman Empire, but they had to wait several years before that happened. According to the prevailing church law in Sweden at that time, all who lived in the country, but were not members of the Swedish state church, would be baptized. In order for the Jewish and Muslim creditors to avoid this, Charles wrote a "free letter" so that they could practice their religions without being punished. The soldiers chose to remain in Sweden instead of making difficult trips home. They were called "Askersson" (the word ''asker'' in Turkish means soldier).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/redan-karl-xii-godkande-muslimska-gudstjanster-i-karlskrona|title=Redan Karl XII godkände muslimska gudstjänster|newspaper=SVT Nyheter|language=sv|date=23 September 2015|last1=Friberg|first1=Henrik|access-date=29 April 2020|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428131747/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/redan-karl-xii-godkande-muslimska-gudstjanster-i-karlskrona|url-status=live}}</ref> However, there are accounts implying that following the long stay for Charles to repay his debts, they got paid and left the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vad hände med Karl XII:s kreditorer? |url=https://slakthistoria.se/livet-forr/vad-hande-med-karl-xii-s-kreditorer |website=Slakt Historia |date=19 September 2019 |access-date=18 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031025/https://slakthistoria.se/livet-forr/vad-hande-med-karl-xii-s-kreditorer |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Pomerania and Norway===
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2014}}
[[File:Porträtt av Karl XII. Alt-Ranstad - Skoklosters slott - 86683.tif|thumb|Karl XII, 1707. [[Skokloster Castle]].]]
[[File:Halsduk buren av Karl XII vid Fredrikshall den 30 november 1718 - Livrustkammaren - 39295.tif|thumb|Uniform worn by Charles XII in Frederikshall on 30 November 1718. Shown in [[Livrustkammaren|The Royal Armoury]] in Stockholm.]]
[[File:Bringing Home the Body of King Karl XII of Sweden (Gustaf Cederström) - Nationalmuseum - 18366.tif|thumb|left|''[[Bringing Home the Body of King Charles XII]]''. A [[Romantic nationalism|romanticized]] painting by [[Gustaf Cederström]], 1884]]
Charles agreed to leave Constantinople and returned to [[Swedish Pomerania]]. He made the journey on horseback, riding across Europe in just fifteen days. He traveled across the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary to Vienna and arrived at [[Stralsund]]. A medal with Charles on horseback, his long hair flying in the wind, was struck in 1714 to commemorate the speedy ride. It reads {{Lang|de|Was sorgt Ihr doch? Gott und Ich leben noch}}. ("What worries you so? God and I live still")''.''<ref>{{Cite book|title=German armies. War and German politics, 1648–1806. Warfare and history|last=Wilson|first=Peter Hamish|isbn=1-85728-106-3|page=140}}</ref>

After five years away, Charles arrived in Sweden to find his homeland at war with Russia, Saxony, Hannover, Great Britain and Denmark. Sweden's western enemies attacked southern and western Sweden while Russian forces traveled across Finland to attack the Stockholm district. For the first time, Sweden found itself in a defensive war. Charles's plan was to attack Denmark by striking at her possessions in Norway. It was hoped that by cutting Denmark's Norwegian supply lines the Danes would be compelled to withdraw their forces from Swedish Scania.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
 
Charles invaded Norway in 1716 with a combined force of 7,000 men. He occupied the capital of [[Oslo|Christiania]], (modern Oslo), and laid siege to the [[Akershus Fortress|Akershus fortress]] there. Due to a lack of heavy siege cannons he was unable to dislodge the Norwegian forces inside. After suffering significant losses of men and materiel, Charles was forced to retreat from the capital on 29 April. In the following mid-May, Charles invaded again, this time striking the border town of [[Halden|Fredrikshald]], now [[Halden]], in an attempt to capture the fortress of [[Fredriksten]]. The attacking Swedes came under heavy cannon fire from the fortress and were forced to withdraw when the Norwegians set the town of Fredrikshald on fire. Swedish casualties in Fredrikshald were estimated at 500 men. While the siege at Fredrikshald was underway, the Swedish supply fleet was attacked and defeated by [[Tordenskjold]] in the [[Battle of Dynekilen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nb.no/karl-xii-kart/omfelttogene.htm|title=Karl XIIs felttog i Norge|work=nb.no|access-date=22 June 2009|archive-date=3 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203020542/http://www.nb.no/karl-xii-kart/omfelttogene.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1718, Charles once more invaded Norway. With a main force of 40,000 men, he again laid [[Siege of Fredriksten|siege to the fortress]] of Fredriksten overlooking the town of Fredrikshald. Charles was shot in the head and killed during the siege, while he was inspecting trenches. The invasion was abandoned, and Charles's body was returned to Sweden. A second force, under [[Carl Gustaf Armfeldt]], marched against [[Trondheim]] with 10,000 men but was forced to retreat. In the march that ensued, many of the 5,800 remaining men [[Carolean Death March|perished in a severe winter storm]].

