At a glanceKey from adjacent plaintext · complete
- The letter
- Charles XII, King of Sweden, to the Council of the Realm (the Rådet) in Stockholm, Bender, 26 April 1710 (Swedish calendar; 7 May New Style), countersigned by H. G. von Müllern. A second copy went, with the necessary changes, to his envoys in London and The Hague.
- Where
- Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv, Abt. Stade, Rep. 5a Nr. 670 (old Fach 76 Nr. 38), fols. 83r–84r (copy for the Rådet) and 85r–v (copy for the envoys): the copies received by the Swedish government of Bremen-Verden. Images on Archivportal-D. Catalogue no. 599.
- The cipher
- A Swedish nomenclator of about 1,100 numbers in alphabetical order: letters in two series, syllables, numbers, endings, then words and names. Denmark, England and Holland are written in clear as sigla (B.B., LL, ddd).
- How it was deciphered
- Brice Dudout rebuilt the key from a ciphered troop list in the same file whose clear draft survives, froze it, and tested it on letters not used to build it (93% and 96% of words recognised, controls at most 80%). The two copies of the letter, which encipher partly different words, check each other.
- What it says
- The Danish army has been routed in Scania. Charles is ready for “en billig fred under Sjömakternas mediation” and gives the Council leave to negotiate and to agree an armistice, for as long as a whole year.
- Still open
- One group (212) in the Rådet copy; ten word values set from the table’s order and the sense; five clerk’s slips. The Council’s clear copy, probably in the Riksarkivet, has not been consulted.
- Credit
- Brice Dudout (Europe chiffrée), working with Claude Opus 5.5: transcription, key, decipherment, Swedish text and English translation; he checked the doubtful numbers blind on the image. His write-up.
01 The file and its two copies
Rep. 5a Nr. 670 of the Stade branch of the Lower Saxony state archives is a file of Diverse chiffrierte Schreiben von und an Generalgouverneur Baron Nils Gyllenstierna, 1700–1711: ciphered letters received and sent by the Swedish government of Bremen-Verden, then a Swedish possession on the lower Elbe. It is digitised in 135 images under the Public Domain Mark. Fols. 83–85 hold two ciphered copies of one letter of Charles XII, dated Bender d. 26 April 1710 in the Swedish calendar, signed Carolus and countersigned by H. G. von Müllern of the King’s field chancery.
The copy headed Copia till hela Rådet i Stockholm (fols. 83r–84r) is for the Council of the Realm, which governed Sweden while the King was abroad. The copy headed Copia till Envoyerne Leijoncrona och Palmqvist mut. mutand. (fol. 85r–v) is the version for the envoys Christoffer Leijoncrona in London and Johan Palmquist at The Hague. Both are written the same way: the narrative in clear Swedish, the sensitive passages in number groups separated by points. Gyllenstierna’s chancery at Stade received them; no key or decipherment is filed with them.
The two copies do not encipher the same words. The envoys’ copy has 287 cipher groups and the Rådet copy 353, 640 in all. A word left in clear in one is often in cipher in the other (sidan is 170 231 in the envoys’ copy and clear in the Rådet copy), and the Rådet copy adds a long passage the envoys did not need: the Council’s authority to negotiate and to agree an armistice. Where the copies overlap, each is a check on the other.
02 The cipher
A one-part nomenclator in Swedish: about 1,100 numbers in alphabetical order. No table of it survives in the file, and its layout was worked out from the recovered values:
| numbers | content | examples |
|---|---|---|
| 31–64 | letters, first series: a ä å b c ch ck d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s sk sch sp st t u w x y z | 31 a, 47 n, 52 r, 59 t |
| 65–98 | letters, second series: the first plus 34 | 65 a, 81 n, 87 s, 93 t |
| 99–182 | syllables, consonant and vowel, from ba to wu | 100 be, 149 ne, 163 ra, 180 wi |
| 183–211 | numbers | 183 en (1), 210 hundra, 211 tusen |
| 212–304 | endings | 245 en, 267 ing, 304 tion |
| 310–1102 | words and names, from af to Wismar | 552 fred, 653 Konung, 956 stille, 1033 wapen |
Each letter has two numbers, one in each series; each syllable, ending and word has one. A word that is not in the table is spelled out from syllables, letters and endings: Sjömakternas is 913 692 312 47 65 53, Sjö-makt-er-n-a-s, and kunne is 137 47 149, ku-n-ne. The three powers are not enciphered at all: they stand in clear inside the number runs as sigla, B.B. for Denmark, LL for England and ddd for Holland, the United Provinces. The recovered word values follow alphabetical order almost without exception (99.7% by the contributor’s count), and that order is what let values occurring only once be placed.
