and Tessin the Younger became count in 1714. However, the Reduction also meant considerably fewer assignments from the nobility, and when Tessin the Younger succeeded his father in 1681, his main clients was the church and the royal court, with the many ambitious palaces and gardens of Queen Hedvig Elenora as the most important projects. In the end of the 1680s, King Charles XI commissioned Tessin to modernise the northern part of the Stockholm Palace, why the architect had the opportunity to do a second study tour, including the Netherlands, France, and Italy. This time, however, he was met with great respect all over the continent, and he later proudly retold the event when King Louis XIV of France had the fountains at the Versailles Palace play upon his visit, a tribute normally only granted foreign princes. During this trip Tessin met Daniel Cronström who became one of his invaluable colleagues and an important contact on the continent as Tessin's projects in Sweden required him to negotiate with manufacturers and artists abroad. Their correspondence has also proven invaluable for later historical research. Upon his return he immediately begun his work on the royal palace, and in 1695 his large-scale northern Baroque façade was completed, apparently inspired by Bernini's project at the Louvre. Ambitions to further renew the palace first came to a halt as the king died, and were then given a completely new perspective as the palace was destroyed by fire in 1697. Tessin was appointed to produce plans for a new palace the day after the fire and he quickly produced a proposal which pleased both the young King Charles XII and his regency. However, as Charles XII left Sweden for his lengthy campaigns on the continent in 1700, works on the palace first progressed slowly and following the devastating Battle of Poltava in 1709 came to a new halt. Even though Tessin spent much of his remaining life producing detailed plans for the palace, it remained incomplete by the time for his death. In 1690, Tessin married his mistress Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock (1658–1714), maid of honour of Queen Hedvig Elenora. However, at this time Tessin still belonged to the lesser nobility and his marriage to a woman from the high nobility was regarded as inappropriate. The marriage therefore had to take place secretly in Pomerania and, to repair the situation, Tessin had to produce a residence in