==Death==
[[File:CharlesXIIAutopsy1916.jpg|thumb|left|From the [[autopsy]] of Charles XII, July 1917<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-the-swedish-meteor-39695356/|title=The Blazing Career and Mysterious Death of 'The Swedish Meteor'|last=Dash|first=Mike|magazine=Smithsonian|access-date=24 December 2017|language=en|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008101925/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-the-swedish-meteor-39695356/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

While in the trenches close to the perimeter of the fortress on 30 November (11 December [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|New Style]]), 1718, Charles was struck in the head by a projectile and killed. The shot struck the left side of his skull and exited from the right. He died instantly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peterenglund.com/textarkiv/mordslumpskott.htm |title=Välkommen till Peter Englund |access-date=10 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005011236/http://www.peterenglund.com/textarkiv/mordslumpskott.htm |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref>

The definitive circumstances around Charles's death remain unclear. Despite multiple investigations of the battlefield, Charles's skull and his clothes, it is not known where and when he was hit, or whether the shot came from the ranks of the enemy or from his own men.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/kolumnister/hermanlindqvist/article12156251.ab?partner=www|last=Lindqvist|first=Herman|title=Karl XII:s död ger inte forskarna någon ro|date=29 November 2009|newspaper=Aftonbladet|access-date=26 February 2012|archive-date=8 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308092106/http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/kolumnister/hermanlindqvist/article12156251.ab?partner=www|url-status=live}}</ref> There are several hypotheses as to how Charles died, though none have strong enough evidence to be deemed true. Although there were many people around the king at the time of his death, there were no known witnesses to the actual moment he was hit. A likely explanation has been that Charles was killed by [[Dano-Norwegian]]s as he was within reach of their guns.<ref name=SMITH /> There are two possibilities that are usually cited: that he was killed by a [[musket]] shot, or that he was killed by [[grapeshot]] from the nearby fortress.

More theories claim he was assassinated: one is that the killer was a Swedish compatriot and asserts that enemy guns were not firing at the time Charles was struck.<ref name=SMITH /> Suspects in this claim range from a nearby soldier tired of the [[siege]] and wanting to put an end to the war, to an assassin hired by Charles's own brother-in-law, who profited from the event by subsequently taking the throne himself as [[Frederick I of Sweden]], that person being Frederick's aide-de-camp, [[André Sicre]]. Sicre confessed during what was claimed to be a state of delirium brought on by fever but later recanted.<ref name=SMITH>{{cite magazine| title=Past Imperfect| author=Mike Dash| magazine=Smithsonian Magazine| url=http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/09/the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-the-swedish-meteor/| date=17 September 2012| access-date=25 September 2012| archive-date=28 August 2016| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160828170810/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-the-swedish-meteor-39695356/| url-status=live}}</ref> Others suspect a plot to kill Charles by a group of wealthy Swedes who would benefit from blocking a 17% wealth tax that Charles intended to introduce.<ref name=SMITH /> The [[Varberg Fortress]] museum displays a lead-filled brass button of Swedish origin that some claim was the projectile that killed the king.

Another odd account of Charles's death comes from Finnish writer Carl Nordling, who states that the king's surgeon, Melchior Neumann, dreamed the king had told him that he was not shot from the fortress but from "one who came creeping".<ref name=SMITH />

[[File:Carl XII of Sweden grave 2007.jpg|thumb|Charles XII's sarcophagus in Riddarholmen Church, Stockholm]]

Charles's body has been exhumed on three occasions to ascertain the cause of death; in 1746, 1859 and 1917.<ref name=SMITH /> The 1859 exhumation found that the wound was in accordance with a shot from the Norwegian fort. In 1917, his head was photographed and x-rayed. [[Peter Englund]] asserted in his essay "On the death of Charles XII and other murders"<ref>Förflutenhetens landskap ("The Landscape of Times Past") (1991), collection of essays, pp. 126–129.</ref> that the mortal wound sustained by the King, with a smaller exit wound than entry wound, would be consistent with being hit by a bullet with a speed not exceeding 150&nbsp;m/s, concluding that Charles was killed by stray grapeshot from the nearby fortress. A 2022 study by the [[University of Oulu]] and the [[University of Helsinki]] also found that iron grapeshot was likely to have killed the king, citing evidence from ballistic experiments as well as the absence of lead fragments in Charles's skull.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20005744 | title=Tutkijat ratkaisivat yli 300 vuotta vanhan mysteerin: Kaarle XII ei kuollutkaan omien luodista, vaan vihollisen ampumana | date=23 November 2022 | access-date=23 November 2022 | archive-date=23 November 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123143610/https://yle.fi/a/74-20005744 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=juho22>{{cite journal|author=Juho-Antti Junno|display-authors=et. al.|title=The death of King Charles XII of Sweden revisited|journal=PNAS Nexus|date=November 2022|volume=1|issue=5|article-number=pgac234 |doi=10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac234|pmid=36712377 |pmc=9802245 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Charles was succeeded to the Swedish throne by his sister, [[Ulrika Eleonora]]. As his duchy of [[Palatine Zweibrücken]] required a male heir, Charles was succeeded as ruler there by his cousin [[Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken|Gustav Leopold]]. [[Georg Heinrich von Görtz]], Charles's minister, was beheaded in 1719.

==Personal life==
[[File:Charles XII 1706.jpg|thumb|Portrait of King Charles XII (1706) by Johan David Schwartz]]

Charles never married and fathered no children of whom historians are aware. In his youth, he was particularly encouraged to find a suitable spouse in order to secure the succession, but he would frequently avoid the subject of sex and marriage. Possible candidates included [[Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark]], [[Louisa Maria Stuart]] and [[Marie Elisabeth, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Princess Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp]] – but of the latter he pleaded that he could never wed someone "as ugly as Satan and with such a devilish big mouth".<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, p. 89.</ref> Instead, he made it clear that he would marry only someone of his own choice, and for love rather than dynastic pressures. His lack of mistresses may have been due to a strong religious faith.<ref>Frans Bengtsson, ''The Life of Charles XII'', p. 38.</ref> Charles himself suggested in conversation with [[Axel Löwen]] that he actively resisted any match until peace could be secured<ref name="ReferenceA">Liljegren, ''Karl XII: en biografi''.</ref>  and was in some sense "married" to the military life.<ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, p. 210.</ref><ref>Frans Bengtsson, ''The Life of Charles XII'', p. 469.</ref> But that he was "chaste" occasioned speculation in his lifetime. Much later speculation that he was a hermaphrodite was quelled in 1917 when his coffin was opened and he was shown to have beard growth.<ref name=hatton219>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, p. 219.</ref>

