“Potz Donner haben wir das alles getan?” This is what Frederick I of Sweden (r. 1720–51) is said to have exclaimed on one occasion when confronted by a sycophantic flatterer with a list of all the recent beneficial and wise decisions made by His Majesty the king of Sweden.1 That is also how Frederick I is remembered,—as the roi fainéant par excellence of Swedish history The reality, however, is far more complicated.