Gottorp Fury
Encyclopedia
The Gottorp Fury was the name given to the wild excesses the young king Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...

 and his cousin Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Duke Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp was Duke of Schleswig.He was born in Gottorp as the elder son of Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp and Princess Frederika Amalia of Denmark...

 amused themselves with in the summer of 1698. Duke Frederick had come to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 to marry the king's sister Hedwig Sophia. The duke, who was ten years older than Charles, was even wilder than the young king and incited the latter to outrageous acts. Together with a following of young people they gallop
Gallop
Gallop is an asymmetrical gait used at high speeds by quadrupedal organisms such as the gait seen in the horse.Gallop may also refer to:*Conductor gallop, wind-induced low frequency oscillation of overhead transmission lines...

ed through Stockholm, yanking hats and wigs off people's heads. They threw out furniture from the palace
Karlberg Palace
Karlberg Palace is a palace by the Karlberg Canal on the border of Stockholm in Solna. The palace, built in 1630 and the oldest in Solna municipality, today houses the Military Academy Karlberg....

 windows and cherry pits at the king's ministers.

Many of the stories about their doings were exaggerated and are thought to have been spread to discredit the duke. For instance, there is no proof to the story that they chopped the heads off calves, dogs, goats, and sheep, whereafter they were said to have thrown the carcasses through the palace windows. According to this story, the floors in the palace were slippery with blood running down the palace staircases.

Popular discontentment grew with the king's and duke's excesses. One Sunday three pastors in Stockholm churches held sermons with the theme Woe thee, o land, when thy king is a child . When Frederick return home in August, Charles ceased his antics and returned to the business of government. He had a relapse when Frederick returned to Stockholm in 1699. During one drunken night a bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

was killed when it fell through a window to the palace yard after having been forced to drink wine. Charles was quite drunk, and after this incident vowed never to drink strong alcohol again. He famously kept the vow to the end of his days.
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