In his conversations with Löwen, he also stated that he did not lack taste for beautiful women, but that he held in his sexual desires for fear that they would get out of control if unchecked, and that if he committed to something like that, it would be forever.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>R. M. Hatton, ''Charles XII of Sweden'', 1968, p. 220.</ref> Some historians suggest that he resisted a marriage with Denmark which could have caused a family rift between those who dynastically favoured Holstein-Gottorp.<ref>Byron Nordstrom, ''Dictionary of Scandinavian History'', p. 317.</ref>  Historians such as Blanning and Montefiore believe he was in fact [[homosexual]].<ref>Tim Blanning, ''Frederick the Great'', 2015, p. 152.</ref><ref>Simon Sebag Montefiore, ''The Romanovs: 1613–1918'', 2016, p. 451.</ref> Certainly a letter from Reuterholm suggested that Charles had indicated a closeness to Prince [[Maximilian Emanuel of Württemberg-Winnental]], whom Charles described as "very pretty". But writing in the 1960s, Hatton argues that Württemberg was very much heterosexual and the relationship is just as likely to have been that of teacher-pupil.<ref name=hatton219/>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Karl XII i Ystad 1715, målning av Johan Heinrich Wedekindt från 1719.jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[Johann Heinrich Wedekind]], 1719
]]

Exceptional for abstaining from alcohol and sex, he felt most comfortable during warfare. Contemporaries report of his seemingly inhuman tolerance for pain and his utter lack of emotion. His brilliant campaigning and startling victories brought his country to the pinnacle of her prestige and power, although the Great Northern War resulted in Sweden's defeat and the end of the empire within years of his own death.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} In his youth, renowned Russian general [[Alexander Suvorov]] considered Charles XII his hero together with [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name="Anthing7">{{cite book|first=Frederic|last=Anthing|author-link=Johann Friedrich Anthing|title=History of the campaigns of Count Alexander Suworow Rymnikski|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4w2AAAAMAAJ|year=1799|publisher=J. Wright|location=[[London]]|page=xxvi|oclc=901339492}}</ref> Like Charles XII, Suvorov adopted an aggressive style of tactics and campaigning, seemingly inspired by the Swedish king.<ref name="Essame17">{{cite book|first=Hubert|last=Essame|author-link=Hubert Essame|title=Military review the professional journal of the United States Army (January): The Suvorov Legend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1xigawKyVQC|year=1961|publisher=Command and General Staff School|location=[[Kansas]]|page=17}}</ref>

Charles's death marked the end of a period of autocratic kingship and [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutist rule]] in Sweden, and the subsequent [[Age of Liberty]] saw a shift of power from the monarch to the parliament of the estates.<ref>{{cite book|last=Massengale|first=James|chapter=The Enlightenment and the Gustavian Age|editor-first=Lars G.|editor-last=Warme|title=A History of Swedish literature|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1996|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars/page/102 102], 104–105|isbn=978-0803247505}}</ref> Historians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries viewed Charles's death as the result of an aristocratic plot, and [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden|Gustav IV Adolf]], the king who refused to settle with [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], "identified himself with Charles as a type of righteous man struggling with iniquity" ([[Michael Roberts (historian)|Roberts]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Michael|title=From Oxenstierna to Charles XII. Four Studies|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1991|page=164}} Repr. 2003.</ref> Throughout the 19th century's [[romantic nationalism]] Charles XII was viewed as a national hero. He was idealized as a heroic, virtuous young warrior king, and his fight against Peter the Great was associated with the contemporary Swedish-Russian enmity.<ref name=Roberts164165>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Michael|title=From Oxenstierna to Charles XII. Four Studies|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1991|pages=164–165}} Repr. 2003.</ref> Examples of the [[romantic hero]] idolatry of Charles XII in several genres are [[Esaias Tegnér]]'s song ''Kung Karl, den unge hjälte'' (1818), [[Johan Peter Molin]]'s statue<ref name=Roberts164165/> in [[Stockholm]]'s [[Kungsträdgården]] (unveiled on 30 November 1868, the 150th anniversary of Charles's death)<ref>{{cite book|first=Andreas|last=Lindblom|title=Sveriges konsthistoria från forntid till nutid|volume=3|publisher=Nordisk rotogravyr|year=1946|page=1210}}</ref> and [[Gustaf Cederström]]'s painting ''Karl XII:s likfärd'' ("Funeral procession of Charles XII", 1878).<ref>{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Franklin Daniel|title=Sweden, the nation's history|publisher=SIU Press|year=1988|page=560}}</ref> The date of Charles's death was chosen by a student association in [[University of Lund|Lund]] for annual torch marches beginning in 1853.<ref>{{cite book|title=Nazismen i Sverige 1980–1997|first=Heléne|last=Lööw|publisher=Ordfront|year=1998}}</ref>

