Karl XIV Johan, originally Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte 1763-1844
King of Sweden and Norway

Born a lawyer's son in Pau, France, he joined the French army as a soldier (1780), became an ardent partisan of the Revolution and rose to become Marshal (1804). In 1798 he married Desir�e (Desideria) Clary, daughter of a wealthy Marseilles merchant. For his gallantry at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) he was created prince and Duke of Pontecorvo. In 1810 he was elected Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway and heir to the elderly, childless Karl XIII; he turned Protestant, and assumed the name of Karl Johan. When the king's health failed (1811), he took command of affairs, helped defeat Napoleon I in the Battle of Nations (1813), attacked Denmark (1814) and secured a union between Norway and Sweden which lasted until 1905. He succeeded to the throne on the king's death (1818), and throughout his reign tried with some success to resist the growing tide of liberalism which wanted to curtail the autocracy of the Crown. He became the founder of the House of Bernadotte, the present royal dynasty of Sweden. He was succeeded by his son Oskar I.