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King Karl XIV Johan

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Monarch

The Resume

    (January 26, 1763-March 8, 1844)
    Born in Pau, France
    Birth name was Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
    Fought in the Napoleonic Wars
    Named Marshall of France (1804)
    Elected heir to the Swedish throne (1810)
    Served as regent (1810-18)
    King of Sweden and Norway (1818-44)
    Known in English as King Charles XIV John

Why he might be annoying:

    He was stripped of his command after disobeying Napoleon's orders and retreating during the Battle of Wagram (July 6, 1809).
    He never learned to speak Swedish or Norwegian.
    He was actually only the eighth Karl to rule Sweden. (Two centuries earlier, Karl IX had taken his number based on a highly fictitious history of Sweden.)
    As a radical Jacobin during the French Revolution, he allegedly got a 'Death to Kings' tattoo.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He rose from enlisted man to general during the French Revolution.
    He was chosen as heir to the Swedish throne because the Swedish army wanted a military man in charge, having recently lost Finland in a war with Russia.
    Despite his background, he was no puppet of France, joining the coalition against Napoleon after the French occupied Swedish Pomerania (1813).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 50 Votes: 38.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 49 Votes: 46.94% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 31 Votes: 45.16% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 60 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 74 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 23 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 46 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 74 Votes: 56.76% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 60 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 84 Votes: 54.76% Annoying