In his 1901 play ''Karl XII'', [[August Strindberg]] broke with the heroization practice by showing an introverted Charles XII in conflict with his impoverished subjects.<ref>{{cite book|last=Steene|first=Brigitta|chapter=Strindberg and the transition to Modernism|editor-first=Lars G.|editor-last=Warme|title=A History of Swedish literature|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1996|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars/page/267 267]|isbn=978-0803247505}}</ref> In the so-called Strindberg feud (1910–1912), his response to the "Swedish cult of Charles XII" (Steene)<ref>{{cite book|last=Steene|first=Brigitta|chapter=Strindberg and the transition to Modernism|editor-first=Lars G.|editor-last=Warme|title=A History of Swedish literature|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1996|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofswedish00lars/page/271 271]|isbn=978-0803247505}}</ref> was that Charles had been "Sweden's ruin, the great offender, a ruffian, the rowdies' idol, a counterfeiter."<ref>{{cite book|last=Moers|first=Gerald|chapter=Im Gemeindewald der Geschichte|title=Internationalität nationaler Literaturen|editor-first=Udo|editor-last=Schöning|publisher=Wallstein|year=2000|pages=285–286, fn. 83}}</ref> [[Verner von Heidenstam]] however, one of his opponents in the feud, in his book ''Karolinerna'' instead "emphasized the heroic steadfastness of the Swedish people in the somber years of trial during the long-drawn-out campaigns of Karl XII" (Scott).<ref>{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Franklin Daniel|title=Sweden, the nation's history|publisher=SIU Press|year=1988|page=551}}</ref>

In the 1930s, the Swedish Nazis held celebrations on the date of Charles XII's death, and shortly before the outbreak of [[World War II]], [[Adolf Hitler]] received from Sweden a sculpture of the king at his birthday.<ref>{{cite book|last=Oredsson|first=Sverker|chapter=Gustav II. Adolf in Geschichtsschreibung und Kult|title=Damals, als Schweden eine Großmacht war ...|editor-first=Rikke|editor-last=Petersson|publisher=LIT|year=2000|page=59}}</ref> In the late 20th century, Swedish nationalists and neo-Nazis had again used 30 November as a date for their ceremonies, however these were regularly interrupted by larger counter-demonstrations and were abandoned.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/karl-xii-firare-ligger-lagt-i-ar/|title=Karl XII-firare ligger lågt i år|newspaper=Dagens Nyheter|publisher=DN|date=27 November 2011|access-date=27 February 2012|archive-date=30 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130135144/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/karl-xii-firare-ligger-lagt-i-ar|url-status=live}} {{cite web|url=http://www.thelocal.se/37606/20111128/|title=Nationalists abandon 'warrior king' anniversary|publisher=TheLOcal|date=28 November 2011|access-date=27 February 2012|archive-date=30 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130045715/http://www.thelocal.se/37606/20111128/|url-status=live}} On the use of Charles XII by nationalists and Nazis in general {{cite web|url=http://www.peterenglund.com/textarkiv/karlXII.htm|title=Om den 30 november|publisher=[[Peter Englund]], in Expressen 30 November 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421235622/http://www.peterenglund.com/textarkiv/karlXII.htm|archive-date=21 April 2012}}</ref>

=== Scientific contributions ===
Apart from being a monarch, the King's interests included mathematics, and anything that would be beneficial to his warlike purposes. He is credited with having invented an [[Octal#By Europeans|octal numeral system]], as well as a more elaborate one with the base 64, which he considered more suitable for war purposes because all the boxes used for materials such as [[gunpowder]] were cubic. According to a report by contemporary scientist [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], the King had sketched a model of his thoughts on a piece of paper and handed it to him at their meeting in Lund in 1716. The paper was reportedly still in existence a hundred years later but has since been lost.<ref>[[Donald Knuth]], ''[[The Art of Computer Programming]]''</ref>

===Literature===
Charles fascinated many in his time. In 1731, [[Voltaire]] wrote a biography of Charles XII, ''[[History of Charles XII]]''. Voltaire portrays the Swedish king in a positive light, against the brutal nature of [[Peter the Great]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Voltaire|title=The History of Charles XII. King of Sweden ... Seventh edition... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=169VAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1|year=1740|page=1}}</ref> The English man of letters [[Samuel Johnson]] wrote of Charles in his poem "The Vanity of Human Wishes":{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
{{Blockquote |
On what Foundation stands the warrior's pride,<br/>
How just his hopes let Swedish Charles decide;<br/>
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,<br/>
No dangers fright him, and no labours tire;<br/>
O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,<br/>
Unconquered lord of pleasure and of pain;<br/>
No joys to him pacific sceptres yield;<br/>
[[Great Northern War|War sounds the trump]], he rushes to the field;<br/>
Behold surrounding kings their power to combine,<br/>
And one capitulate, and one resign;<br/>
Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain;<br/>
"Think nothing gained", he cries, "till nought remain,<br/>
On [[Moscow]]'s walls till Gothic standards fly,<br/>
And all be mine beneath the polar sky."<br/>
The march begins in military state,<br/>
And nations on his eye suspended wait;<br/>
Stern Famine guards the solitary coast,<br/>
And Winter barricades the realms of Frost;<br/>
He comes, not want and cold his course delay; -<br/>
Hide, blushing Glory, hide [[Battle of Poltava|Pultowa's day]]:<br/>
The vanquished hero leaves his broken bands,<br/>
And shows his miseries in distant lands;<br/>
Condemned a needy supplicant to wait,<br/>
While ladies interpose, and slaves debate.<br/>
But did not Chance at length her error mend?<br/>
Did no subverted empire mark his end?<br/>
Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound?<br/>
Or hostile millions press him to the ground?<br/>
His fall was destined to a barren strand,<br/>
[[Siege of Fredriksten|A petty fortress]], and a dubious hand;<br/>
He left the name, at which the world grew pale,<br/>
To point a moral or adorn a tale.
}}
Swedish author Frans G. Bengtsson and Professor Ragnhild Hatton have written biographies of Charles XII of Sweden.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bengtsson|first1=Frans G.|title=Karl XII:s Levnad|year=1994|publisher=Norstedts|isbn=978-9119418326}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hatton|first1=Ragnhild Marie|title=Charles XII of Sweden|url=https://archive.org/details/charlesxiiofswed00hatt|url-access=registration|date=1968|location=London|isbn=978-0297748267|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Voltaire|title=History of Charles XII, King of Sweden|date=1731}}</ref>

