This seventeenth-century royal, also known as Carl Gustav, served as King of Sweden during the late 1650s.
Before becoming king, he fought in a 1642 conflict known as the Battle of Breitenfeld.
Throughout his reign, he was engaged in a series of wars against Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
He was born at Nykoping Castle to Catherine of Sweden and Count John Casimir of Zweibrucken-Kleeburg. In late 1654, he married Hedwig Eleonora; the couple raised a son who became King Charles XI of Sweden.
He and Princess Madeleine are both members of Swedish royalty.
