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who avoided all participation in the wars of the Revolution. In
1800 Gustavus, in accordance with a scheme of his father, and
in conjunction with Russia and Denmark, took up a position of
armed neutrality, hut Denmark having been coerced by England
to abandon this position, and Russia having dissolved the alliance,
Sweden was also obliged to yield to the demands of England. The
king’s futile dreams of the restoration of absolutism and his
ill-judged and disastrous participation in the Napoleonic wars led to
the loss of Wisrnar, Pomerania, and Finland, and to his defeat in
Norway (1803-8). The country being now on the brink of ruin,
the Estates caused Gustavus to be arrested, and formally deposed
him and his heirs (1809). He died in poverty at St. Gallen in
1837. His uncle was now elected king as Charles XIII., and a
new constitution framed, mainly on the basis of that of 1772.
Peace was now concluded at Frederikslmnm with Russia (1809),
to which the whole of Finland and the Åland Islands were ceded,
with Denmark, and with France (1810), whereby Sweden recovered
part of Pomerania. The king being old and childless, Prince
Christian Augustus of Augustenburg, stadtholder of Norway, was
elected crown-prince, but on his sudden death in 1810 the Estates
elected Marshal Bernadotte, one of Napoleon’s generals, who was
adopted by Charles, assumed the name of Charles John, and
embraced the Protestant faith. The crown-prince’s influence was
directed to military organisation. The lukewarmness of Sweden
in maintaining the continental blockade led to a rupture with
France, and during the war with Napoleon the Swedes concluded
a treaty with the Russians at Abo on the footing that the crown
of Norway should be secured to Sweden (1812). England and
Prussia having given the same assurance, Charles John marched
with a Swedish contingent into Germany and assumed the
command of the combined northern army which took part in the
decisive struggle against Napoleon (1813). The crown prince’s
participation in the war was a somewhat reluctant one, but by the
Peace of Kiel (181-4) he succeeded in compelling Denmark to cede
Norway to Sweden, vhileDenmark obtained possession of Swedish
Pomerania and retained Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes.
The frequent changes which took place during this period in
the Constitution of Sweden have already been mentioned.
The Intellectual Progress of the country was greatly furthered
by the Reformation. Peder Månsson (d. 153-1), bishop of Vesteras,
wrote works on the army, the navy, medicine, and other subjects
in the mediæval style, while Laurentius Petri (d. 1573),
Laurentius Andrea (d. 1552), and others translated the Rible into Swedish
and wrote Protestant theological works in their native tongue.
L. Petri and his brother Oltrus(d. 1552) also wrote Swedish
chronicles; Archbishop Johannes Magni was the author of a history of
the kings in Latin, with a large admixture of the fabulous ele-
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