The two copies use 178 different numbers for 638 occurrences, about 3.6 occurrences per number. Most numbers stand for a syllable or a whole word and occur once or twice. That matters for the statistical check in section 04.
03 How the key was rebuilt
A crib from the same file. The file also holds a ciphered troop list (fols. 73 and 82) whose clear draft survives (fol. 74). Aligning the two, Brice Dudout fixed the number groups from the totals and the officers’ names, then the first letter and syllable values, and from them the alphabetical layout of the whole table.
Frozen, then tested. The key, K1710, was frozen with its SHA-256 fingerprint recorded, and applied to pages not opened before: a German letter to von Müllern (fol. 100), in which 93% of the words were recognised, and two pages of a letter to the King (fols. 78v–79r), with 96%. Control keys with permuted values or shuffled groups reached at most 77–80% on the same measure.
The letter of 26 April. Both copies were then deciphered and compared word by word. Values that occur only in this letter were set from their place between neighbours in the table and from the sense: 345 andra lies between 337 allt and 357 Arme, 1049 wilkor just before 1054 Winter. Brice Dudout then checked the doubtful numbers on the image without being told the expected value, sixteen points in all. The key file in the repository holds 334 values.
04 The statistical check
The project’s statistical check (docs/_validate.py) scores the deciphered letters with a Swedish letter model and compares the score with two kinds of rival key. Random keys score far below the reading: −3.54 per letter on average against −2.59, 7.6 standard deviations lower. A key fitted by the annealer to the same numbers shuffled into random order, though, scores better than the reading (−2.35 on average, −2.33 at best). The verdict is underdetermined: on this text the letter model cannot tell the reading from a fitted key.
That follows from the cipher. With 178 different numbers for 638 occurrences, a free key can give each number whatever syllable makes the letters look Swedish, so almost any sequence can be fitted. The model is also built on modern Swedish, and the letter is spelt as in 1710 (wij, hwilken, giöra). The evidence for this key is of another kind: the crib, the letters held out from building it, the alphabetical order of the table, the agreement of the two copies, and the checks on the image.
05 The decipherment
Clear text roman, numbers in italic; spelling of the copies kept; {x} a value set from the table’s order and the sense; ‹x› a clerk’s slip or the unread group; (…) and [?] gaps in the working reading of the clear hand; word division and punctuation editorial
Copy for the envoys (fol. 85r–v)
Carl. Emedan såsom wij nyligen förnummit, det Konungens i Danmarck krigsmakt, hwilken förledne höst blef skeppad in uti Skåne, skall för liten tid sedan uti en förlidne action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen, slagen och förströdd, så att wi billigt deraf kunne giöra oss de tankar, att ‹att› {bemälte} Konung‹se›en, dess huru som den rättwisa Guden i så måtto hafwer straffat hans trolöshet och orättmätiga förfarande emot ord och [?] Sigill, lärer ändra sina onda upsåt och {ge(r)na} söka till att förlika {sig} med oss. Altså, ehuruwäl wi nog orsak hade will att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom och bringa honom så i trångmål, att han [?] icke kunna skada oss, då wij hafwe med andra wåra fiender att giöra, men icke dess mindre, som wi finne {det}, som Staterherrorna af en hastig obetänksamhet på {Dansk}e sidan, hwartill de låtit sig förleda af {andra}, så äre wi benägne att inga med Konungen i B.B. en billig fred under Sjömakternas mediation, så framt wi om sådant blifwa requirerade och förut försäkrade om en nöj{ak}tig satisfa{c}tion för all den oförrätt, skada och förfång som wi och wåre undersåtare af ett så obilligt fredsbrott hafwa måst lida.
(…) att ju längre Konungen i B.B. utdrage kriget och {fort}far med fiendteligheter {emot} oss, ju (swårare) lärer det blifwa (…) att ställa oss tillfredz i framtiden och fullgiöra den förnöjelse som wij (…) af honom (…) skall såsom utaf eder sielfwe och utan någon wår befallning att förklara icke allenast detta wårt fredälskande sinne, utan och det förtroende wij hafwe till Drottningens i LL wänskap och benägenhet till att förskaffa oss en hederlig och säker fred med B.B.
Hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26. April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern
What the copy for the Rådet adds (fols. 83r–84r)
… skall uti en förlorad action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen och förströdd, så kunne wi wäl billigt giöra oss de tankar, att Konungen i B.B. lärer af en sådan anstos ändra sina onda upsåt och {ge(r)na} söka till att förlika sig med oss ?; för den skull, ehuruwäl wi nog orsak hade att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom och sätta honom i det tillstånd, att han nu en annan gång ej så lätt må kunna skada oss, men icke dess mindre, som wi finne {det}, som Statä{r}herrorna af en hastig obetänksamhet på {Dansk}e sidan, hwartill de låtit sig förleda af {andra}, {allt}så wela wij wisa oss benägne till att höra och antaga billige fredz propositioner under Sjömakternas mediation, så framt och {Dansk}e det {gärna} willigt utan längre upskof begiära, och ? förut försäkra oss på en billig förnöjelse för skada och olägenhet som wij och wåra undersåtare af detta fredsbrott och föröfwade fiendtligheter på ett eller annat sätt hafwa måst lida.