In 1938, [[E. M. Almedingen]] wrote ''The Lion of the North: Charles XII, King of Sweden''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The lion of the north : Charles XII – King of Sweden (Book, 1938) |publisher= |oclc = 1063928075}}</ref>

Charles XII figures quite prominently in [[Robert Massie]]'s magnum opus [[Peter the Great: His Life and World|''Peter the Great'']].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Massie|first1=Robert K.|title=Peter the Great: His Life and World|date=1981|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York City|isbn=0-345-29806-3|pages=Part 3–4}}</ref>

== Ancestors ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Charles XII of Sweden'''
|2= 2. [[Charles XI of Sweden]]
|3= 3. [[Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark]]
|4= 4. [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden]]
|5= 5. [[Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp]]
|6= 6. [[Frederick III of Denmark]]
|7= 7. [[Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg]]
|8= 8. [[John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg|John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg]]
|9= 9. [[Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg|Catharina of Sweden]]
|10= 10. [[Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp]]
|11= 11. [[Marie Elisabeth of Saxony]]
|12= 12. [[Christian IV of Denmark]]
|13= 13. [[Anne Catherine of Brandenburg]]
|14= 14. [[George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]]
|15= 15. [[Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
}}
[[File:COA country se house of Palatinate.svg|thumb|Coat of Arms of the [[House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]]]

== In popular culture ==

He is referred to in the anime ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' as the Swedish Meteor; whose similarity to Reinhard von Lohengramm may portend the dynasty dying out without a successor.

August Strindberg's 1901 play ''[[Carl XII (play)|Carl XII]]'' is about him.

The 1925 Swedish film ''[[Charles XII (film)|Charles XII]]'' is a two-part silent epic starring [[Gösta Ekman (senior)|Gösta Ekman]] the Elder portraying his reign.

In the 1968 Polish film ''[[Hrabina Cosel]]'', Charles XII is portrayed by [[Daniel Olbrychski]].

In the 1983 Swedish comedy film ''{{ill|Kalabaliken i Bender|sv|Kalabaliken i Bender (film)|vertical-align=sup}}'', Charles XII is portrayed by [[Gösta Ekman]] the Younger.

In 2007, Charles XII was portrayed by Eduard Flerov in the Russian drama ''[[The Sovereign's Servant]]''.

Charles XII appears in the absurdist comedy ''[[A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence]]'' (2014), in which his army passes a modern-day cafe on their way to, and retreating from, the [[Battle of Poltava]]. He is played by Viktor Gyllenberg.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cinema-scope.com/spotlight/pigeon-sat-branch-reflecting-existence/|title=Cinema Scope &#124; A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson, Sweden)|website=cinema-scope.com|date=18 December 2014|access-date=25 January 2020|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125213322/https://cinema-scope.com/spotlight/pigeon-sat-branch-reflecting-existence/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/a-pigeon-sat-on-a-branch-reflecting-on-existence/review/|title=A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence review: 'heaven'|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=23 April 2015|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=25 January 2020|archive-date=21 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821202258/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/a-pigeon-sat-on-a-branch-reflecting-on-existence/review/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Swedish power metal band [[Sabaton (band)|Sabaton]] wrote an [[Carolus Rex (album)|album]] named after him, which includes several songs about his life.<ref>{{Cite interview|last=Sundström|first=Pär|title=Pär Sundström interview – Carolus Rex – Part 2/3|publisher=Sabaton|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCAbEDo26Ac|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708052145/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCAbEDo26Ac&gl=US&hl=en|archive-date=8 July 2020|url-status=bot: unknown|via=YouTube|date=7 December 2018|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref>

