Charles IX of Sweden

Who was Charles IX of Sweden?

Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, Swedish: Karl IX was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III, and uncle of Sigismund I/III, king of both Sweden and Poland. By his father's will he got, by way of appanage, the Duchy of Södermanland, which included the provinces of Närke and Värmland; but he did not come into actual possession of them till after the fall of Eric and the succession to the throne of John in 1568.

The Swedish kings Eric XIV and Charles IX took their numbers according to a fictitious History of Sweden. He was actually the third Swedish king called Charles.

He came into the throne by championing the Protestant cause during the increasingly tense times of religious strife between competing sects of Christianity. In just over a decade, these would break out as the Thirty Years' War. These conflicts had already caused the dynastic squabble rooted in religious freedom that deposed his nephew and brought him to rule as king of Sweden.

His reign marked the start of the final chapter of both the Reformation and Counter-reformation.