Royal Central’s Europe Correspondent, Oskar Aanmoen, has had a busy year. As well as covering the continent’s royal families in a time of unprecedented challenges, he’s also been completing a brand new book. Oskar, who has already published five books, is now proud to present his latest work – on King Karl XV who ruled Norway and Sweden in the 19th century.
Although this historic monarch might not be the most familiar name in royal family trees, his influence on both countries was immense. However, until Oskar began his research, no authoritative work on his life and reign had been published in over a century. Thanks to some royal support, that’s all changed and Oskar Aanmoen can now present his fresh perspective on this modernising monarch – Karl XV, Den glemte monark (the Forgotten Monarch). Royal Central spoke to Oskar about his inspiration and discoveries.
ROYAL CENTRAL: Oskar, you’ve described Karl XV as one of the most unknown monarchs of Norway and Sweden – why do you think he is so overlooked?
OSKAR AANMOEN: I also wondered about this when I started to
research but over time there was only one real reason. Karl did a
lot as king, so he should not have been overlooked. The reason why
he is perhaps Norway and Sweden’s least known monarch is because of
his own brother. King Karl had no sons, so he was succeeded by his
brother, the more famous King Oscar II. Karl and Oscar were, to put
it mildly, bitter enemies through much of their lives. Oscar hated
his brother because he was more liked than himself. In fact, Oscar
spent his entire royal career trying to push his brother’s memory
out of the history books. Unfortunately, he succeeded. Books about
King Karl were discarded, paintings were taken down, and throughout
Oscar`s reign no statues of his brother were erected. Funnily
enough, while Karl was forgotten, Oscar has since become known as
the most unsuccessful monarch of the Norwegian-Swedish union as the
union collapsed under his rule in 1905.
What did Karl’s subjects think of him during his reign?
King Karl was much loved by his people,
almost throughout his reign. The only time his popularity suffered
a setback was in the years 1868-69. Then, there was a famine in
Northern Europe and the King’s lavish use of money was viewed with
criticism. Besides this, he was respected and loved. Karl was a
kind of transitional monarch. During his time, Sweden and Norway
went from being absolute monarchies to more constitutional
monarchies. The governments of both nations were perceived as
controlled by the rich and egotistical elite. The king, on the
other hand, was very popular, often wearing ordinary clothes and
often taking the side of the poor when it came to political issues.
In this way, Karl created an image as one who fought for the
ordinary citizens of society.
What made you want to find out more about his story?
In my work, I often research how the Bernadotte family has
influenced Norwegian politics and social development. When I was
reading up on this subject, I realized that in the recent decades,
extensive literature has been published on all of the Berndotte
monarchs, with the exception of Karl XV. I investigated this
further and found out that no good historical work had been
published about him, in any language, in over 100 years. The
knowledge of him was deficient and old. I presented the problem to
the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Historical Association and
the Norwegian Writers’ Association. The answer was clear and became
my task to map the life of this unknown monarch. Thanks to help
from the King of Sweden and the King of Norway, I have gained
access to unique sources and a lot of knowledge no one before knew
about King Karl.
How important is he in the royal history of Norway and Sweden?
In short, Karl was extremely important. I could talk for hours
about what he did politically and militarily for Norway and Sweden.
To list the most important things, he gave the nation a new and
more liberal legal system. The death penalty was removed – one of
the first countries in Europe to make this major change. Karl
upgraded the military to meet German and Russian aggression. He
raised living standards through a series of absolutely essential
agricultural reforms and pursued a Western-style foreign policy
with the desire to draw the Union closer to France and Britain. At
the same time, he created a lot of chaos in his own time. He is
without a doubt the king with the most illegitimate children. He
was not well liked by large parts of his own family. When he became
a widower at the age of 45, he tried to marry an 18-year-old Polish
Count’s daughter, a marriage that was stopped because his own
mother entered into a secret agreement with the kings of Spain and
Italy. He also spent his entire life trying to go to war against
Russia to take Finland back under Swedish control.
What is his legacy?
The enormous change in the Norwegian and Swedish legal system is
perhaps the most visible legacy of Karl today. Norway and Sweden
have made very few changes to the legislation that Karl himself
worked on in the 1860s. This says something about how modern and
liberal it was, that it can still be used today. Another thing that
many do not think much about is that Karl was a great advocate for
building more railways. Here he was opposed as many in Norway and
Sweden thought it was better to build canals. Fortunately, Karl got
through a number of railways that are still understood to be
absolutely essential in Norway and Sweden. He is considered the
father of the train in Northern Europe.
You’ve spent a lot of time with him in the past few years – do you like him?
Well, I am not quite sure to be honest. Karl did a lot of good and
some things that can otherwise be described as strange. He was
modern and liberal at the same time as he was an instigator of war
and twice tried to commit coups himself, but the plans were never
put into action. He had rather bad morals, at times, and mistresses
in most cities. All in all, though, I think he was a nice man.
Although many may criticize his morals, I still have not managed to
find a single source who says that the king was rude or sinister.
It is quite exceptional and in stark contrast to sources about the
other monarchs in his family. At least I have become very well
acquainted with Karl through my work in recent years and can say
with the greatest certainty that his story deserves more attention
than it has received.
Karl XV: Den glemte monark by Oskar Aanmoen is available here.
