Original rendering of a snow brig by @kris_tinsart.
King Karl XII – The Decline
Battle of Poltava
Swedish King Karl XII, his name often Anglicized as Charles XII, was injured during the Battle of Poltava. Karl had been injured in the foot by misplaced cannon fire and had been carried through the battle on a litter. Karl XII escaped after defeat was clear in the battle and fled to Turkey, according to Dr. Gregory Andrete at UW Green Bay.
The Battle of Poltava marked the beginning of the end of Karl XII’s impressive reign as the last in a line of awe-inspiring military commanders that began with Gustavus Adolphus a century earlier.
Time in Turkey
Costel Coroban, in an extensive study of King Karl XII’s time in Turkey, states that Sultan Ahmed III was welcoming to Karl XII, even funding a Swedish enclave in the Ottoman Empire during the five years Karl stayed. The writings of Voltaire imply that Turkish custom at the time included supporting visiting foreign princes (Coroban, pp. 2, 4).
The Swedish King arrived in Turkey on August 1, 1709, with 1500 Swedish troops who were given tents to set up a camp at Varnitza near Bender. They even built wooden structures before winter set in. Life in the military encampment was structured, with daily military drills and morning and evening prayers. Karl himself was pious and began each day with a Bible reading. He also played chess in the evenings. (Coroban, pp. 5, 9).
Siege of Fredriksten
Karl XII returned to Sweden in 1714. The Siege of Fredriksten in 1716 was his last campaign, an attempt to take the fortress of Frederiksten in southeastern Norway.
Karl XII died in Norway in the Siege of Fredriksten from a single shot to the head. Legends surround the event, including some that say he was shot by one of his own soldiers. A new ballistics study of his skull published in 2022 by Markku Niskanen concludes that he was shot by enemy fire, most likely by an iron cartouche ball fired from behind enemy lines (Niskanen p.1).
For the next post in the series, click here — Battle of Poltava
Source: Gregory S. Andrete, PhD, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, “1709 Poltava–Sweden’s Fall, Russia’s Rise,” in Decisive Battles of World History, The Great Courses, volume 22, 2014.
Source: Niskanen, Markku. “The Death of King Charles XII of Sweden Revisited.” PNAS Nexus, n.d. doi:10.1093/PNASNEXUS/PGAC234. (read via academia.edu)
Source: C., C. “British Reactions to Charles XII’s Stay in the Ottoman Empire, Costel Coroban.” Arsbn.ro, n.d. (read via academia.edu)