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Charles XII of Sweden and Stanislaus Leszcynski, king of Poland, in the correspodence of Nicholas Mavrokordatos

Articles

• Hatzopoulos, D.

Following the disastrous defeat inflicted upon his army by theRussians at Poltava on June 27, 1709, Charles XII, king of Sweden, andthe remnants of his army fled into Ottoman territory. The initial admiration with which his hosts greeted him turned soon into embarassmentand despair. Indeed, the king of Sweden had no intention ofleaving the Ottoman Empire, unless it joined him in a new war againstPeter I of Russia. In order to force the recalcitrant Ottoman Governmentto follow his policies, he established, from his camp, a powerfullpolitical network in Constantinople, which was joined even by themother of the Sultan.Charles’s persistance bore him fruits: in July 1711, at Pruth, Peter’sarmy was checked by the Ottoman troops. However, Turkish failure topursue the victory enraged Charles and from that moment his relationswith the Ottoman administration soured. During the same period thebehaviour of his troops, refugees from Poltava like him, worsened andturned disastrous. Lack of discipline and contempt for the locals sooncreated an unbearable situation in Moldavia. Nicholas Mavrokordatos,who returned to his position on September 25, 1711, has provided substantial,but until now overlooked and unexplored, information aboutthe events, in five letters addressed to his friends. According to hispainful descriptions of the situation, the Swedes behaved like wild beasts,destroying, stealing, raping, killing, and finally paralyzing Moldavia.Shaken by Mavrokordatos’s reports, which drew Charles’s ire when hefound out about them, the Sultan decided to intervene, in order to put anend to the depredations. Indeed, following a bloody fight, the king ofSweden and his unruly troops were arrested in February 1713.Mavrokordatos’s letters also clarify the issue of Stanislaus Leszcynski’sarrival in the Empire in early 1713. According to the Prince’sletter of February 20, 1713, to Iakovos Manos, Stanislaus had nointention of returning the Polish crown to his protector Charles, asVoltaire, who received his information from Stanislaus, and subsequenthistorians suggest. Instead, he intended to join the Swedish king and,with him, ask the Ottoman Government to restore him to the throne bylaunching an invasion of Poland. Indeed, Mavrokordatos says thatStanislaus wrote one letter to the Grand Vizir Suleyman Pasha andanother to the Tatar khan, in which he asked them to help him recoverhis throne. However, Charles’s arrest put an end to Stanislaus’s projects.Mavrokordatos undertook a serious effort to extricate him from thebottleneck, into which he had placed himself, by coming to the Empireat such an inopportune time. The Ottoman administration was indeed disgusted with the antics of Charles, now considered mad, and of hisfriend, the king of Poland, who continued to entertain the idea of provokingthe invasion of Poland by the Ottoman army. The only thingthat the Porte wanted desperately, was to get rid of both of them.Stanislaus left the Empire in May 1714, while his friend, Charles, wasforced to leave in October of the same year.

• History and Archaeology

• Ιστορία

Charles XII of Sweden, Stanislaus Leszcynski king of Poland, Nicholas Mavrokordatos