Altså wele wij här med lemna eder tillstånd och fria händer under ll och ddds mediation till att inleda eder uti en fredzhandling med bb på sådan{a} {wilkor} som här ofwan till är nämndt (…) en fred och allt öfrigt, som wid ett slikt wärk (?) bo‹s‑tag‑are‑i‑212›t, och imedlertid att upprätta med b.b. ett stillestånd eller wapenhwila på så lång tid som på begge sidor kan kommas öfwerens; om och äre wi tillfredz på huru lång tid ett sådant stillestånd {slut}es, om det och ‹slores› på ‹…› heelt års tid.
Wij låta nu och (…) till wåre Ministri i ll och ddd att ? såsom af sig sielfwe skole där förklara detta wårt fredälskande sinne, såsom allt sådant widare (…) bilaga widare kan ses. Förlitandes wij oss uppå eder bekante dexteritet och beprofwade nit för wår tienst och interesse, att be{s}tämma allt detta som I bäst finnen. Hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26 April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern
English
- The news. Charles has learnt that the King of Denmark’s army, shipped into Scania the previous autumn, has been beaten and scattered. He takes it as God’s punishment of the Danish King’s faithlessness and breach of his word and seal, and expects him to change his designs and seek terms.
- The offer. He has reason enough to press his advantage, and the States General have let themselves be drawn onto the Danish side “by others”; even so he is inclined to an equitable peace with Denmark under the mediation of the Maritime Powers, England and the United Provinces, provided he is asked and assured beforehand of satisfaction for the wrong and damage that he and his subjects have suffered from “so unjust a breach of the peace”.
- To the envoys. The longer the King of Denmark draws out the war, the harder he will find it to satisfy Sweden. The envoys are to declare, as of themselves and without any order, the King’s wish for peace and his trust in Queen Anne’s friendship and readiness to procure an honourable and secure peace with Denmark.
- To the Council. The Rådet may hear and accept equitable peace proposals under the mediation of the Maritime Powers, if the Danes ask for it willingly and without further delay. It has leave and a free hand to open a peace negotiation with Denmark under English and Dutch mediation on the conditions stated, and meanwhile to agree an armistice or suspension of arms for as long as both sides accept: the King is content with any term, even a whole year. His ministers in England and Holland are told to say the same as of themselves; the Council is to settle the rest as it thinks best.
06 The letter in its time
Charles XII had been at Bender, on Ottoman soil, since the destruction of his army at Poltava in July 1709. Denmark re-entered the war that autumn and landed an army in Scania; Magnus Stenbock beat it at Helsingborg on 28 February 1710 (Swedish calendar), and it re-embarked. That is the action of the first sentence, which the letter presents as divine punishment.
The sentence on the Staterherrorna, the States General, has no verb in either copy, left out by the clerk or already missing in the draft. It probably refers to the negotiations of winter 1709–10 that led to the Hague convention of neutrality of 31 March 1710 (New Style), which in effect shielded Denmark from the Swedish troops in Germany; news of its signature could hardly have reached Bender by 26 April.
The mediation of the Maritime Powers brought no Danish–Swedish peace. The war went on in northern Germany, where Stenbock beat the Danes again at Gadebusch in December 1712.
The same key deciphers other pieces of the file: the troop list used as the crib and a long German letter to the King of autumn 1710 (plague and famine in Sweden, the neutrality of northern Germany, Poniatowski, the Porte and the Tsar). Those are not published here.
07 What remains uncertain
- Group 212, in the Rådet copy only (fol. 83v, bo‹s‑tag‑are‑i‑212›t after som wid ett slikt wärk): not deciphered. It is the first number of the endings; the clear text before it is itself poorly made out, and the envoys’ copy lacks the passage. The sense of the clause around it is not established.
- Values set from the table’s order and the sense (grade I): 238 det (twice; between 236 der and 239 dig, taken as the conjunction “that”, a use found in clear in the same letter), 473 Dansk (three times; between 444 Condition and 477 dem), 345 andra, 337 allt, 1049 wilkor, 25 ak in nöjaktig (Brice Dudout confirmed the number on the image, but it lies below the known letter series), and the word values 512 emot, 548 fort, 572 gärna and 934 slut. In the key file 1049 is still listed as wis?.
