BERNADOTTE, Jean Baptiste Jules, zhon baptest zhool, ]sing of Swe- den and Nor,yay. b. Pau, 26 Jan. 1763; d. 8 March 1844. He was the son of an advocate of Pau and enlisted in a French regiment of marines at the age of 17. He was made a altern in 1790 and thereafter his promotion was rapid. In 1794 he was appointed general of division and distinguished himself greatly in the campaign in Germany and on the Rhine. After the battle of Neuwied he was introduced for the first time to Bonaparte, who conceived the highest opinion of his abilities, though a constant suspicion of Napoleon seems always to have been present in the mind of Bernadotte. In 1798 he married Mademoiselle Clary, in-law -of Joseph Bonaparte. The following year he became Minister of War, but was shortly obliged to resign. On the ment of the empire Bernadotte was created Marshal of France and (after Austerlitz) Prince of Ponte-Corvo. At the head of an army of observation stationed in the north of Germany, he fixed his headquarters at burg. At the battle of Wagram (1809) he led the Saxon contingent. At this time Gustavus IV had been driven from the throne of Sweden. The Duke of Sudermania assumed the crown under the name of Charles XIII; and as he was far advanced in years the Diet had nated, as his successor, the Prince of Augustenburg, when the latter died in a rious manner. The heir-apparency to the Swedish crown was then offered to the Prince of Ponte-Corvo. This offer was accepted by
Bernadotte with the consent of the Emperor; and in October 1810 he arrived in. Sweden, where, having previously abjured the Roman Catholic religion, he was proclaimed heir-ap parent to the throne under the title of Prince Charles John. He had not long been estab lished in this dignity before serious disagree ments took place between him and Bonaparte, whose blockade of the Continental ports was very detrimental to the commercial interests of Sweden. The result was a complete rup ture and the accession of Sweden in 1812 to the coalition of sovereigns formed against Na poleon. At the battle of Leipzig Prince Charles John contributed effectually to the victory of the Allies. The acquisition of Norway was one of his chief aims; it was provisionally ceded from Denmark under the Treaty of Kid (1814), but a military campaign was required to make it effective. On the general re-establishment of the European dynasties at the termination of Napoleonic war, Bernadotte retained his position as crown prince and became king of Sweden in 1818, under the title of Charles XIV.. During his reign agriculture and com merce made great advances, many important public works were completed, and the King, though he could not speak their language, was popular with his subjects. Consult Meredith, 'Memoirs of Charles John, King of Sweden and Norway)_ (London 1829)