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André Sicre (died 1733 in
André Sicre (died 1733 in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a French military engineer who also was '' aide-de-camp'' to Frederick of Hesse and often has been named as the hired assassin of King Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
.
Career
After being shipwrecked on the island ofChios
Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...
in 1712, Sicre began to serve Charles XII in Bendery
Bender (, ) or Bendery (, ; ), also known as Tighina ( mo-Cyrl, Тигина, links=no), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the unrecognized Transnistria, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Rep ...
. He went with the Swedes to Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
and subsequently took part in the siege of that town. He was captured but managed to flee to Sweden in 1716.
Sicre was hired by Charles’s brother-in-law and generalissimus Frederick of Hesse in a Scanian cavalry regiment and eventually became Frederick’s top ''aide-de-camp''. During King Charles’s second invasion of Norway in 1718, Sicre was in his troops at Fredriksten
Fredriksten is a fortress in the city of Halden in Norway.
History
This Fortresses was constructed by Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ...
. Late in the evening of 30 November, Sicre was positioned in the dugout near the king. He disappeared just before Charles was shot, but soon reappeared and placed his wig and hat over the dead king’s face, while himself donning Charles’s hat perforated by the gunshot. He then rode at once to Frederick’s command center at Torpum to announce the king’s death, and immediately rode on all the way to Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
to inform Ulrica Eleonora of Sweden, Charles's sister and Frederick's wife, of what had transpired at Fredriksten.
After the invasion of Norway had been called off due to Charles’s death, and Ulrica Eleonora had ascended to the Swedish throne, Frederick promoted Sicre again, but rumors of his involvement in the king’s demise made Frederick send him abroad. A Lieutenant Schultz came forward and claimed to know that Sicre had been offered a large sum of money to assassinate Charles.
Sicre returned to Stockholm already in 1722 but then had contracted typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
. In 1723, it was blamed on mental illness when he opened a window of his house and shouted to people passing below that it was he who had killed Charles. Frederick had now become King of Sweden himself and tried to put a stop to the rumors, having Sicre take back his confession, but to no avail.
By 1728 Sicre’s health had begun to improve and he moved back to France. His financial situation was very bad, and he constantly wrote to King Frederick and Queen Ulrica Eleonora who sent him money.
Death
André Sicre died a poor man in Paris in 1733. Some Swedish historians have concluded that substantial evidence points to Sicre, acting on behalf of Frederick, as the assassin of Charles XII, however acknowledging that definite proof cannot to be ascertained.References
* Bengt Liljegren in ''Krigarkungen'' (2018 edition) pp. 378, 380, 389-390 & 393-395