Sabaton Cruise special: meet Carolus Rex

Remember the recent video of Joakim being delivered his platinum discs by Carolus Rex, who had returned to Sweden after 300 years? Many people messaged the band asking who was the actor in this video, who looked so much like historical pictures of the king. He was Jakob Karasiak, the Swedish historical re-enactment network’s official Carolus Rex. Jakob and two of his Caroleans were on the 2018 Sabaton Cruise, so the Sabaton team asked him how he became the modern day King Charles XII. “I’m a blacksmith by trade,” Jakob explained, “and that is an ancient profession, so I’d always been kind of a history geek and I joined my local Carolean regiment as an infantry soldier. “My brother has always called me Carolus because I look so much like the Swedish king, and the regiment saw that too and quickly converted me from infantry to king. “That was 2016, and because the other Swedish regiments didn’t have a king, I began travelling to them to play Carolus in their re-enactments, and now they all accept me as their king!” With 2018 being the 300^th anniversary of Carolus Rex’s death, Jakob and the Swedish Caroleans have become known outside their home country. He said: “We went to visit a group in Norway and re-enacted the siege of Fredriksten, where I was shot in the head. I also travelled to Dresden in Germany where I met the re-enactor who plays Augustus Rex, who was Carolus’ cousin. “Sabaton first made contact with me in 2017 and invited me on stage with them at Tons of Rock. This involvement with a rock band is something I could never have predicted when I started out. “If I were to speak for Carolus Rex, I think he’d be happy that people know of his memory and of the Swedish Empire, and he’d think it was good that Sabaton brings that to life.” Watch Jakob as Carolus delivering Joakim’s platinum discs: (Cover image by Georgephoto.se)