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240 A History of Sweden
up on one side of a trench so that his head and shoul-
ders appeared above the parapet. Thus he stood with
the head leaning on his left hand and viewed the for-
tress. Bullets rained on all sides. The officers present
warned him in vain not to expose himself to such dan-
ger. Suddenly they heard a faint sound and noticed
that the king’s hand fell, and his head sank into the
collar of his cloak. A bullet had pierced his temple.
This bullet put an end to Sweden’s period of greatness.
Charles received the death he had so often defied.
Soon rumors spread that he had been the victim of a
traitor. After careful investigations, no real grounds
for such rumors have ever been found. But the rumors
have lived on to our own day. The camp had been
Charles’ home. A quiet family life did not appeal to
him. No woman won his love. Of marriage he never
wished to hear as long as he was engaged in war.
CHAPTER XIV
REIGNS OF ULRICA ELEONORA AND
FREDERICK I, 1719-1751
A. INTRODUCTION
The Succession and the End of Absolutism. At the
death of Charles XII there was no one who had a legal
hereditary right to the throne. His two sisters had
married without the consent of the Estates. There was,
however, one matter on which all were agreed, that no
matter who succeeded to the throne, absolutism should
be abolished. It was held to be the great evil which had
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