Sweden's 1660 Death of Charles X Gustav: The Regency Crisis

Episode 170 of The History of Sweden covers the sudden death of King Charles X Gustav in 1660 at age 37, which plunged the Swedish Empire into a regency crisis. With his only son Charles XI just four years old, the aristocracy seized the opportunity to curtail royal power. Lucas and Luna explore the political maneuvering of the regency council led by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the impact on Sweden's foreign policy as the empire sought peace after the costly wars of the 1650s, and how this period of aristocratic rule sowed the seeds for the absolute monarchy that Charles XI would later impose. They touch on the 1660 Peace of Oliva, the reduction of crown lands, and the tensions between the high nobility and the lower estates. A pivotal moment in Swedish history, often overshadowed by the more famous reigns of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII.

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