The short reign of Charles IX of …

Years: 1611 - 1611
October

The short reign of Charles IX of Sweden has been one of uninterrupted warfare.

The hostility of Poland and the breakup of Russia has involved him in two overseas contests for the possession of Livonia and Ingria, while his pretensions to claim Lappland has brought upon him a war with Denmark in what is to be the last year of his reign.

In all these struggles, he has been more or less unsuccessful, owing partly to the fact that he and his forces have had to oppose superior generals (e.g., Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Christian IV of Denmark) and partly to sheer ill-luck.

Compared with his foreign policy, the domestic policy of Charles IX has been comparatively unimportant, aimed at confirming and supplementing what had already been done during his regency.

He had not officially become king until March 6, 1604.

Charles dies at Nyköping four-and-a-half years later, on October 30, 1611; he is succeeded by his oldest son, the seventeen year old Gustavus Adolphus, who, on ascending the throne, sues for peace with the Commonwealth and with Denmark, but Christian IV sees an opportunity for larger victories, and strengthens his armies in southern Sweden.

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