Karl IV Lorens of Emerstari

Karl IV Lorens
1690 portrait of Karl IV Lorens by Jakob David Engfeld
King of Emerstari (more...)
Reign	6 December 1690 – 2 November 1704
Coronation	25 December 1690
Predecessor	Gustaf II Jakob
Successor	Annette I Maria
Chancellor	List Aksel Frederik Mikkelssen 1 July 1691 – 27 September 1697 Deitrik Georg Ljundstrom, Duke of Ljundstrom 8 October 1697 – 14 March 1703 Måns av Lierndahl, Earl of Lierndahl 20 March 1703 – 19 May 1712
King of Saurland
Reign	28 October 1698 – 2 November 1704
Coronation	25 December 1698
Predecessor	Henrik II Johan
Successor	Ervin III Karl
Viceory	List Ingvar Uldrik Fjellborg, Earl of Kjeidde 12 January 1699 – 24 August 1709
King of Siesland
Reign	8 August 1702 – 2 November 1704
Coronation	25 December 1702
Predecessor	Wenceslaus I
Successor	Ervin III Karl
Viceroy	List Adulf Ragnvald Lindstjerna, Earl of Lindstjerna 5 November 1702 – 9 February 1722
Born	Karl Olaf Leijonhuvud 30 April 1672 Rensulier Palace
Died	2 November 1704(1704-11-02) (aged 32) Kääjoki
Burial	Rensulier Cathedral
Regnal name Karl IV Lorens Posthumous name Karl der Stor
House	House of Leijonhuvud
Father	Gustaf II Jakob
Mother	Freja Ingvara Karlsdottir
Religion	Lutheran

Karl IV Lorens (30 April 1672 – 2 November 1704) was King of Emerstari from 1690 until 1704. He led Emerstari to military victory during the Second Emer–Saurish War, War of Kuistia, and War of Soumian Succession. Karl is often viewed as one of the greatest Emerstarian military commanders of all time, and his most notable victory is often thought to be the Battle of Ruuken (1702).

He is widely commemorated by the Soumish and the Siesh as the defender of their countries from the Polsnian Empire during the War of Kuistia and the War of Soumian Succession. Further, he is a symbol of Emerstarian pride.

Life and Reign

Karl was born in Rensulier as the eldest son of Gustaf II Jakob and his wife, Freja Ingvara Karlsdottir. His sister, and future Queen of Emerstari, Annette I Maria, was born a year after him. In 1688, he was arranged to marry Marie Amalie van Hoefft, but several months before the wedding, she and her brother and father were killed in an anti-Emerstarian revolt in Emerstarian Canaria

Upon his father's death in 1690, the eighteen-year-old Crown Prince Karl ascended to the throne of Emerstari. In his early reign, much of his focus was on the Emerstarian military. Karl established both the Karlinera, his handpicked unit from the Royal Life Guard, and the Emerstarian Allotment System. He also further integrated religion into the military.

War in Saurland

Aiming to take advantage of the now twenty-year-old Karl's inexperience, Saurland launched an invasion of Emerstarian Soumland in 1692. In response, Karl invaded Saurland with a force of 10,000 men and 52 ships, sending his third cousin and most trusted general General Georg Erik Uppskjold westward to gather a force in Soumeland. In the north, Karl quickly fought his way to the capital of Kjirkens, winning one of his notable victories at Gjennsby; while in the west, Uppskjold dislodged the Saurish from Soumeland.

Within a year-and-a-half, Karl had forced Saurland into submission and met with Henrik II Johan of Saurland to sign the Treaty of Kjirkens. Henrik was dethroned, and exiled to the Polsnian Empire, and Karl became the King of Saurland as a result of the peace.

