Johann Patkul

Who was Johann Patkul?

Johann Reinhold Patkul, was a Livonian nobleman, politician, and agitator of Baltic German extraction. Born as a subject to the Swedish Crown, his protests against the manner of Charles XI of Sweden's reduction in Livonia enraged the king to the point of having him arrested and sentenced to mutilation and death. Patkul fled from the Swedish empire to continental Europe, playing a key role in the secret diplomacy allying Peter the Great of Russia, Augustus the Strong of Saxony and Poland-Lithuania as well as Christian V and his successor Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway against Charles XII of Sweden, triggering the Great Northern War. During the first war years, Patkul retained a key role in the communication between the allies and other European courts, holding positions at king Augustus' court first in Augustus', then in tsar Peter's service. In late 1705 Patkul fell from Augustus' favor and was arrested and charged with high treason. Throughout the following year he was detained first in Sonnenstein, then in Königstein, before Charles XII forced Augustus to extradite him by the treaty of Altranstädt in late 1706.