Gustavus Adolphus’s daughter and successor Queen Christina had no time for fashion or suitors, but she loved culture and intellectual pursuits. She was mighty impressed by continental art, literature and philosophy. Maybe a little too impressed.

When Gustavus Adolphus died, Axel Oxenstierna was left to handle several thorny issues. One of the thorniest was what to do with the king’s widow Maria Eleonora. Oxenstierna wanted her to disappear from political life and into the footnotes of history. The dowager queen herself had other plans.

Christian IV was a real family man. In fact, he had multiple families. He was married twice, and had a string of mistresses to boot. He had at least 12 children, and he used them to solidify his rule. It didn’t always work, though. To put it mildly.

In the late 1630s, tensions were once again rising between Denmark and Sweden. The Danish king was spoiling for a war, and in 1643 he got it. But not in the way he’d expected. Or wanted. Still, the conflict is remembered as Christian IV’s finest hour.

The Swedes spent the early 1640s trying to win the war, but even if they were successful on the battlefield, every campaign season seemed to end with them retreating north with an Imperial army in pursuit.

After the death of Gustavus Adolphus, his trusted advisor and chancellor Axel Oxenstierna was left to pick up the pieces. In the years that followed, he worked tirelessly to avoid a total collapse of the Swedish positions on the continent. It was not an easy job.

1632 was a year of victories and triumphs for the Swedes. They moved through the Holy Roman Empire capturing everything in their way. In the fall, they were back where they had started a year earlier, on a muddy field outside Leipzig, ready to fight a new Imperial army.

In September 1631, the Swedish and the Imperial armies finally stood face to face. The battle took place just north of Leipzig, close to the village of Breitenfeld. It turned out to be the ultimate test for the new Swedish military tactics.

Most German Protestants weren’t particularly happy about the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War. But Gustavus Adolphus didn’t care. He had come to save them–whether they wanted to or not.

After the wars in Russia and Poland finally started to wind down, the thrill-junkie on the Swedish throne decided he also wanted to try his luck playing the role of Savior of German Protestants.