Kuistia and Erngia

In 1695, Henrik convinced his cousin, Emperor Przemysł Augustus II, to declare war upon Emerstari to reconquer Saurland. A force of 15,000 led by Casimir Lelilaw marched into the Emerstarian Soumia and besieged Ruuka. Karl amassed a force of 23,000 and landed in Soumia. After expelling the Polsnians from Soumeland in 1696, Karl split his force into three, leading 13,000 soldiers into the west of Polsnian Soumia, or Kuistia. Duke Uppskjold marched with 3,000 soldiers into eastern Kuistia, and the final 7,000 were given to Johann Gustaf Snøfeldt to secure a foothold in the territory of Erngia, southwest of Kuistia.

Uppskjold regrouped with Karl, after conquering eastern Kuistia, for the Siege of Kajana. However, Przemysł Augustus marched an army of 30,000 to the city, resulting in the Battle of Kajana which Karl wrote of as his "favorite" victory. Of the 36,000 Polsnians who fought, an estimated 9,000 were killed and an additional 2,000 were wounded. The Emerstarians suffered 702 deaths, and 1,256 were wounded.

Karl again divided his army, giving Uppskjold 1,500 soldiers (and the prisoners from the Battle of Kajana), ordering him to regroup with Emerstarian reinforcements arriving in Soumeland and then with Snøfeldt in Erngia while he pursued Przemysł. He caught up with the Polsnian Emperor and his routing force of 11,000 on 11 April 1697. During the Battle at Wistuala Bend, Przemysł Augustus and seven generals were captured. Karl proceeded to encamp his army at Wistuala Bend until early July; although, he returned to Emerstari during the month of May leaving General Olaf Rudolf Ljundstrom in command of his force.

On 7 June, upon hearing word from Uppskjold that Erngia had been conquered, Karl sent an offer of peace to the Parliament of the Polsnian Empire. Then on 16 June 1697, Karl and his officers met with the Polsnian delegation at the city of Jalav to sign the Peace of Jalav wherein Kuistia and Erngia were ceded to Emerstari.

War in Soumia

The Surrender at Sudaffjord by Heinrich von Hüssendorf

For three years, Przemysł Augustus II worked on modernizing and expanding the Polsnian military, and aligned himself with Soubia, Yermanskia, and Austland, — all of which were weary of Emerstarian expansion. In 1700, all four nations declared war upon Emerstari. Emerstari was joined by Saexeland and Coelans; Karl also requested Louis XII of Marseile to join on his side, but Louis was hesitant about declaring war on another Catholic nation.

General Johannes von Ritter of Soubia with an army of 15,600, marched across the Soubian–Erngian border and besieged Kuldiga. He was soon joined by 12,000 Polsnians led by Henrik II Johan, who marched through the Polsnian vassal of Siesland, into Erngia. To the west, 10,000 Austlandish soldiers led by Maximillian Steiff the Older invaded Emerstarian Hessland

Karl assembled an army of 35,000 and marched through Coelans, to Yermanskia. He split his army into two, taking with him into Yermanskia, 16,000, and ordering Uppskjold to take 19,000 southward to defend Hessland. On 20 March 1700, Karl fought the Battle of Sudaffjord against 18,500 Yermanskians, coming out victorious. By the end of Summer, Yermanskia had been forced into signing the Treaty of Svalhavn, in which they broke their alliance with Polsny.

Statue of Karl in Uppskjold, Soumia pointing towards Polsny

From there, he again expelled the Polsnians out of Soumeland, at the Battles of Lykti and Helsiinta. Karl, sending General Hans Erik Leven with 10,000 westward, encamped his remaining force 6,000 at the Soumian–Siesland border for the winter.

In Spring of 1701, Karl had received reinforcements of 10,000, so with his combined force of 16,000, he began the campaign in Siesland. After several months of fighting, Karl had taken a third of the nation, but in late Summer, he received news of General Leven's loss and capture at the Second Battle at Wistuala Bend. Karl returned to Soumeland, fearing another Polsnian invasion there, and on 18 September 1701, participated in the Battle of Ingvarsburg. Thereafter, he followed the routing Polsnians east.