- Clerk’s slips, checked on the image by Brice Dudout (grade M for the corrections made from sense): Konung‹169›en, a superfluous se; förlika 108 med oss, 108 cu for 908 sig, which the other copy has; satisfa-31-tion, a for c; Stat-ä-58 for r, which the other copy enciphers as 52; and ‹slores›, garbled for a verb whose sense is clear (“were it concluded”), followed by a struck group and ra. Both copies spell ge-na for gärna, so that slip was probably in the draft.
- The clear text is in a fast cursive, and its reading is a working one: the gaps marked (…) and [?] are in the clear, not in the numbers.
- Prior work. No edition of the letter was found: it is not in Carlson’s Konung Karl XII:s egenhändiga bref (1893, autograph letters only) or in the Handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia, and web searches in Swedish, English and German found nothing (27 October 2026). The Historiska handlingar volumes and the Riksarkivet registers are not searchable online. The Council’s clear copy is probably in the Riksarkivet, Stockholm, and its content may be known to historians from there; it has not been consulted.
- The rest of Rep. 5a Nr. 670 and the other Stade files of catalogue no. 599 are not covered by this page.
Full texts
The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.
Charles XII, Bender, 26 April 1710: copies for the envoys (fol. 85) and for the Rådet (fols. 83-84)
A refugee at Bender, on Ottoman soil, since Poltava, Charles XII learns of the rout of the Danish army at Helsingborg. In a chancery letter whose sensitive passages are in cipher, he declares himself ready to make peace with Denmark under the mediation of England and the United Provinces, and gives the Council a “free hand” to negotiate and to conclude an armistice, “even for a whole year”. Two ciphered copies, received by the Swedish government of Bremen-Verden, are kept at Stade.
Transcription
# Copy for the envoys (fol. 85r–v) E01 [clear] 180 392 59 236 319 137 47 149 121 48 163 82 53 110 984 52 365 365 E02 [clear] 653 169 245 481 612 939 [clear] E03 138 164 52 218 163 912 772 65 60 83 890 59 764 259 148 171 133 997 365 550 140 133 108 703 48 87 [clear] E04 39 612 178 45 180 753 778 124 110 [clear] E05 710 620 481 718 939 180 116 47 149 238 939 294 59 32 52 125 52 166 163 319 245 124 299 48 100 174 47 44 289 261 153 473 39 170 231 615 997 110 138 300 908 550 272 319 345 890 32 164 180 100 148 41 149 365 43 81 119 703 653 245 E06 43 [clear] 245 392 552 1021 913 692 312 47 65 53 144 111 31 304 890 40 52 31 46 59 180 769 890 231 59 395 31 164 160 164 163 110 764 550 1026 550 168 44 163 110 769 245 151 43 25 303 168 175 53 114 31 304 550 333 478 48 550 52 32 59 292 109 764 550 40 33 47 41 E07 [clear] 180 764 178 164 1021 890 986 39 [clear] 587 146 57 677 31 [clear] 653 245 43 [clear] 1026 240 259 [clear] 548 [clear] 705 116 245 174 274 262 512 E08 [clear] 82 87 997 552 64 [clear] 764 118 45 79 121 48 163 [clear] 550 151 43 243 [clear] 891 1026 319 499 907 179 [clear] 61 33 52 100 531 282 365 550 44 138 285 E09 [clear] 61 66 52 93 552 32 79 292 47 232 910 149 [clear] 550 1008 245 232 [clear] 495 245 53 77 [clear] 61 32 47 293 [clear] 550 292 114 [clear] 245 125 236 274 764 87 66 44 39 86 552 705 [clear] [clear] # Copy for the Rådet (fols. 83r–84r) L01 [clear] 890 137 47 149 180 [clear] 392 59 121 48 163 82 53 110 984 52 365 L02 653 245 43 [clear] [clear] 31 47 57 48 53 L03 218 163 912 772 65 60 83 890 59 764 259 148 L04 171 133 997 365 550 140 133 908 705 [clear] 550 478 L05 [clear] 39 612 178 45 180 753 778 124 110 [clear] L06 710 620 481 718 939 180 116 47 149 238 939 294 59 32 58 L07 125 52 166 163 319 245 124 299 48 100 174 47 L08 44 289 261 153 473 39 [clear] [clear] 550 272 [clear] 345 337 890 [clear] 61 43 L09 53 31 48 53 100 148 41 149 997 365 42 48 L10 52 31 [clear] 65 81 982 31 392 39 552 64 834 L11 53 43 59 43 48 281 [clear] 913 692 312 47 L12 65 53 144 111 31 304 890 [clear] 473 73 