My Beloved Wife, Ulrika

           The day of my wife’s death was the worst moment in my life. She died in the July of the year 1693. When she fell ill earlier that year, that was the point where my life started to wither away and leave this world. She is the love of my life, even though the marriage was not in the name of love. I have never been even the slightest unfaithful to her. Most other kings would have many spouses or have broken their vow of faith with other women. In time, I came to love her and she loved me back. Ulrika was beautiful and fair. She loved the arts and reading books as much as I loved to hunt and venture. We complimented each other very well.

            After her death, my own health started deteriorating. I believe this was caused by the grief and the shock that resulted from Ulrika’s death. I developed stomach pains that started in 1694, a year after her death. I ignored them for a long while, but the pain intensified and grew. I eventually looked to the doctors for help years later and they found a very large, hard lump in my stomach area. When they told me there was nothing they could do for it, I was devastated. Right then I knew my life would end soon because of this terrible disease inside my body. I was only close to 40 when I found out my life would move on soon. My death finally came in 1697.

The Development of the Monarch

            I was able to revive Sweden’s lost power after the wars ended in the 1670. The country as a whole had been neglected ever since the battles started and even before that. The regents that supervised me during my childhood after the death of my father tried to lead the country the way they though it should be run. I have utmost respect for them, but I believe they could have done better and listened to the request made by all of the people of Sweden, not just the more powerful ones. When I finally rose to the place of king, Sweden was in shambles and to make matters worse, we were also at war with other nations. I strove to correct the government and all of its flaws it had gained during the period of time after my father’s death.

            The council members were also in turmoil, so I was able to rule without their influence. I know that before, the monarch would be influenced by the council and they would work together on decisions. Well during the war, I was forced to rule and make imperative decisions without the advice of the council. Once the war was over, one would think this system would go back to normal. However, I asked the council directly if I was still bound to their will. To this, they replied that I was bound to nobody’s will but my own will. This confirmed that I had developed an absolute monarchy with no state council.

Religion in Sweden

            During my rule as monarch, I noticed many changes in my people and their relationship with the Catholic Church. Many new scientists and philosophers were publishing works that were changing the ways of thinking of everyone in Europe. The most effective writers included Locke and Newton. They both instilled doubt in the people of Europe against the Christian church. Their books about knowledge and the ways to obtain it are revolutionary and contradict the church’s teachings and beliefs. These two have proven that the true image of the world we live in is different than what the church claims to be.

           I myself did not have as much trust as the normal person in the Catholic Church and the pope as a Lutheran Christian. I decided to change the church of Sweden to follow the principals of the church that fits my desires. The first thing I did towards this movement was instate a new law on the Swedish church in 1686. This law decreed that I as king would be the ruler of the church like I would rule Sweden. That means I would have control over what is practiced and preached in the church. Then I required all citizens to attend the Sunday service in the church at the risk of arrest if anyone is found outside. In 1689, I also required all citizens of Sweden to be able to read catechisms from the church. Now not only the clergy could read them but people themselves can directly understand the “magnificence of God”. These changes in the church were needed to ensure the people’s faith in God.

The Scanian War

            The wars in the start of my rule as a monarch could have had devastating effects on Sweden if they were lost. Luckily, I was able to pull the army together and pull the win from the Danish. This war, the Scanian War, was most likely caused by the rash decisions of my guardians while I was yet too young to rule as king. They decided to form an alliance with France in 1671, a few years before my coronation, to try to ensure their support in the military. This had a hidden consequence, though. The French went to war against the Dutch, and we, Sweden being their allies, were forced to go to war against the Dutch ally, Germany. Then, the Danish king Christian the Fifth also attacked in 1675.

            We fought over who would be the owner of the Scanian lands, hence the name, the Scanian War. In the first half, the Danish actually won. This is outrageous! They only won because our army was very unprepared and outnumbered by their army. I had to think of a way to train the new army, and fast, without any of my advisors helping me. The next battle we fought against the Danish army resulted in our victory. This shows that we were capable of defeating them. We also won the next two battles and Christian V was forced to retreat. These wars helped me learn a lot about how to rule and command effectively and showed that we were able to defend ourselves. I believe they were the most important events in my life.

My life and accomplishments

            Hello, everyone. I am Charles the Eleventh, the King of Sweden starting from my inheriting the crown in 1660. I was born in 1655. I had a very tough childhood because of my father’s death. He died of a strange illness and left me, a five year old child, the crown of Sweden. Now of course I was unable to lead anything at the small age of five, so the country and I were left in the care of the governors. They kept the country running while I grew and matured. Once I reached age seventeen, my seniors deemed me old and mature enough to lead the country on my own and they relinquished the reigns to me in 1672.

            I would say I led the kingdom very well myself. During the first few years of my rule, Sweden was at war with the Danish in the Scanian War. They tried to invade the Scanian land and conquer them, but I was able to fend them off and make peace with them as well in 1676. This was one of my first successes and this war showed that I was able to lead my people well. I also weakened the power of the nobility here, which had been dominant before. I rallied the support of all the civilians in the lower classes against the noble class and was able to make major changes to the government.

            I made major changes in the country’s finances, government, army, and the bureaucracy of Sweden during the time of peace that followed the war. In 1680, at the Riksdag of the Estates, I restored Sweden’s treasury by taking back all of the property given by the government since 1650. This ruined a lot of nobles and people, but it was necessary to restore the country’s treasury. I also made the government an absolute monarchy instead of letting the nobility rule. In terms of the army, I changed how the soldiers were hired. I made a new conscripted army that was paid with land and it became very successful. I then reformed the bureaucracy in 1680 with the introduction of the Table of Ranks. It made people have to distinguish themselves in order to earn a position, instead of basing it off birthright. This allowed some commoners to earn a position and weakened the nobility more. These are some of my greatest successes in Sweden and are why I am considered one of the greatest monarchs from Sweden.

            In 1680, I married Ulrika Eleonora, the daughter of the King of Denmark, Frederick III. This was part of the agreement we made in the peace treaty that stopped the war. Even though it was an arranged marriage, we still loved each other very much. We had seven children together, but four of them died before me. Ulrika also died before me in 1693. This was the worst moment of my life and my health started to deteriorate shortly after. I felt stomach pains in 1694, and they continued until I could no longer bear the pain and passed away in 1697. It turns out I died of stomach cancer. My rule of Sweden was very successful and I had a relatively good life, not including my childhood and my later years.