Page "Charles XI of Sweden" Paragraph 23

In the 1682 assembly of the Riksdag of the Estates, the king put forth his suggestion for a military reform, whereby each of the lands of Sweden were to have 1, 200 soldiers at disposal, at all times, and two farms were to provide accommodations for one soldier.

His soldiers were known as Caroleans and were trained to be skilled and to prefer attack to defence.

Savaging and looting was strictly forbidden.

The soldier huts around the country were the most visible part of the new Swedish allotment system.

However, Charles also modernized the military techniques and worked to improve the overall skill and knowledge of the officers by sending them abroad to study.