==Battles of Charles XII==
{|style="font-size:100%; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} {{Clear}}[[Denmark–Norway]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} {{Clear}}[[Tsardom of Russia]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} {{Clear}}[[Electorate of Saxony]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon image|Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg}} {{Clear}}[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} {{Clear}}[[Cossack Hetmanate]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}} {{clear}}[[Kalmyk Khanate]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1844).svg}} {{Clear}}[[Ottoman Empire]]
|width="130" valign="top" align="center"|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}} {{Clear}}[[Kingdom of Prussia]]
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:100%; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+
|-
!width="auto" class="unsortable"|№
!width="auto"|Date
!width="80"|Action
!width="auto"|Type{{efn|In this table, the following criteria applies: "Landing" refers to a contested amphibious operation; "skirmish" refers to a limited engagement, either by parts of an army or a smaller force, with minor strategic impact or losses; "battle" refers to a larger engagement in which one or both sides fights in battle-formation to defeat the other army, with considerable strategic impact or losses; "siege" refers to a contested fortification or larger settlement, where any attempts to storm were indecisive; "assault" refers to a contested or uncontested fortification or larger settlement, where an assault played the decisive role; "blockade" refers to an attacker's attempt to starve out the garrison of a fortification or larger settlement; "operation" refers to a pre-planned military operation to seize a larger area of strategic value, in which several minor engagements are fought.}}
!width="auto"|Location{{efn|Contemporary location written at the top; present-day location written inside parentheses.}}
!width="auto" class="unsortable"|Warring
!width="auto"|Opponent/s
!width="auto"|Outcome
|-
|
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zz}}Danish–Holstein War of 1700
|-
|1.
|{{dts|1700|8|4|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Landing at Humlebæk|Humlebæk]]
|[[Amphibious warfare|Landing]]
|{{sort|Denmark|[[Denmark–Norway]]<br>([[Denmark]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Rostgaard|[[Jens Rostgaard]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zy}}Baltic campaigns of 1700–1701
|-
|2.
|{{dts|1700|11|27|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|{{ill|Battle of Pühhajoggi pass|de|Gefecht am Pühhajoggi-Pass|lt=Pühhajoggi}}
|[[Skirmisher|Skirmish]]
|{{sort|Estonia|[[Duchy of Estonia (1561–1721)|Swedish Estonia]]<br>([[Estonia]])}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Sheremetev|[[Boris Sheremetev]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|3.
|{{dts|1700|11|30|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Narva (1700)|Narva]]
|[[Pitched battle|Battle]]
|{{sort|Estonia|Swedish Estonia<br>(Estonia)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Croÿ|[[Charles Eugène de Croÿ|Charles de Croÿ]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|4.
|{{dts|1701|7|19|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Crossing of the Düna|Düna]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Latvia|[[Swedish Livonia]]<br>([[Latvia]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}<br>{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Steinau Repnin|[[Adam Heinrich von Steinau|Adam von Steinau]]<br>[[Anikita Repnin]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zx}}[[Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706)|Polish–Lithuanian campaigns of 1701–1706]]
|-
|5.
|{{dts|1701|11|15|abbr=on|format=d}}–16 Nov 1701
|[[Battle of Tryškiai|Tryszki]]
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Lithuania|[[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Duchy of Lithuania]]<br>([[Lithuania]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg}}
|{{sort|Ogiński|[[Grzegorz Antoni Ogiński|Grzegorz Ogiński]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|6.
|{{dts|1702|7|19|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Kliszów|Kliszów]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Poland|[[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]]<br>([[Poland]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}<br>{{flagicon image|Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg}}
|{{sort|Augustus Steinau Lubomirski|[[Augustus II the Strong|Augustus&nbsp;II]]<br>Adam von Steinau<br>[[Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski|Hieronim Lubomirski]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|7.
|{{dts|1703|5|1|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Pułtusk (1703)|Pułtusk]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Poland|Kingdom of Poland<br>(Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Steinau|Adam von Steinau}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|8.
|{{dts|1703|5|26|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 14 October 1703
|[[Siege of Thorn (1703)|Thorn]]
|[[Siege]]
|{{sort|Poland|Kingdom of Poland<br>(Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Kanitz|{{ill|Christoph Heinrich von Kanitz|de|lt=Christoph von Kanitz}}}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|9.
|{{dts|1704|9|6|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Storming of Lemberg|Lemberg]]
|Assault
|{{sort|Ukraine|Kingdom of Poland<br>([[Ukraine]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg}}{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Gałecki|{{ill|Franciszek Zygmunt Gałecki|pl|lt=Franciszek Gałecki}}}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|10.
|{{dts|1704|11|7|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Poniec|Poniec]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Poland|Kingdom of Poland<br>(Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Schulenburg|[[Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg|Johann von Schulenburg]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|11.
|{{dts|1704|11|9|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|{{ill|Battle of Oderbeltsch|sv|Slaget vid Oderbeltsch|lt=Oderbeltsch}}
|Battle
|{{sort|Poland|[[Lower Silesia]]<br>(Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}
|{{sort|x|[[Danylo Apostol]]<ref name=Velikanov>{{cite book |last=Velikanov |first=Vladimir S. |lang=ru |script-title=ru:Русский вспомогательный корпус на Польско-Саксонской службе в 1704-1707 и сражение при Фрауштадте |trans-title=The Russian Auxiliary Corps in Polish-Saxon service in 1704-1707 and the Battle of Fraustadt |place=Moscow |publisher=Русские витязи |others=[[Russian Academy of Sciences]]: ''Ratnoe delo'' |isbn=978-5-6040158-5-8 |date=2018 |page=42 }}</ref>}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|12.
|{{dts|1706|1|26|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 10 April 1706
|[[Battle of Grodno (1706)|Grodno]]
|[[Blockade]]
|{{sort|Belarus|Duchy of Lithuania<br>([[Belarus]])}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Georg von Ogilvy|[[Georg Benedikt von Ogilvy|Georg von Ogilvy]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zw}}[[Swedish invasion of Russia|Russian invasion of 1708–1709]]
|-
|13.
|{{dts|1708|2|6|abbr=on|format=d}}–7 Feb 1708
|[[Battle of Grodno (1708)|Grodno]]
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Belarus|Duchy of Lithuania<br>(Belarus)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Peter|[[Peter the Great|Peter I]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|14.
|{{dts|1708|7|14|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Holowczyn|Holowczyn]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Belarus|Duchy of Lithuania<br>(Belarus)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}}
|{{sort|Sheremetev|Boris Sheremetev}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|15.
|{{dts|1708|9|10|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Malatitze|Malatitze]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Belarus|Duchy of Lithuania<br>(Belarus)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}}
|{{sort|Peter Golitsyn Sheremetev|Peter I<br>[[Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (Field Marshal)|Mikhail Golitsyn]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|16.
|{{dts|1708|9|20|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Rajovka|Rajovka]]
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Russia|Duchy of Lithuania<br>([[Russia]])}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}}
|{{sort|Peter Bauer|Peter I<br>[[Rudolph Felix Bauer|Christian Bauer]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|17.
|{{dts|1708|11|11|abbr=on|format=d}}–13 Nov 1708
|[[Battle of Desna|Desna]]
|[[Military operation|Operation]]
|{{sort|Ukraine|[[Cossack Hetmanate]]<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|Hallart|{{ill|Ludwig Nikolaus von Hallart|de|lt=Ludwig von Hallart}}}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|18.
|{{dts|1709|1|17|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Siege of Veprik|Veprik]]
|Assault
|{{sort|Ukraine|Cossack Hetmanate<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}
|{{sort|Fermor|William Fermor}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|19.
|{{dts|1709|2|8|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Oposhnya|Oposhnya]]
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Ukraine|Cossack Hetmanate<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}
|{{sort|Schaumburg|{{ill|Отто Рудольф фон и цу Шауенбург|ru|lt=Otto von Schaumburg}}}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|20.
|{{dts|1709|2|19|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|Khukhra<ref name="Nordberg892–893">{{cite book|first=Jöran|last=Nordberg|title=Konung Carl den XII:tes Historia, volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_lcAAAAcAAJ|year=1740|publisher=Pet. Momma|location=[[Stockholm]]|pages=892–893|oclc=256604521}}</ref><ref name="Quennerstedt343–344">{{cite book|first=August|last=Quennerstedt|title=Karolinska krigares dagböcker jämte andra samtida skrifter, volume 1|url=https://runeberg.org/karolikrig/1/|year=1901|publisher=Gleerupska univ. bokhandeln|location=[[Lund]]|pages=343–344|oclc=186563462}}</ref>
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Ukraine|[[Tsardom of Russia]]<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}
|{{sort|x|Unknown}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|21.
|{{dts|1709|2|21|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Krasnokutsk–Gorodnoye|Krasnokutsk–Gorodnoye]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Ukraine|Tsardom of Russia<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}}
|{{sort|Rönne|[[Carl Ewald von Rönne|Carl von Rönne]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|22.
|{{dts|1709|7|8|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Ukraine|Cossack Hetmanate<br>(Ukraine)}}
|align="center"|{{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg}}
|{{sort|Peter Sheremetev|Peter I<br>Boris Sheremetev}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zv}}Turkish exile in 1709–1714
|-
|23.
|{{dts|1713|1|31|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 1 February 1713
|[[Skirmish at Bender|Bender]]
|Assault
|{{sort|Moldova|[[Ottoman Empire]]<br>([[Moldova]])}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1844).svg}}
|{{sort|Pasha|{{ill|Hoca İbrahim Paşa|tr|lt=Ismail Pasha}}}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zu}}German campaigns of 1714–1715
|-
|24.
|{{dts|1715|4|21|abbr=on|format=d}}–27 Apr 1715
|[[Battles of Usedom#Swedish invasion of Usedom|Usedom I]]
|Operation
|{{sort|Germany Poland|[[Swedish Pomerania]]<br>([[Germany]] / Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}}
|{{sort|Rohr|Captain Rohr}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|25.
|{{dts|1715|7|31|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 22 August 1715
|[[Battles of Usedom#Allied invasion of Usedom|Usedom II]]
|Operation
|{{sort|Germany Poland|Swedish Pomerania<br>(Germany / Poland)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}}<br>{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Arnim Württemberg-Winnental|{{ill|Georg Abraham von Arnim|de|lt=Georg von Arnim}}<br>[[Frederick Louis of Württemberg-Winnental|Louis of Württemberg-Winnental]]}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
|26.
|{{dts|1715|7|12|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 24 December 1715
|[[Siege of Stralsund (1711–1715)|Stralsund]]
|Siege
|{{sort|Germany|Swedish Pomerania<br>(Germany)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}}<br>{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}<br>{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Anhalt-Dessau Wackerbarth Scholten|[[Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau]]<br>{{ill|August Christoph von Wackerbarth|de|lt=August von Wackerbarth}}<br>[[Jobst von Scholten]]}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
|27.
|{{dts|1715|11|16|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Stresow|Stresow]]
|Battle
|{{sort|Germany|Swedish Pomerania<br>(Germany)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}}{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}{{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}}
|{{sort|Anhalt-Dessau|Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
! colspan="8" |{{Hidden sort key|zt}}[[Norway during the Great Northern War|Norwegian campaigns of 1716 and 1718]]
|-
|28.
|{{dts|1716|3|9|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|[[Battle of Høland|Høland]]
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Kruse|{{ill|Ulrik Christian Kruse|dk|lt=Ulrik Kruse}}}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|29.
|{{dts|1716|3|21|abbr=on|format=dmy}}
|{{ill|Battle of Christiania|sv|Slaget om Kristiania|lt=Christiania}}
|Skirmish
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Klenow|[[Jørgen Christopher von Klenow|Jørgen von Klenow]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|30.
|{{dts|1716|3|22|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 30 April 1716
|{{ill|Siege of Akershus Fortress|no|Beleiringen av Akershus festning|lt=Akershus Fortress}}
|Siege
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Klenow|Jørgen von Klenow}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
|31.
|{{dts|1716|6|3|abbr=on|format=d}}–5 Jun 1716
|Sponvika Sconce<ref name="Lagermark66">{{cite book|first=Johan August|last=Lagermark|title=Karl XII:s krig i Norge 1716|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MQ_AAAAYAAJ|year=1883|publisher=Edv. Berling|location=[[Uppsala]]|page=66|oclc=457320804}}</ref>
|Siege
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Günter|Hans Günter}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|32.
|{{dts|1716|7|3|abbr=on|format=d}}–4 Jul 1716
|{{ill|Attack on Fredrikshald|de|Angriff auf Frederikshald (1716)|lt=Fredrikshald}}
|Assault
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Brun|{{ill|Hans Jacob Brun|dk|lt=Hans Brun}}}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat
|-
|33.
|{{dts|1718|7|15|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 16 November 1718
|{{ill|Battle of Iddefjord|no|Sjøkrigen i Iddefjorden|lt=Iddefjord}}
|Operation
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Landsberg|[[Barthold Nicolai Landsberg|Barthold Landsberg]]}}
|bgcolor="#99ff99"|Victory
|-
|34.
|{{dts|1718|11|20|abbr=on|format=dm}} – 14 December 1718
|[[Siege of Fredriksten|Fredriksten]]
|Siege
|{{sort|Norway|Denmark–Norway<br>(Norway)}}
|align="center"|{{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}}
|{{sort|Landsberg|Barthold Landsberg}}
|bgcolor="#FFCCCB"|Defeat {{KIA}}
|}

