Charles IX of Sweden (1550–1611)
Born 1550 CE, died 1611 CE.
Charles IX, also Carl (Swedish: Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until 1611. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I (r. 1523–1560) and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King John III and half-brother of King Erik XIV, and the uncle of Sigismund, who became king both of Sweden and of Poland. By his father's will, Charles received, by way of appanage, the Duchy of Södermanland, which included the provinces of Närke and Värmland; but he did not come into actual possession of them till after the fall of Eric and the succession to the throne of John in 1569. He came into the throne by championing the Protestant cause during the increasingly tense times of religious strife between competing sects of Christianity. Just under a decade after his death, these would re-ignite in the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648. These conflicts had already caused the dynastic squabble rooted in religious freedom that deposed Charles' nephew (Sigismund III) and brought Charles to rule as king of Sweden. His reign marked the start of the final chapter (dated 1648 by some) both of the Reformation and of the Counter-Reformation.
Text from the Wikipedia article Charles_IX_of_Sweden, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.