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Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( Swedish: Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S. ), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the only surviving son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the ...
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Authors' Contributions
In November 1718, during the siege of Fredriksten, King Charles XII of Sweden was killed by a projectile fully perforating his skull. For 300 years, the exact course of events has remained as a mystery. Several autopsies (in 1746, 1859, and 1917) have concluded that Charles died of a single projectile travelling through his head from left to right ...
Shooting experiment
Altogether 12 shots were fired in this experiment (Table 1). Four included ballistic skull phantoms and eight tested different projectiles and velocities on felt hole measurements. Synbone generic 5-mm-thick 190-mm sphere with artificial skin served as the ballistic skull phantom. The Synbone sphere is widely recognized as a substitute of human head in ballistic and forensic experiments , (14)]. Spheres were filled with 10% gelatin prepared according to Jussila (15). We attached two layers of...
Experiments with felt
We quickly became aware that the musket ball was not always producing a clear round hole in the felt material attached to the skull phantom. We thus expanded our initial experiment and fired musket balls at 4 mm industrial felt as well as handmade 3 to 5 mm thick wool felt. Several velocities were experimented aiming to produce a round 19 to 19.5 mm hole into felt. We also utilized a 28 mm cannon to shoot a 25.4 mm steel ball to replicate an iron cartouche ball.
Radiological imaging
Following the experiments, ballistics phantoms were examined using biplanar digital X-ray (DigitalDiagnost C90, Philips, Netherlands) with pixel size 143 μm and computed tomography (Aquilion One, Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., Tokyo, Japan) with voxel size 500 μm. We aimed to study wound channels and potential remnants of lead inside them.
Experiment 1 provided a musket ball velocity of 193 m/s. The ball weight reduced by 0.6 g and its frontal half was clearly deformed. The ball perforated the felt and the phantom. The entrance wound was circular and approximately 21 mm in diameter. The exit wound was more irregular, 25 to 30 mm in diameter (Fig. 4). Experiment 2 produced a velocity ...
Our experiments supported previous conclusions that King Charles XII of Sweden was hit by a projectile that traveled approximately 200 to 250 m/s. Although no remnants of lead were visually observed in the phantoms, lead material was clearly visible in radiography and CT. We could thus conclude that Charles was not killed by a leaden musket ball. E...
J.-A.J.: designed research; performed research; analyzed data; and wrote the paper. M.N.: designed research; and wrote the paper. H.M.: designed research; wrote the paper. J.N.: designed research; performed research; analyzed data; and wrote the paper. A.J.: designed research; and performed research. P.O.: designed research; analyzed data; and wrot...
Sep 17, 2012 · Much of the credit for Sweden’s protracted resistance rests with the fifth, last and most controversial of this line of notable rulers: Charles XII (1682-1718). An endlessly fascinating figure ...
Charles XII of Sweden. Charles XII, born on 17 June 1682, was the son of King Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. At the age of 15, he ascended to the throne and ruled as the king of Sweden from 1697 until 1718. His reign was dominated by the Great Northern War, which lasted from 1700 to 1721 and saw Sweden fighting against a coalition of ...
Jan 23, 2024 · Charles XII of Sweden was born on June 17, 1682, in Tre Kronor, Sweden, to Charles XI of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. He was the second-born child of his parents and the eldest son in the family, making him the natural heir to the throne. His father, Charles XI, had been the ruler of Sweden for 4 decades and was known as an excellent ...
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Jan 1, 2023 · By the end of his reign he was seen less as Alexander and increasingly as the unhinged ‘Madman of the North’. At first Charles was viewed as the victim of a conspiracy as Denmark, Poland/Saxony and Russia looked to carve up his empire. Many newspapers and journals praised the teenage king for his heroic defence of his homeland by beating ...
Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Charles XII . Charles XII, Swedish Karl, (born June 17, 1682, Stockholm, Swed.—died Nov. 30, 1718, Fredrikshald, Nor.), King of Sweden (1697–1718). Son of Charles XI, he became absolute monarch at age 15. He defended his country for 18 years in the Second Northern War, gradually taking ...
