January 26, 2010
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Charles XIV & III John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan), born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later renamed Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden (as Karl XIV Johan) and King of Norway (as Karl III Johan) from 1818 until his death. He was also the first Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo, Italy.

French by birth, Bernadotte served a long career in the French Army. He was appointed as a Marshal of France by Napoleon I, though the two had a turbulent relationship. His service to France ended in 1810, when he was elected the heir to the Swedish throne: the Swedish royal family was dying out because both the legitimate children of King Charles XIII had died in infancy.

He was born in Pau, France, as the son of Jean Henri Bernadotte (Pau, Béarn, 14 October 1711 – Pau, 31 March 1780), procurator at Pau, and wife (married at Boëil-Bezing, 20 February 1754) Jeanne de Saint-Vincent (Pau, 1 April 1728 – Pau, 8 January 1809). His Christian names were Jean-Baptiste - he added Jules later, from Julius Caesar, in the classicizing spirit of the French Revolution. The family name was originally de Pouey, but was changed to Bernadotte - a surname of an ancestress - at the beginning of the 17th century. At Sceaux on 16 August 1798 he married Eugénie Bernhardine Désirée Clary, the daughter of a Marseille silk merchant, and sister of Joseph Bonaparte's wife Julie Clary - Eugenie had previously been engaged to Napoleon. Bernadotte and Eugénie had an only son, Oscar I of Sweden and Norway.

Bernadotte joined the army as a private in the Régiment de Royal-Marine on 3 September 1780, and first served in the newly-conquered territory of Corsica. He was for a long time stationed in Collioure in the South of France and was after eight years promoted to sergeant. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution, his eminent military qualities brought him speedy promotion. He was promoted to colonel in 1792 and by 1794 was a brigadier attached to the army of the Sambre et Meuse. After Jourdan's victory at Fleurus (26 June 1794) he became a general of division. At the Battle of Theiningen (1796), Bernadotte contributed, more than anyone else, to the successful retreat of the French army over the Rhine after its defeat by the Archduke Charles of Austria. In 1797 he brought reinforcements from the Rhine to Bonaparte's army in Italy, distinguishing himself greatly at the passage of the Tagliamento, and in 1798 served as ambassador to Vienna, but had to quit his post owing to the disturbances caused by his hoisting the tricolour over the embassy. From 2 July to 14 September he was Minister of War, in which capacity he displayed great ability. He declined to help Napoleon Bonaparte stage his coup d'état of November 1799, but nevertheless accepted employment from the Consulate, and from April 1800 to 18 August 1801 commanded the army in the Vendée.


On the introduction of the French Empire, Bernadotte became one of the Marshals of France and, from June 1804 to September 1805, served as governor of Hanover. During the campaign of 1805, Bernadotte with an army corps from Hanover, co-operated in the great movement which resulted in the shutting off of Mack in Ulm. As a reward for his services at Austerlitz (2 December 1805) he became Marshal of the French Imperial Army and the 1st Sovereign Prince of Ponte Corvo (5 June 1806), but during the campaign against Prussia, in the same year, was severely reproached by Napoleon for not participating with his army corps in the battles of Jena and Auerstädt, though close at hand. In 1808, as governor of the Hanseatic towns, he was to have directed the expedition against Sweden, via the Danish islands, but the plan came to naught because of the want of transports and the defection of the Spanish contingent. In the war against Austria, Bernadotte led the Saxon contingent at the Battle of Wagram (6 July 1809), on which occasion, on his own initiative, he issued an Order of the Day attributing the victory principally to the valour of his Saxons, which order Napoleon at once disavowed. It was during the middle of that battle that Marshal Bernadotte was stripped of his command after retreating contrary to Napoleon's orders.

Bernadotte, considerably piqued, thereupon returned to Paris, where the council of ministers entrusted him with the defence of the Netherlands against the British expedition in Walcheren. In 1810, he was about to enter upon his new post as governor of Rome when he was unexpectedly elected the heir to King Charles XIII of Sweden, partly because a large part of the Swedish Army, in view of future complications with Russia, were in favour of electing a soldier, and partly because Bernadotte was also very popular in Sweden, owing to the kindness he had shown to the Swedish prisoners during the recent war with Denmark. The issue of an heir to the Swedish throne had become acute since the previous crown prince Charles August had died of a stroke on May 28, 1810, just a few months after he had arrived in Sweden. The matter was decided by one of the Swedish courtiers, Baron Karl Otto Mörner, who, entirely on his own initiative, offered the succession to the Swedish crown to Bernadotte. Bernadotte informed Mörner that he would not refuse the honor if he were duly elected. On 21 August 1810, he was selected and elected the Crown Prince and made the Generalissimus of the Swedish Armed Forces. In that year he renounced the title of Prince of Ponte Corvo. On 2 November Bernadotte made his solemn entry into Stockholm, and on 5 November he received the homage of the Riksdag of the Estates, and he was adopted by King Charles XIII under the name of "Charles John" (Carl Johan).

The keynote of his whole policy was the acquisition of Norway and Bernadotte proved anything but a puppet of France. In 1813, he allied Sweden with Napoleon's enemies, Great Britain and Prussia, of the Sixth Coalition, in order to secure this. After the defeats at Lützen (2 May 1813) and Bautzen (21 May 1813), it was the Swedish Crown Prince who put fresh fighting spirit into the Allies; and at the conference of Trachenberg he drew up the general plan for the campaign which began after the expiration of the Truce of Plaswitz. Charles John, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army, successfully defended the approaches to Berlin against Oudinot in August and against Ney in September at the Battles of Grossbeeren and Dennewitz; but after the Battle of Leipzig he went his own way, determined at all hazards to cripple Denmark and to secure Norway, defeating the Danes at Bornhöved in December.

Charles XIV John's reign witnessed the completion of the southern Göta Canal, begun 22 years earlier, to link Lake Vänern to the sea at Söderköping 180 miles to the east. Though his ultra-conservative views were unpopular, particularly from 1823 onwards, his dynasty never faced serious danger. Though the Riksdag of the Estates of 1840 meditated compelling him to supposedly abdicate, he survived that controversy, and his silver jubilee was celebrated with great enthusiasm in 1843.

Charles XIV John died in Stockholm on 8 March 1844. His reign was one of uninterrupted peace, during which his kingdoms experienced great material development. He was succeeded by his son, Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. Oscar's mother was Désirée Clary, Napoleon Bonaparte's first fiancée. Her sister,Julie Clary, was married to Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée chose Napoleon to be prince Oscar's godfather.

The main street of Oslo, Karl Johans gate is named for him, while the Fortress of Karlsborg (Karlsborgs fästning) located in Karlsborg Municipality (Karlsborgs kommun) in Västra Götaland, was named by him after Charles XIII, his adoptive father.