House of Bernadotte

The House of Bernadotte, the current Royal House of the Kingdom of Sweden, has reigned since 1818. Between 1818 and 1905 it was also the Royal House of Norway.

History

Following the Finnish War in 1809, Sweden suffered the traumatic loss of Finland, which had constituted the eastern half of the Swedish realm. The agony and resentment towards King Gustav IV Adolf precipitated a coup d'état, and Gustav Adolf's uncle, the childless Charles XIII, replaced him. This was merely a temporary solution, and in 1810 the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates elected the Danish Prince Christian August of Augustenborg as heir to the throne. As Swedish crown prince he took the name Charles August (Karl August); however, he died later that same year.

As Napoleon I of France was Emperor of the French, and ruled, directly or indirectly, over much of Continental Europe through a network of client kingdoms headed by his brothers (see Napoleonic Empire; i.e., Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia; Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain; Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland), the Swedish parliament saw it practical to elect a king whom Napoleon could accept. On August 21, 1810, the Riksdag elected Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, as heir apparent to the Swedish throne.

Bernadotte, born in the town of Pau, in the province of Béarn, France, rose to the rank of general during the tumultuous years of the French Revolution. In 1798 he married Désirée Clary, thereby becoming the brother-in-law of Joseph, Napoleon's elder brother. In 1804 Napoleon promoted him to a Marshal of France, and later granted him the title 'Prince of Ponte Corvo', a town in southern Italy.

As the Crown Prince of Sweden he assumed the name Charles John (Karl Johan), acted officially as regent for the remainder of Charles XIII's reign and secured a forced personal union between Sweden and Norway in the 1814 Campaign against Norway. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte reigned as King Charles XIV of Sweden and Carl III Johan of Norway from February 5, 1818 until his death on March 8, 1844.

The House of Bernadotte reigned in both countries until the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Prince Carl of Denmark, a grandson of King Charles XV, was then elected as Norway's new king.

The coat of arms of the House of Bernadotte combines the coat of arms of the House of Vasa (heraldic right) and the coat of arms of Bernadotte as the Prince of Ponte Corvo (heraldic left). It is visible as an inescutcheon in the Greater Coat of Arms of the Realm.

Kings of Sweden

• 1818-1844 : Charles XIV John Karl XIV Johan
• 1844-1859 : Oscar I
• 1859-1872 : Charles XV Karl XV
• 1872-1907 : Oscar II
• 1907-1950 : Gustaf V
• 1950-1973 : Gustaf VI Adolf
• Since 1973 : Carl XVI Gustaf

Kings of Norway

• 1818-1844 : Charles III
• 1844-1859 : Oscar I
• 1859-1872 : Charles IV
• 1872-1905 : Oscar II

See also

• Guadeloupe Fund
• Bernadotte af Wisborg
• Folke Bernadotte, diplomat and mediator, assassinated in 1949 while performing duties for the United Nations in Jerusalem.
• Swedish Act of Succession
• Line of succession to the Swedish Throne
• Bernadotte, Illinois

Sources

• Jean-Marc Olivier, "Bernadotte Revisited, or The Complexity of a Long Reign (1810-1844)", in Nordic Historical Review, number 2, october 2006, pp. 127-137.

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