L13 484 572 [clear] 672 52 39 [clear] 87 78 L14 82 74 [clear] 764 [clear] 550 1024 550 [clear] L15 796 39 47 392 550 151 43 243 550 292 109 L16 764 48 671 [clear] 1021 890 986 L17 39 [clear] 552 87 [clear] 764 550 [clear] 587 146 57 677 L18 31 [clear] 79 39 80 81 65 499 L19 997 [clear] 554 31 589 236 [clear] [clear] 764 [clear] L20 87 144 111 31 304 [clear] 670 31 499 1024 L21 183 552 64 589 45 267 705 [clear] [clear] L22 1049 [clear] 34 48 L23 53 982 224 77 212 59 [clear] 365 L24 60 49 52 32 59 93 31 705 [clear] 73 93 956 L25 950 508 1033 42 180 138 49 33 87 67 141 L26 47 41 993 939 83 67 100 41 120 170 112 L27 52 645 652 143 783 245 87 769 764 66 L28 164 180 997 552 64 83 67 612 141 47 L29 41 993 73 93 59 890 109 47 59 956 L30 950 934 39 53 769 484 764 87 79 82 L31 164 53 49 67 [clear] 163 125 45 93 67 86 L32 87 993 [clear] 61 33 164 L33 720 43 [clear] 764 [clear] 365 [clear] 891 319 908 L34 907 179 88 48 139 38 66 86 550 44 138 L35 285 [clear] 61 66 52 93 552 32 79 292 47 L36 232 910 149 [clear] 365 100 59 32 143 337 484 173 L37 939 43 34 66 57 40 77 47 149 81 [clear]
Decryption
# Copy for the envoys (fol. 85r–v): group = value; [..] clear text in the copy
E01 [Carl. Emedan såsom wij nyligen förnummit, det Konungens i Danmarck krigsmakt, hwilken förledne höst blef skeppad in uti Skåne, skall för liten tid sedan uti en förlidne action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen, slagen och förströdd, så att] 180=wi 392=billig 59=t 236=der 319=af 137=ku 47=n 149=ne 121=gi 48=o 163=ra 82=o 53=s 110=de 984=tanka 52=r 365=att 365=att
E02 [?brudelta] 653=Konung 169=‹se› 245=en 481=dess 612=huru 939=som [den rättwisa Guden i så måtto hafwer straffat hans trolöshet och orättmätiga förfarande emot ord och ?wärat ?Sigl.]
E03 138=la 164=re 52=r 218=änd 163=ra 912=sina 772=ond 65=a 60=u 83=p 890=så 59=t 764=och 259=ge 148=na 171=so 133=ka 997=till 365=att 550=för 140=li 133=ka 108={sig}* 703=med 48=o 87=s [altså]
E04 39=e 612=huru 178=wa 45=l 180=wi 753=nog 778=orsak 124=ha 110=de [will att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom, och bringa honom så i trångmål, att han ?wij så lätteligen nu annan gång icke kunna skada oss, då wij hafwe med andra wåra fiender att giöra.]
E05 710=men 620=icke 481=dess 718=mindre 939=som 180=wi 116=fi 47=n 149=ne 238={det} 939=som 294=sta 59=t 32=ä 52=r 125=he 52=r 166=ro 163=ra 319=af 245=en 124=ha 299=stig 48=o 100=be 174=te 47=n 44=k 289=sam 261=het 153=pa 473={Dansk} 39=e 170=si 231=dan 615=hwar 997=till 110=de 138=la 300=tit 908=sig 550=för 272=leda 319=af 345={andra} 890=så 32=ä 164=re 180=wi 100=be 148=na 41=g 149=ne 365=att 43=i 81=n 119=ga 703=med 653=Konung 245=en
E06 43=i [B.B.] 245=en 392=billig 552=fred 1021=under 913=Sjö 692=makt 312=er 47=n 65=a 53=s 144=me 111=di 31=a 304=tion 890=så 40=f 52=r 31=a 46=m 59=t 180=wi 769=om 890=så 231=dan 59=t 395=blifw 31=a 164=re 160=qui 164=re 163=ra 110=de 764=och 550=för 1026=ut 550=för 168=sa 44=k 163=ra 110=de 769=om 245=en 151=no 43=i 25={ak} 303=tig 168=sa 175=ti 53=s 114=fa 31={c}* 304=tion 550=för 333=all 478=den 48=o 550=för 52=r 32=ä 59=t 292=ska 109=da 764=och 550=för 40=f 33=å 47=n 41=g
E07 [som] 180=wi 764=och 178=wa 164=re 1021=under 890=så 986=tar 39=e [af att så obilligt fredsbrott] 587=hafwa 146=mo 57=st 677=lid 31=a [wil ?upstrandes att så längre] 653=Konung 245=en 43=i [B.B.] 1026=ut 240=dra 259=ge [kriget och] 548={fort} [för] 705=med 116=fi 245=en 174=te 274=lig 262=heter 512={emot}
E08 [och ?på widare rörer det blifwa ?förhoppen att ställa] 82=o 87=s 997=till 552=fred 64=z [i framtiden] 764=och 118=fu 45=l 79=l 121=gi 48=o 163=ra [sedan] 550=för 151=no 43=i 243=else [som wij ?hafwe ?kraffta ?af honom ?… ?förderfwelse skall] 891=såsom 1026=ut 319=af 499=eder 907=sielf 179=we [och utan någon] 61=w 33=å 52=r 100=be 531=fall 282=ning 365=att 550=för 44=k 138=la 285=ra
