Gustavus IV was the King of Sweden from 1792 to 1809. His intemperate foreign policy led to his overthrow in a coup d’état (1809) and the loss of the eastern part of Sweden and Finland.
Background
Gustavus was born on the 1st of November 1778 in Stockholm, the son of Gustavus III of Sweden and his wife Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. At the time of his birth, he was put under the care of Maria Aurora Uggla, lady-in-waiting and confidant of his mother.
Education
Gustavus was carefully educated under the direction of Nils von Rosenstein.
Career
Gustavus came to the throne in 1792 under the regency of his uncle Charles, duke of Södermanland. In August 1796 his uncle visited St Petersburg for the purpose of arranging a marriage between the young king and Catherine II's granddaughter, the grand-duchess Alexandra. The betrothal was actually fixed for September 22, when the whole arrangement foundered on the obstinate refusal of Gustavus to allow his destined bride liberty of worship according to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church – a rebuff which undoubtedly accelerated the death of the Russian empress.
Nobody seems to have even suspected at the time that serious mental derangement lay at the root of Gustavus' abnormal piety. On the contrary, there were many who prematurely congratulated themselves on the fact that Sweden had now no disturbing genius, but an economical, God-fearing, commonplace monarch to deal with. Gustavus' prompt dismissal of the generally detested Gustaf Reuterholm added still further to his popularity.
Gustavus’ horror of Jacobinism was morbid in its intensity, and drove him to adopt all sorts of reactionary measures and to postpone his coronation for some years, so as to avoid calling together a diet; but the disorder of the finances, caused partly by the continental war and partly by the almost total failure of the crops in 1798 and 1799, compelled him to summon the estates to Norrkoping in March 1800, and on April 3 Gustavus was crowned.
By the end of 1808 it was obvious to every thinking Swede that the king was insane. His violence had alienated his most faithful supporters, while his obstinate incompetence paralysed the national efforts. To remove a madman by force was the one remaining expedient; and this was successfully accomplished by a conspiracy of officers of the western army, headed by Adlersparre, the Anckarsvards, and Adlercreutz, who marched rapidly from Skane to Stockholm.
On March 13, 1809 seven of the conspirators broke into the royal apartments in the palace unannounced, seized the king, and conducted him to the chateau of Gripsholm; Duke Charles was easily persuaded to accept the leadership of a provisional government, which was proclaimed the same day; and a diet, hastily summoned, solemnly approved of the revolution. On March 29 Gustavus, in order to save the crown for his son, voluntarily abdicated; but on May 10 the estates, dominated by the army, declared that not merely Gustavus but his whole family had forfeited the throne.
On June 5, 1809 the Duke Regent was proclaimed king under the title of Charles XIII, after accepting the new liberal constitution, which was ratified by the diet the same day. In December Gustavus and his family were transported to Germany. Gustavus now assumed the title of Count of Gottorp, but subsequently called himself Colonel Gustafsson, under which pseudonym he wrote most of his works. He led, separated from his family, an erratic life for some years and finally settled in St. Gall (now St. Gallen), Switzerland, in great loneliness and indigence. He died in 1837, and at the suggestion of King Oscar II his body was brought to Sweden and interred in the Riddarholm Church.
Achievements
Connections
On October 31, 1797 Gustavus married Frederica Dorothea, the daughter of Charles Frederick, Grand-Duke of Baden. They divorced in 1812.