The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken was a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg branch was the ruling dynasty of Sweden from 1654 to 1720.
Zweibrücken Castle
Charles XII of Sweden
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Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII, was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the only surviving son
House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
…Christina following her abdication in 1654, beginning the rule of the Palatinate dynasty in Sweden. He was succeeded by his son Charles XI, his grandson Charles XII, and finally his granddaughter Ulrika Eleonora. In 1720, Ulrika Eleonora relinquished the throne in favour of her husband, Frederick I of Hesse, ending…
Charles's parents King Charles XI and Queen Ulrika Eleonora
The 15-year-old Charles in 1697 as king of the Swedish Empire, painting belonging to the workshop of David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl
Monument to Charles XII in Stockholm, with Charles pointing towards Russia. Stockholmers call this statue "the lion among four pots" ("Lejonet mellan fyra krukor") referring to the mortars. This contrasts with a nearby statue of Charles XIII, which has lions similarly arranged; that statue is known as "the pot among four lions" ("Krukan mellan fyra lejon").
Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa at the Dnieper River after Poltava by Gustaf Cederström