==See also==
*[[List of unsolved murders (before the 20th century)|List of unsolved murders]]
*[[Gottorp Fury]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Charles XII. | volume= 5 |last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain| pages = 929–931 |short= 1}}
*Bain, Robert Nisbet. ''Charles XII and the Collapse of the Swedish Empire, 1682–1719'' (1899) [https://books.google.com/books?id=o9hAAQAAMAAJ&dq=charles+xii&pg=PR1 online].
* Bengtsson, F. G. ''The Life of Charles XII, King of Sweden, 1697–1718'' (1960). also published as ''The sword does not jest. The heroic life of King Charles XII of Sweden'' (St. Martin's Press 1960).
*Browning, Oscar. ''Charles XII of Sweden'' (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1899). 
*Fielding, Henry (Translator), ''The Military History of Charles XII. King of Sweden, Written by the Express Order of His Majesty, by M. Gustavus Adlerfeld, to Which Is Added, an Exact Account of the Battle of Pultowa, Illustrated with Plans in Three Volumes'' (London: printed for J. and P. Knapton; J. Hodges; A. Millar; and J. Nourse, 1740). Reprinted by Gale Ecco, Print Editions (2010). 
*Gade, John (Translator), ''Charles the Twelfth King of Sweden: Translated from the manuscript of Carl Gustafson Klingspor'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916). Reprinted by Merkaba Press (2017). 
*Glaeser, Michael. ''By Defeating My Enemies: Charles XII of Sweden and the Great Northern War, 1682–1721'' (Helion & Co Ltd, 2020).
* [[John Hattendorf|Hattendorf, J. B.]], Åsa Karlsson, Margriet Lacy-Bruijn, Augustus J. Veenendaal Jr., and Rolof van Hövell tot Westerflier, ''Charles XII: Warrior King'' (Rotterdam: Karwansaray, 2018).
* [[Ragnhild Hatton|Hatton, R. M.]] ''Charles XII of Sweden'' (1968).
*Hone, Michael. ''Charles XII of Sweden: Versus Peter the Great of Russia'' (Createspace Independent Pub., 2016).
* {{cite book |last1=Liljegren |first1=Bengt |title=Karl XII : en biografi |date=2000 |publisher=Historiska media |location=Lund |isbn=978-9188930996}}
* Peterson, Gary Dean. ''Warrior kings of Sweden: the rise of an empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries'' (McFarland, 2007).
*Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet de. ''History of Charles XII, King of Sweden'' (translated by W.H. Dilworth, 1760). Reprinted by True World of Books (2020).

