CHARLES XIII. (1748-1818), king of Sweden and Norway, the second son of Adolphus Frederick, king of Sweden, and Louisa Ulrica, sister of Frederick the Great, was born at Stockholm on Oct. 7, 1748. In 1772 he co-operated in the revolutionary plans of his brother Gustavus III. (q.v.). During the Russo-Swedish War of 1788 he served as admiral of the fleet at the battles of Hogland (June 17, 1788) and Oland (July 26, 1789). On the death of Gustavus III., Charles, now duke of Sudermania, acted as regent of Sweden till 1796; but the real ruler of the country was Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm (q.v.) . These four years may be briefly de scribed as alternations of fantastic Jacobinism and ruthless des potism. On the accession of Gustavus IV. (Nov. 1796), the duke became a mere cipher in politics till March 13, 1809, when those who had dethroned Gustavus IV. appointed him regent, and finally elected him king. But by this time he was prematurely decrepit, and Bernadotte (see CHARLES XIV.) took over the government as soon as he landed in Sweden (181o) . By the union of 1814 Charles became the first king of Sweden and Norway. He married his cousin Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp 1818), but their only child died in infancy (1798). Charles XIII., who for eight years had been king only in title, died on Feb. 5, 1818.
See Sveriges Historia vol. v. (1884) ; Drottning Hedwig Charlottes Dagbokshandteckningar (1898) ; Robert Nisbet Bain, Gustavus III. and his Contemporaries (1895) ; ib. Scandinavia (19o5) .