Charles X Gustav

Charles X Gustav, b 8 November 1622 in Nyköping Castle, Sweden, d 13 February 1660 in Göteborg. King of Sweden (1654–60); an ally of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the war against Poland. In 1655–6 Charles occupied most of the Polish Commonwealth and was recognized as king by the majority of the Polish nobles. A general Polish revolt against Charles developed, however, and he was forced to relinquish the throne. Charles agreed to the division of Poland among Sweden, Cossack Ukraine, and Transylvania. On 6 October 1657 a Swedish-Ukrainian alliance against Poland was formally concluded in his name in Korsun with the Cossack starshyna.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]