With an army of 20,000, having freed the survivors of the army of Leven, he captured the routers at the Battle of Oyla, proceeding from there to the Siege of Krousczyk. Entrusting General Leven with the majority of his army, Karl rode from Polsny to Kuistia with a force of 100 in twelve days. In Kuistia, he took control of an army of 30,000 Emerstarians, 10,000 of which were members of his Karlinera Guard, and 15,000 Soumians. Karl marched back to Siesland where, even though they had lost some land, his Coelanish allies awaited. Upon his arrival, the combined force of 70,000 went south to besiege the Siesh capital: Solnatz.

En route there, near the village of Ruuken, they encountered Polsnian force of 71,000. The coming battle, the Battle of Ruuken lasted three days, and resulted in 32,000 Polsnian casualties and 11,000 Emerstarian–Coelanish casualties. Because of this, the Solnatz garrison surrendered to Karl within days of the siege beginning, under the arrangement that they would be granted free passage to Polsny.

In the winter of 1702, the Treaty of Solnatz was signed, marking the exit of Austland from the war, and declaring a two-year-long ceasefire between Emerstari and Polsny, to allow both nations to recover.

Death

Skull of Karl IV Lorens from a 1924 autopsy

The ceasefire ended in the summer of 1704, and now alone, but with a replenished army, Polsny had invaded Soumeland once again. Karl had quickly responded to their invasion and on 2 November 1704 attacked them on the border village of Kääjoki. Leading a force of 20,000, including 1,000 Karlinera, he fought a Polsnian force of 27,000. During the battle, figuring victory was in sight, Karl led a cavalry charge into the Polsnian lines. According to those partaking in the charge, as the neared the lines, his horse was shot from underneath him, and the units' formation was lost as the Karlinera swerved so as to not trample him. He supposedly proceeded to engage in close combat with Polsnians attempting to not mortally wound him, as his capture would give them significant leverage in peace negotiations until he was shot in the head. It is assumed he accidentally shot in either an Emerstarian or Polsnian volley fire. In the memoirs of Captain Donner Magnus Frederiksson, the King's final words, or at least orders were, "Bedriver påfråm, månne, fur der kæmpe ar ån ikke vann!" (Emerstarian: Carry on men, for the battle is not yet won!" The Emerstarians won the battle, one of the final battles of the war, and 500 Karlinera were dispatched by General Uppskjold to return Karl's body to Emerstari.

Legacy

Karl IV Lorens is one of the few Emerstarian monarchs that are known to have abstained from alcohol as well as one of the few Emerstarian monarchs to not have had any children. Contemporaries of him, such as Georg Erik Uppskjold, note his tolerance for pain and his lack of emotion. Furthermore, campaigning and victories brought Emerstari to one of her greatest territorial extents.

Scientific contributions

Besides history and religion, Karl also had an interest in mathematics and anything that would be beneficial to his wars. He is credited with having invented an octal numeral system, which he considered more suitable for purposes of war because the boxes used for gunpowder were cubic.

Literature

Karl is known to have written numerous poems and songs, most notably "Far Dig Val" which he wrote on the eve of his death. Besides his own works, he was a proponent of the arts and established the Kuingstieterhus in Rensulier.

Ancestry

Ervin II Gustaf of Emerstari

Erik VI Georg of Emerstari

Anna Fredericha von Zeihr

Gustaf II Jakob of Emerstari

Per Sigfred Oskarsson, Earl of Underdahl

Kjarlotte Amelie Persdottir

Svea Katerin Ynde, Earless of Underdahl

Karl IV Lorens of Emerstari

Per Johann Karlsson, Duke of Kaldland

Karl Jakob Perssen, Duke of Kaldland

Adelheid Frederikke Jakobssen, Duchess of Kaldland

Freja Ingvara Karlsson

Ingvar Edvin Bladkvist, Earl of Trumsø

Ulrika von Ossel, Duchess of Kaldland

Elisabet von Potsen