The directory «Plots»

Charles IX (Karl IX)
(1550–1611)

King of Sweden (1604–1611). Third son of Gustav I Vasa, he helped lead a rebellion against the rule of his half brother Erik XIV that placed his other brother on the throne as John III. After the accession (1592) of his devoutly Catholic nephew, Sigismund III, Charles called the Convention of Uppsala, which demanded that Lutheranism be retained as the national religion. He opposed Sigismund in a civil war, and after the latter was deposed Charles became the virtual ruler of Sweden (1599–1604). Declared king in 1604, he pursued an aggressive foreign policy that led to war with Poland (1605) and Denmark (the Kalmar War, 1611–1613).

In early 1609, troops raised by King Charles IX crossed the Russian border and assisted Shuisky's forces in clearing Dmitry's supporters out of north Russia. Charles also gobbled up Russian territory for himself, immediately provoking Polish intervention in Russia.

Sweden, 1971, Anointing horn of Karl IX, 1606