E09 [icke allenast detta] 61=w 66=ä 52=r 93=t 552=fred 32=ä 79=l 292=ska 47=n 232=de 910=sin 149=ne [utan och det] 550=för 1008=tro 245=en 232=de [wij hafwe till] 495=Drottning 245=en 53=s 77=i [LL] 61=w 32=ä 47=n 293=skap [och benägenhet till att] 550=för 292=ska 114=fa [och] 245=en 125=he 236=der 274=lig 764=och 87=s 66=ä 44=k 39=e 86=r 552=fred 705=med [B.B.] [hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26. April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern]
# Copy for the Rådet (fols. 83r–84r): group = value; [..] clear text in the copy
L01 [… skall uti en förlorad action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen och förströdd] 890=så 137=ku 47=n 149=ne 180=wi [wäl] 392=billig 59=t 121=gi 48=o 163=ra 82=o 53=s 110=de 984=tanka 52=r 365=att
L02 653=Konung 245=en 43=i [B.B.] [lärer af en sådan] 31=a 47=n 57=st 48=o 53=s
L03 218=änd 163=ra 912=sina 772=ond 65=a 60=u 83=p 890=så 59=t 764=och 259=ge 148=na
L04 171=so 133=ka 997=till 365=att 550=för 140=li 133=ka 908=sig 705=med [och] 550=för 478=den
L05 [skall] 39=e 612=huru 178=wa 45=l 180=wi 753=nog 778=orsak 124=ha 110=de [att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom och sätta honom i det tillstånd att han nu en annan gång ej så lätt må kunna skada oss.]
L06 710=men 620=icke 481=dess 718=mindre 939=som 180=wi 116=fi 47=n 149=ne 238={det} 939=som 294=sta 59=t 32=ä 58={r}
L07 125=he 52=r 166=ro 163=ra 319=af 245=en 124=ha 299=stig 48=o 100=be 174=te 47=n
L08 44=k 289=sam 261=het 153=pa 473={Dansk} 39=e [sedan hwartill de låtit] [sig] 550=för 272=leda [och] 345={andra} 337={allt} 890=så [wela wij] 61=w 43=i
L09 53=s 31=a 48=o 53=s 100=be 148=na 41=g 149=ne 997=till 365=att 42=h 48=o
L10 52=r 31=a [och] 65=a 81=n 982=tag 31=a 392=billig 39=e 552=fred 64=z 834=propo
L11 53=s 43=i 59=t 43=i 48=o 281=ner [under] 913=Sjö 692=makt 312=er 47=n
L12 65=a 53=s 144=me 111=di 31=a 304=tion 890=så [framt och] 473={Dansk} 73=e
L13 484=det 572={gärna} [willigt utan] 672=läng 52=r 39=e [up] 87=s 78=k
L14 82=o 74=f [begiären] 764=och [?] 550=för 1024=ut 550=för [säkra oss]
L15 796=på 39=e 47=n 392=billig 550=för 151=no 43=i 243=else 550=för 292=ska 109=da
L16 764=och 48=o 671=lägenhet [som wij och wåra] 1021=under 890=så 986=tar
L17 39=e [af detta] 552=fred 87=s [brott] 764=och 550=för [öfwade fiendtligheter på ett eller annat sätt] 587=hafwa 146=mo 57=st 677=lid
L18 31=a [altså wele wij här med] 79=l 39=e 80=m 81=n 65=a 499=eder
L19 997=till [?strand och] 554=fri 31=a 589=hand 236=der [under] [ll] 764=och [ddd]
L20 87=s 144=me 111=di 31=a 304=tion [till att in] 670=led 31=a 499=eder 1024=ut
L21 183=en (1) 552=fred 64=z 589=hand 45=l 267=ing 705=med [bb] [på så dan]
L22 1049={wilkor} [för som här ofwan till är nämndt, … underdåniga betänkande, en fred och allt annat, som wid att ?stifta wåra] 34=b 48=o
L23 53=s 982=tag 224=are 77=i 212=‹212› 59=t [och imedlertid] 365=att
L24 60=u 49=p 52=r 32=ä 59=t 93=t 31=a 705=med [b.b.] 73=e 93=t 956=stille
L25 950=stand 508=eller 1033=wapen 42=h 180=wi 138=la 49=p 33=å 87=s 67=å 141=lo
L26 47=n 41=g 993=tid 939=som 83=p 67=å 100=be 41=g 120=ge 170=si 112=do
L27 52=r 645=kan 652=kom 143=ma 783=öfwer 245=en 87=s 769=om 764=och 66=ä
L28 164=re 180=wi 997=till 552=fred 64=z 83=p 67=å 612=huru 141=lo 47=n
L29 41=g 993=tid 73=e 93=t 59=t 890=så 109=da 47=n 59=t 956=stille
L30 950=stand 934={slut} 39=e 53=s 769=om 484=det 764=och 87=s 79=l 82=o
L31 164=re 53=s 49=p 67=å [biffé] 163=ra 125=he 45=l 93=t 67=å 86=r
L32 87=s 993=tid [wij låta nu och på begge ?till] 61=w 33=å 164=re
L33 720=Minist 43=i [ll] 764=och [ddd] 365=att [Uo.] 891=såsom 319=af 908=sig
L34 907=sielf 179=we 88=sk 48=o 139=le 38=d 66=ä 86=r 550=för 44=k 138=la
L35 285=ra [detta] 61=w 66=ä 52=r 93=t 552=fred 32=ä 79=l 292=ska 47=n
L36 232=de 910=sin 149=ne [såsom allt sådant widare … bilaga widare kan ses. Förlitandes wij oss uppå eder bekante dexteritet och beprofwade nit för wår tienst och interesse] 365=att 100=be 59=t 32=ä 143=ma 337={allt} 484=det 173=ta
