CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN: (1682-1718) King of Sweden 1697-1718. Killed during the besiege of Fredrikshald. Very rare ...

CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN: (1682-1718) King of Sweden 1697-1718. Killed during the besiege of Fredrikshald. Very rare A.N.S., Carolus, as King, one page, oblong 20 x 7 clipped piece, Stockholm, 12th April 1700, in Swedish. The apparently in a rush written text is an order referring to his guard officers and is dated shortly before his departure to the war between his brother in law, the Duke of Holstein, and Denmark. At the time of the present letter the King is only seventeen, although he assumed power at the age of fifteen. Overall age wear and staining, with a tear to the centre fold, partially repaired to the verso, although not affecting the signature. F £300-400 In 1700, date year of the present letter, a triple alliance of Denmark-Norway, Saxony-Poland-Lithuania and Russia launched an attack on the Swedish protectorate of Holstein-Gottorp aiming to draw advantage as the Swedish Empire was unaligned and ruled by a very young and inexperienced King, thus initiating the Great Northern War. Leading the Swedish army against the alliance Charles won multiple victories despite being usually significantly outnumbered. A major victory over a Russian army three times the size in 1700 at the Battle of Narva compelled Peter the Great to sue for peace which Charles then rejected. Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician. 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.