—Swedish ruler
—Read French Enlightenment works
—Reforms
—issued an ordinance providing for freedom of the press, he abolished torture, he supported complete religious freedom, he encouraged free trade and removed export tolls, he shored up the country’s weakened currency, and he even invented a national costume that became quite popular for a while.
—Absolutism
—grown weary of battling with the Swedish Parliament and the nobility
—eventually assassinated
—
kung_gustav_iii__1766_1792_
King Gustav III of Sweden voraciously read most of the French works of the Enlightenment. He also wrote several plays and historical essays.

Upon ascending to the throne, Gustav sought to rid the Swedish government of corruption and to institute measures in line with Enlightenment principles. Among his reforms: he issued an ordinance providing for freedom of the press, he abolished torture, he relaxed the poor law, he supported complete religious freedom, he encouraged free trade and removed export tolls, he shored up the country’s weakened currency, and he even invented a national costume that became quite popular for a while.

By the mid-1780s, however, Gustav began to shift away from a constitutional monarchy toward an absolutist one. He had grown weary of battling with the Swedish Parliament and the nobility. War with Russia later in the decade provided him with an excuse to increase his power at the expense of the legislature and the gentry. The 1789 Act of Unity and Security allowed him to overcome the nobility’s opposition to the war. He then drew up a new constitution that broadened royal authority; the lower classes, also fed up with the nobles, supported him. With his power assured, Gustav managed to lead his armies to a stunning victory over Russia. The Swedish people hailed him, but the aristocracy still held resentments. In 1792, a conspiracy of nobles hired an assassin to kill Gustav; Gustav was shot in the back and died some two weeks later.