L37 939=som 43=i 34=b 66=ä 57=st 40=f 77=i 47=n 149=ne 81=n [hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26 April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern]Reading
# Charles XII, Bender, 26 April 1710: established text (Swedish)
Conventions: [..] clear in the copy; ‹x› clerk's slip; probable readings were marked {x} on the write-up.
## Copy for the envoys (fol. 85r–v)
[Carl. Emedan såsom wij nyligen förnummit, det Konungens i Danmarck krigsmakt, hwilken förledne höst blef skeppad in uti Skåne, skall för liten tid sedan uti en förlidne action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen, slagen och förströdd, så att] wi billigt deraf kunne giöra oss de tankar, att ‹att› [{bemälte}] Konung‹se›en, dess huru som [den rättwisa Guden i så måtto hafwer straffat hans trolöshet och orättmätiga förfarande emot ord och [?] Sigill,] lärer ändra sina onda upsåt och {ge(r)na} söka till att förlika {sig} med oss. [Altså,] ehuruwäl wi nog orsak hade [will att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom och bringa honom så i trångmål, att han [?] icke kunna skada oss, då wij hafwe med andra wåra fiender att giöra,] men icke dess mindre, som wi finne {det}, som Staterherrorna af en hastig obetänksamhet på {Dansk}e sidan, hwartill de låtit sig förleda af {andra}, så äre wi benägne att inga med Konungen i [B.B.] en billig fred under Sjömakternas mediation, så framt wi om sådant blifwa requirerade och förut försäkrade om en nöj{ak}tig satisfa{c}tion för all den oförrätt, skada och förfång [som] wi och wåre undersåtare [af ett så obilligt fredsbrott] hafwa måst lida. [(…) att ju längre] Konungen i [B.B.] utdrage [kriget och] {fort}[far] med fiendteligheter {emot} [oss, ju (swårare) lärer det blifwa (…) att ställa] oss tillfredz [i framtiden] och fullgiöra [den] förnöjelse [som wij (…) af honom (…) skall] såsom utaf eder sielfwe [och utan någon] wår befallning att förklara [icke allenast detta] wårt fredälskande sinne, [utan och det] förtroende [wij hafwe till] Drottningens i [LL] wänskap [och benägenhet till att] förskaffa [oss] en hederlig och säker fred med [B.B.]. [Hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26. April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern]
## Copy for the Rådet (fols. 83r–84r) (what it adds)
[… skall uti en förlorad action aldeles warit öfwerwunnen och förströdd,] så kunne wi [wäl] billigt giöra oss de tankar, att Konungen i [B.B.] [lärer af en sådan] anstos ändra sina onda upsåt och {ge(r)na} söka till att förlika sig med [oss ?]; för den [skull,] ehuruwäl wi nog orsak hade [att fullfölja wåra wapens lyckliga framgång emot honom och sätta honom i det tillstånd, att han nu en annan gång ej så lätt må kunna skada oss,] men icke dess mindre, som wi finne {det}, som Statä{r}herrorna af en hastig obetänksamhet på {Dansk}e [sidan], hwartill de låtit sig förleda [af] {andra}, {allt}så [wela wij] wisa oss benägne till att höra [och] antaga billige fredz propositioner [under] Sjömakternas mediation, så [framt och] {Dansk}e det {gärna} [willigt utan] längre [up]skof [begiära,] och [?] förut för[säkra oss] på en billig förnöjelse för skada och olägenhet [som wij och wåra] undersåtare [af detta] freds[brott] och för[öfwade fiendtligheter på ett eller annat sätt] hafwa måst lida. [Altså wele wij här med] lemna eder till[stånd och] fria händer [under] [ll] och [ddd]s mediation [till att in]leda eder uti en fredzhandling med [bb] [på så]dan{a} {wilkor} [som här ofwan till är nämndt (…) en fred och allt öfrigt, som wid ett slikt wärk (?)] bo‹s‑tag‑are‑i‑212›t, [och imedlertid] att upprätta med [b.b.] ett stillestånd eller wapenhwila på så lång tid som på begge sidor kan kommas öfwerens; om och äre wi tillfredz på huru lång tid ett sådant stillestånd {slut}es, om det och ‹slores› på ‹…› heelt års tid. [Wij låta nu och (…) till] wåre Ministri i [ll] och [ddd] att [?] såsom af sig sielfwe skole där förklara [detta] wårt fredälskande sinne, [såsom allt sådant widare (…) bilaga widare kan ses. Förlitandes wij oss uppå eder bekante dexteritet och beprofwade nit för wår tienst och interesse,] att be{s}tämma allt detta som I bäst finnen. [Hwarmed etc. Bender d. 26 April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern]Translation
