Charles XIV John facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Charles XIV John |
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Portrait by François Gérard
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| King of Sweden and Norway | |||||
| Reign | 5 February 1818 – 8 March 1844 | ||||
| Coronations | 11 May 1818 (Stockholm Cathedral, Sweden) 7 September 1818 (Nidaros Cathedral, Norway) |
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| Predecessor | Charles XIII & II | ||||
| Successor | Oscar I | ||||
| Prince of Pontecorvo | |||||
| Reign | 5 June 1806 – 21 August 1810 | ||||
| Predecessor | Principality established | ||||
| Successor | Lucien Murat | ||||
| Minister of War of the French Republic | |||||
| In office 2 July 1799 – 14 September 1799 |
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| Preceded by | Louis Marie de Milet de Mureau | ||||
| Succeeded by | Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé | ||||
| Born | Jean Bernadotte, later Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte 26 January 1763 Pau, France |
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| Died | 8 March 1844 (aged 81) Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Burial | 26 April 1844 Riddarholm Church |
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| Spouse |
Désirée Clary
(m. 1796) |
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| Issue | Oscar I of Sweden | ||||
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| House | Bernadotte | ||||
| Father | Henri Bernadotte | ||||
| Mother | Jeanne de Saint-Jean | ||||
| Religion | Lutheran prev. Roman Catholic |
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| Signature |  |
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| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of France.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of France French Republic French Empire Kingdom of Sweden.svg){kind=small} United Kingdoms of Sweden-Norway |
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| Years of service | 1780–1844 | ||||
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire And Generalissimo of the Swedish Armed Forces | ||||
| Commands held | Governor of Hanover Governor of Ansbach Governor of the Hanseatic Cities Army of the Rhine (1798) Army of the West I Corps IX Corps Army of Antwerp Allied Army of the North Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces and Norwegian Armed Forces |
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| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
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| Awards | Grand Master Order of the Seraphim Grand Master Order of the Sword Grand Master Order of the Polar Star Grand Master Order of Vasa Grand Collar Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Iron Cross Order of St. George 1st Class Order of the Iron Crown Order of the Elephant Military Order of Maria Theresa Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe |
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| Other work | Councillor of State Ambassador to the Court of Vienna and the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary |
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Charles XIV John (Swedish and Norwegian: Karl XIV Johan; born Jean Bernadotte; 26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 until his death. In modern Norwegian lists of kings he is called Charles III John. He was the first monarch of the Bernadotte dynasty.
Born in Pau in southern France, Bernadotte joined the French Royal Army in 1780. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution, he exhibited great military talent, rapidly rising through the ranks, and was made a brigadier general by 1794. He served with distinction in Italy and Germany, and was briefly Minister of War. His relationship with Napoleon was turbulent; nevertheless, Napoleon named him a Marshal of the Empire on the proclamation of the French Empire. Bernadotte played a significant role in the French victory at Austerlitz, and was made Prince of Pontecorvo as a reward. Bernadotte was, through marriage to Désirée Clary, brother-in-law to Joseph Bonaparte, and thus a member of the extended Imperial Family.
In 1810, Bernadotte was unexpectedly elected the heir-presumptive to the childless King Charles XIII of Sweden, thanks to the advocacy of Baron Carl Otto Mörner, a Swedish courtier and obscure member of the Riksdag of the Estates. He assumed the name Charles John and became the de facto regent and head of state. In 1813, following the sudden unprovoked French invasion of Swedish Pomerania, Crown Prince Charles John aligned Sweden with Napoleon's enemies in the Sixth Coalition, wherein he authored the Trachenberg Plan, the war winning Allied campaign plan, and commanded the Allied Army of the North that made the decisive attack on the last day of the catastrophic French defeat at Leipzig. Charles John forced the Danish king to cede Norway to Sweden after the War of the Sixth Coalition, leading to the Swedish-Norwegian war of 1814 where Norway was defeated after a single summer's conflict. This put Norway into a union with Sweden, which lasted for almost a century before being peacefully dissolved in 1905. The Swedish-Norwegian war of 1814 is credited as Sweden's last direct conflict and war.
Upon the death of Charles XIII in 1818, Charles John ascended to the throne. He presided over a period of peace and prosperity, and reigned until his death in 1844.
Images for kids
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Bernadotte's birthplace in Pau, France
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Bust of a young Bernadotte at the Bernadotte Museum in Pau, France
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Statue in Norrköping erected in 1846
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Coronation of Charles XIV John as King of Sweden in Stockholm Cathedral
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Coronation of Charles III John as King of Norway in Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim
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Equestrian statue in Stockholm depicting Charles XIV John
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The monument outside the Royal Palace in Oslo
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Charles John's porphyry sarcophagus
