Alexander Perturabo

Lydia was a Welsh noblewoman who was captured and enslaved by the Norse warrior Olaf.

Not much is known about Lydia’s personality, however, she cared deeply for her son Askeladd.

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia (Swedish: Lovisa Ulrika; German: Luise Ulrike) (24 July 1720 – 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden from 1751 to 1771 as the consort of King Adolf Frederick. She was queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III.

Louise Ulrika of Prussia was born on 24 July 1720 to King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. She was the fifth of the six daughters of the Prussian monarch. The perky princess displayed a keen interest in military affairs, unlike the king's other soldier children, and thus earned her father's affection.

On 29 August 1744, 24-year-old Louise Ulrika married her brother Frederick II of Prussia, Swedish Crown Prince Adolf Fredrik of Holstein-Gottorp, who was later elected King of Sweden in 1751. The court at Drottningholm under the clever and educated queen became famous for its splendour and French refinement by example. Nevertheless, Louise Ulrika, sometimes overbearing, had difficulty adapting to her new surroundings. In 1747, Frederick II entered into an alliance with Sweden, whereby Prussia agreed to assist Sweden in the event of a Russian threat. The lively correspondence between brother and sister, in which the King of Prussia shared his military experience, bears witness to their close relationship.

In 1751, Louisa Ulrika's husband ascended the Swedish throne and the royal couple formed a court party, which initially consisted of their close friends from the upper aristocracy as well as representatives of literature and the arts, who were attracted by the queen's passion for art. Later, the Court Party was joined by officers and officials who had left the old parties in the hope of personal privilege. The Court Party was different from the Hat and Cap Parties: it was not affiliated to any of the estates and did not put forward any political or economic program. Its idea was to fundamentally oppose the parliamentary constitution and strengthen royal power.

At the Riksdag of 1751-1752, the Court Party achieved certain privileges for the monarch, without making any drastic changes to the power system. The conflict between the court party and the hat party that dominated parliament continued to escalate. The climax came in 1756, when a coup d'état organised by close friends of Queen Louise Ulrika was averted. The conspirators were exposed in time and several members of the court party were sentenced to death or forced into exile. Parliament issued a stern warning to the queen.

At the insistence of her brother Frederick II, Louisa Ulrika returned to her homeland of Prussia after 28 years in Sweden following the death of her husband. Nevertheless, she was warmly welcomed as she grew older. Relations with her son Gustav III remained strained.

Karl XIII (Sweden. Karl XIII, Carl XIII; 7 October 1748, Stockholm, Sweden - 5 February 1818, Stockholm) was the King of Sweden from 5 June 1809, from 4 November 1814 also the King of Norway (as Karl II, see Sweden-Norway Union) from the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty.

The second son of King Adolf Fredrik, he was appointed Duke of Södermanland in 1772 (the German spelling "Karl of Südermanland" is also common in Russian tradition).

During the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790), with the rank of Admiral, he commanded the Swedish fleet during the Battle of Åland in 1789, and (together with his brother, Gustav III) during the Battle of Viborg in 1790.

According to Sytin's Encyclopaedia of War (1910s):

A vigorous but enthusiastic and unbalanced naval commander, very similar in fervour of character and excessive hotness to his brother Gustav III, he achieved no success at sea during his entire command of the fleet in this war, despite his well trained personnel and excellent condition of materiel. In his encounters with our fleet, Charles XIII had a constant superiority in strength and each time, thanks to improper tactical techniques, failed. With Greig, Cruise and Chichagov against him, he won not a single battle throughout the war, although in some of them had every chance of ultimate success. None of the battles in which he had commanded the fleet (Gogland, Krasnogorsk, Eland, Revel) were followed by the retreat of the Swedes. A typical example of incorrect tactical methods was the last battle, in which, according to the plan of Charles XIII, the Swedish fleet attacked Chichagov's squadron, which was anchored in such a way that all his ships, passing in turn by the Russian ships, were subjected to long-term concentrated fire of the entire enemy line. This manoeuvre cost the Swedes two lost ships (1 taken prisoner and 1 jumped out due to damage on the rocks) and several heavily damaged.

Olaf Kyrre (c. 1050–1093), or Olaf III Haraldsson, was King of Norway from 1067 to 1093.[1] He was present at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England in 1066 where his father, Harald Hardrada, saw defeat and was killed in action. During Olaf's rule, he made peace with earlier royal conflicts with the church, strengthened the power of the monarchy, and is said to have founded the city of Bergen in 1070.

Olaf was a son of King Harald Hardråde and Tora Torbergsdatter. Olaf joined his father during the invasion of England during 1066. However, he was only 16-years old during the Battle of Stamford Bridge during September 1066. He stayed on a ship and did not participate in the fighting. After the Norwegian defeat, he sailed with the remains of the Norwegian strike force back to Orkney, where they wintered. The return journey to Norway took place in summer 1067.[2]

After the death of his father, Olaf shared the kingdom with his brother Magnus II (Magnus Haraldsson) who had become king the previous year. Magnus died during 1069, and Olaf became sole ruler of Norway.

During his reign the nation experienced a rare extended period of peace. He renounced any offensive in foreign policy and protect rather than Norway as a kingdom of its own, through agreements and marriage connections. Domestic he laid emphasis on building the church organization and modernize the kingdom. The latter resulted in among other things the reorganization of the body-guard and of measures under which key cities, especially Bergen, could better serve as a royal residence and as a bishop. Olaf is said to have founded the city of Bergen in 1070.