gustavus adolphus ruled the swedish empire before he died in 1632
the beginning of the empire is usually taken as the reign of gustavus adolphus  who ascended the throne in 1611  and the end as the loss of territories in 1721 following the great northern war
gustav ii adolf lrb 9 december 1594  6 november 1632  os rrb  widely known in english by his latinised name gustavus adolphus or as gustav ii adolph  was the king of sweden from 1611 to 1632 and is credited as the founder of sweden as a great power lrb stormaktstiden rrb