Charles XII Killed at Fredriksten

December 11, 1718

Charles XII of Sweden, besieging a Norwegian fortress at night, rose above the parapet to survey the lines. A musket ball, or some have whispered ever since, an assassin's bullet, struck him in the temple. The Warrior King was dead at thirty-six. Sweden's age of empire died beside him. The parliament that succeeded him stripped the monarchy of its absolute power and inaugurated an Age of Liberty.