Charles XV of Sweden
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King Karl XV of Sweden, Carl IV of Norway, Carl Ludvig Eugén (May 3, 1826 - August 19, 1872), was the eldest son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway, and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. On June 19, 1851 he married Louise of the Netherlands, granddaughter of William I of the Netherlands.
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| Reign | July 8, 1859 - August 19, 1872 |
| Coronation | May 3, 1860 in Sweden August 5, 1860 in Norway |
| Royal motto | "Land skall med lag byggas" ("With law shall the land be built") |
| Queen | Louise of the Netherlands |
| Royal House | Bernadotte |
| Predecessor | Oscar I of Sweden and Norway |
| Successor | Oscar II of Sweden and Norway |
| Date of Birth | May 3, 1826 |
| Place of Birth | Royal Palace in Stockholm |
| Date of Death | September 18, 1872 |
| Place of Death | Malmö |
| Place of Burial | Riddarholmskyrkan, Stockholm |
Created Duke of Scania at birth, the Crown Prince was Viceroy of Norway briefly in 1856 and 1857. He became regent on September 25, 1857, and king on the death of his father on July 8, 1859. As Crown Prince, Karl's brusque and downright manners had led many to regard his future accession with some apprehension, yet he proved to be one of the most popular of Scandinavian kings and a constitutional ruler in the best sense of the word. His reign was remarkable for its manifold and far-reaching reforms. Sweden's existing communal law (1862), ecclesiastical law (1863) and criminal law (1864) were enacted appropriately enough under the direction of a king whose motto was: Land skall med lag byggas - "With law shall the land be built". Karl also remarkably assisted Louis de Geer to carry through his memorable reform of the Riksdag in 1866.
Karl was a warm advocate of Scandinavianism and the political solidarity of the three northern kingdoms, and his warm friendship for Frederick VII of Denmark, it is said, led him to give half promises of help to Denmark on the eve of the war of 1864, which, in the circumstances, were perhaps misleading and unjustifiable. In view, however, of the unpreparedness of the Swedish army and the difficulties of the situation, Karl was forced to observe a strict neutrality. He died in Malmö on September 18, 1872.
Karl XV was highly gifted in many directions. He attained to some eminence as a painter, and his poems show him to have been a true poet. He was followed on the both thrones of Norway and Sweden by his brother Oscar II. A few weeks before Karl's death, his daughter Louise (then the Crown Princess of Denmark) gave birth to her second son. The young Prince of Denmark became christened as grandfather Karl's namesake, and in 1905 this grandson, Prince Carl of Denmark, ascended the throne of Norway, becoming thus his maternal grandfather's successor in that country, and assumed the reign name Haakon VII. The present king, Harald V of Norway, is Charles's great-great-grandson, also through his mother. No subsequent king of Sweden to this day is Karl's direct descendant. However, his descendants are or have been on the thrones of Denmark, Luxembourg, Greece, Belgium and Norway.
Children
- Princess Louise, later Queen of Denmark (1851-1926)
- Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Sudermannia (1852-1854)
After the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union in 1905, Louise's son Prince Carl of Denmark was elected king of Norway under the name Haakon VII.
| Preceded by: Oscar I | King of Sweden 1859-1872 | Succeeded by: Oscar II |
| King of Norway 1859-1872 |
| Preceded by: Severin Løvenskiold | Prime Minister of Norway 1856–1856 | Succeeded by: Jørgen Herman Vogt |
| Preceded by: Jørgen Herman Vogt | Prime Minister of Norway 1857–1857 | Succeeded by: Jørgen Herman Vogt Template:End boxcs:Karel XV. de:Karl XV. (Schweden) nl:Karel XV van Zweden ja:カール15世ヨハン no:Karl IV fi:Kaarle XV sv:Karl XV |