The future King Charles X Gustav of…
June 1654 CE
The future King Charles X Gustav of Sweden, raised in the Swedish court alongside Queen Christina, had received an excellent civil education, and later learned the art of war under Lennart Torstenson, being present at the second Battle of Breitenfeld (1642) and at Jankowitz (1645).
He had from 1646 to 1648 frequented the Swedish court, supposedly as a prospective husband of his cousin the queen regnant, but her insurmountable objection to wedlock had put an end to these anticipations, and to compensate her cousin for a broken half-promise she had declared him her successor in 1649, despite the opposition of the Privy Council headed by Axel Oxenstierna.
Charles had in 1648 gained the appointment of commander of the Swedish forces in Germany.
The conclusion of the treaties of Westphalia in October of that year had prevented him from winning the military laurels he is said to have desired, but as the Swedish plenipotentiary at the executive congress of Nuremberg, he had had an opportunity to learn diplomacy, a science he is described as having quickly mastered.
As the recognized heir to the throne, his position on his return to Sweden was dangerous because of the growing discontent with the queen.
He had therefore withdrawn to the isle of Öland until June 5, 1654, when the abdication of Christina calls him to the throne.
Christina, now the former reigning queen of a Protestant nation, secretly converts to Catholicism.