Carl, Count Piper

Carl, Count Piper (born July 29, 1647, Stockholm—died May 29, 1716, Nöteborg, Fin.) was a Swedish statesman who served as King Charles XII’s leading minister during the Great Northern War (1700–21). Piper was of lesser noble background. He became an official in the Swedish chancellery’s department of home affairs under King Charles XI but reached the heights of Swedish government in 1697, when the newly crowned Charles XII raised him to a countship and appointed...