# English translation ## Copy for the envoys (fol. 85r–v) Charles. Since we have lately learnt that the King of Denmark’s army, which last autumn was shipped over into Scania, has a short while ago, in an action, been utterly overcome, beaten and scattered, we may rightly conclude that the said King — inasmuch as the just God has thus punished his faithlessness and his wrongful dealing against his given word and seal — will change his evil designs and willingly seek to come to terms with us. Therefore, although we have reason enough to pursue the happy success of our arms against him and to bring him into such straits that he can no longer harm us, while we have our other enemies to deal with, nevertheless, as we find that the Lords States, out of hasty thoughtlessness, [have placed themselves] on the Danish side, to which they have let themselves be led by others, we are inclined to enter into an equitable peace with the King of Denmark under the mediation of the Maritime Powers, provided that we are requested to do so and assured beforehand of a sufficient satisfaction for all the wrong, damage and prejudice that we and our subjects have had to suffer from so unjust a breach of the peace. [You shall give to understand] that the longer the King of Denmark draws out the war and continues hostilities against us, the harder it will be for him to satisfy us in future and to make the amends [we can demand of him]. You shall, as of yourselves and without any order from us, declare not only our peace-loving disposition but also the trust we place in the friendship of the Queen of England and in her readiness to procure us an honourable and secure peace with Denmark. Herewith etc. Bender, 26 April 1710. Carolus. H. G. von Müllern. ## What the copy for the Rådet adds … we wish to show ourselves inclined to hear and accept equitable peace proposals under the mediation of the Maritime Powers, provided that the Danes request it willingly, without further delay, and assure us beforehand of an equitable amends for the damage and inconvenience that we and our subjects have suffered from this breach of the peace and from the hostilities committed in one way or another. We therefore hereby leave you permission and a free hand to open, under the mediation of England and Holland, a peace negotiation with Denmark on the conditions named above […], and meanwhile to conclude with Denmark an armistice or suspension of arms for as long as can be agreed on both sides; and we are content with whatever term such an armistice is concluded for, even if it be for a whole year. We are letting our ministers in England and Holland know that they should declare our peace-loving disposition there as of themselves, as may be seen more fully in the enclosure. Relying on your known dexterity and proven zeal for our service and interest, [we leave you] to settle all this as you think best.
Key: key.tsv
08 Sources
- Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv, Abt. Stade, Rep. 5a Nr. 670, fols. 83r–85v (images 0084–0087 of 135): Archivportal-D, Arcinsys record. Public Domain Mark.
- Brice Dudout, Europe chiffrée: Charles XII, Bender, 26 April 1710 (27 October 2026): transcription, key, Swedish text, English translation and notes, contributed to this repository in pull request #132.
- E. Carlson (ed.), Konung Karl XII:s egenhändiga bref (Stockholm, 1893), and the Handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia: searched by the contributor; the letter is not in them.
Both copies transcribed group by group, the decryption, the key (334 values), the Swedish text, the English translation and the validation data are in targets/stade1710/.