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Charles XII of Sweden}}
* [https://mikedashhistory.com/2012/09/25/the-swedish-meteor-the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-charles-xii/ The Swedish Meteor: the blazing career and mysterious death of Charles XII]. Smithsonian summary of assassination theories.
* [http://www.cichw1.net/cxiiteg.html Charles XII: on the centenary of his death 1818]. The original Swedish text by Esaias Tegner, as well as parallel translations by J.E.D. Bethune (1848) and Charles Harrison-Wallace (1998) and a comment by the latter.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171020100626/http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-38927/karlxii.html The Great Northern War and Charles XII]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050406085157/http://www.karlxii.se/Default.asp Charles XII and his Life and Death] {{in lang|sv}}
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7228009.stm BBC News item: Who killed Sweden's Warrior King?]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070209085239/http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/swedhis/swed1700.htm Timeline of 1700–1720 in Sweden]
* {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Charles XII|short=x}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Charles XII|short=x}}
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Charles XII|short=x}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]|17 June|1682|30 November|1718|[[House of Wittelsbach]]}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Swedish monarchs|King of Sweden]]<br/>[[Bremen-Verden|Duke of Bremen and Verden]]|years=1697–1718}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden|Ulrika Eleonora]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[Palatine Zweibrücken|Duke of Palatine Zweibrücken]]|years=1697–1718}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken|Gustav Samuel Leopold]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Swedish princes}}
{{Monarchs of Sweden}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 12 Of Sweden}}
[[Category:1682 births]]
[[Category:1718 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Swedish monarchs]]
[[Category:18th-century Swedish monarchs]]
[[Category:Burials at Riddarholmen Church]]
[[Category:Charles XII of Sweden| ]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Norway]]
[[Category:House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]
[[Category:House of Wittelsbach]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]
[[Category:Royalty from Stockholm]]
[[Category:Swedish people of German descent]]
[[Category:Swedish people of the Great Northern War]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in Norway]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]
[[Category:Swedish military personnel killed in action]]