Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ruled Sweden and Norway as King Charles XIV John from 1818 to 1844.
Background
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was born on January 26, 1763, at Pau, France. The son of petit-bourgeois parents. Bernadotte spent his youth as a stable boy and was nicknamed "Fanfan Belle-Jambe" for his muscular legs. The family name was originally du Poey (or de Pouey), but was changed to Bernadotte – a surname of an ancestress at the beginning of the 17th century.
Career
He joined the army in 1780 and was a sergeant when the French Revolution began in 1789. By 1794 he was a brigadier general and had served with the armies of the Meuse and the Rhine. In 1798 Bernadotte served briefly as French ambassador to Vienna.
During 1798 Bernadotte was also minister of war for a short period, and he had become an influential political general by the time of Napoleon's return from Egypt in 1799. He did not, however, take part in the coup d'etat of Brumaire (November 1799), which established the Consulate under Napoleon. During the 4 years of the Consulate he commanded first the Army of the Vendée and then the troops at Hanover. The creation of the empire in 1804 brought Bernadotte the title of marshal.
He played an active role in the campaign against Austria in 1805 and fought at Austerlitz. He took part in the Prussian campaign of 1806, but during the Battle of Jena (October 14) he refused to support Marshal Louis N. Davout, who was thus forced to engage the major portion of the Prussian army with only one army corps. Although he remained popular with his troops, Bernadotte was denounced by Napoleon and criticized by his fellow marshals for this action.
The 1809 campaign against Austria found him once again at the head of an army corps, but the Battle of Wargram marked the end of his military career with the French army. When the German troops under his command fled to the rear at the height of the battle, Bernadotte rode after them in a vain attempt to rally them. While riding full gallop to the rear, he met Napoleon advancing with reinforcements. The Emperor would listen to no explanation; he relieved the marshal of his command and ordered him off the battlefield. Bernadotte returned to Paris in undeserved disgrace but was soon given command of the defense of the Netherlands.
Then, in 1810, as he was about to take up his new post as governor of Rome, the Swedish government asked him to become crown prince of Sweden. After securing the approval of Napoleon, Bernadotte was elected on Aug. 20, 1810, to succeed the aging and ailing Swedish king, Charles XIII. When he arrived in Stockholm in November, he was adopted by the king and took the name Charles John.
He was popular with the Swedish people, and his political influence increased as the King's health continued to decline. The occupation by French troops of Swedish Poemerania in 1812 and the ruinous Continental blockade resulted in a formal split with Napoleon, and in 1813 the crown prince took his adopted nation into the camp of the Allies. Charles John led a Swedish army against France in the final years of the Napoleonic Wars, and after Napoleon's defeat Sweden was allowed to annex Norway, which had been part of the Danish kingdom.
In 1818, when Charles XIII died, the crown prince ascended the throne. An ultraconservative throughout his peaceful reign, he almost outlived his popularity. On March 8, 1844, he died at Stockholm.
Achievements
Religion
Because of the current Swedish laws regarding its ruler's religion (which had to be Lutheran), he converted from Roman Catholicism to the Lutheranism of the Swedish court.
Politics
Realizing that Sweden could never retake Finland from Russia, he followed a pro-Russian course in foreign policy, aimed at acquiring Norway.
Views
Quotations:
“I have beheld war near at hand, and I know all its evils: for it is not conquest which can console a country for the blood of her children, spilt on a foreign land. I have seen the mighty Emperor of the French, so often crowned with the laurel of victory, surrounded by his invincible armies, sigh after the olive-branches of peace. Yes, Gentlemen, peace is the only glorious aim of a sage and enlightened government: it is not the extent of a state which constitutes its strength and independence; it is its laws, its commerce, its industry, and above all, its national spirit. ”
Charles John, address to the State-General, 5 November 1810.
Connections
In 1798 he married Désirée Clary. He was succeeded by his only son, Oscar I.
Father:
Jean Henri Bernadotte (Pau, Béarn, 14 October 1711 – Pau, 31 March 1780)