As a consequence of theLivonian War (1558–1583), the territory of Livonia was reduced to the southern half of Estonia and the northern half of Latvia.
The indigenous inhabitants of Livonia were variousFinnic tribes in the north andBaltic tribes in the south. The descendants of thecrusaders formed the nucleus of the new ruling class of Livonia after the Livonian Crusade, and they eventually became known asBaltic Germans.
Beginning in the 12th century, Livonia became a target for economic and political expansion byDanes andGermans, particularly for theHanseatic League and theCistercian Order. Around 1160, Hanseatic traders fromLübeck established a trading post on the site of the future city ofRiga, which BishopAlbrecht von Buxthoeven founded in 1201.[1]
Livonian Crusade and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (1198–1229)
Pope Gregory IX asked the Brothers to defendFinland fromNovgorodian attacks in his letter of 24 November 1232;[2] however, no known information regarding the knights' possible activities in Finland has survived. (Sweden eventually took over Finland after theSecond Swedish Crusade in 1249.) In the Battle of Saule in 1236 theLithuanians andSemigallians decimated the Order. This disaster led the surviving Brothers to become incorporated into the Order ofTeutonic Knights in the following year, and from that point on they became known as theLivonian Order. They continued, however, to function in all respects (rule, clothing and policy) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by their own Master (himselfde jure subject to the Teutonic Order'sGrand Master).[citation needed]
The January 1229 death of Albert of Riga caused adiocesan feud in theArchbishopric of Riga, as two rival candidates were elected.[3]Pope Gregory IX, through cardinalOtto of Tonengo, taskedBaldwin of Alna as papal legate to resolve the dispute.[4] After securing the submission of Courland, Baldwin soon found himself in conflict with various factions in Livonia, fleeing toDünamünde and temporarily leaving Livonia in early 1232.[4] The pope made him bishop ofSemigallia and gave him papal legation throughout much of Livonia, and Baldwin returned by 1233.[4] He tried to take the castle of Reval (modernTallinn) from the Sword Brothers, but inc. August–September 1233 they defeated Baldwin, whoexcommunicated many Sword Brothers in retaliation.[5]
At that point, Livonia was divided into two camps: Baldwin's Bishopric of Semigallia, the Bishopric of Dorpat and the late Albert of Riga's Buxhöveden family plus several monasteries, most Estonians and Curonians, versus the Livonian Sword Brothers, Nicholas' Bishopric of Riga, and the city of Riga.[6] Previous generations of historians have argued that Baldwin attempted to make the whole Baltic region an ecclesiastical state, butManfred Hellmann [de] (1993) refuted this idea as "fanciful speculation".[6] Similarly, the traditional assertion that Baldwin had extensive plans to conquer and convert eastwards into parts of Pskov and Novgorod do not stand up under scrutiny, showing that papal correspondence with Baldwin was primarily concerned with ending the internal conflict in Livonia on terms favourable to Rome.[7] Therefore, no Livonian faction was allowed to form an alliance with an external power, be they pagan or Novgorodian, to prevent the internal conflict from spilling over and threaten Livonia's external security.[7]
In 1234, the pope recalled Baldwin, and replaced him withWilliam of Modena.[8] The pope did not give a verdict until April 1236, when the Sword Brothers were tasked to return Reval to the Danish king.[8] The terms of the agreement were not finalised until theTreaty of Stensby (7 June 1238), when the Livonian Sword Brothers, crushed atSaule and now submitted to theTeutonic Order, relinquished their claims to Reval and much of northern Estonia to Denmark, and to share future territorial gains with two-thirds for the Danish king and one third for the Livonian Order.[9]
Livonian Order, the Bishoprics and Riga from 1237 until 1418
From the 14th to the 16th centuries,Middle Low German – as spoken in the towns of theHanseatic League — functioned as the established language of the Livonian lands, butHigh German subsequently succeeded it as the official language in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries.[12]
OnceEric XIV of Sweden became king in September 1560 he took quick actions to get involved in the war. He negotiated a continuedpeace withMuscovy and spoke to theburghers ofReval city. He offered them goods to submit to him as well as threatening them. By 6 June 1561,they submitted to him contrary to thepersuasions of Kettler to the burghers. King Eric's brother and future KingJohan married the Polish-Lithuanian princessCatherine Jagiellon in 1562. Wanting to obtain his own land in Livonia, he loaned Poland money and then claimed the castles that they had pawned as his own instead of using them to pressure Poland. After Johan returned toFinland, Erik XIV forbade him to deal with any foreign countries without his consent.[citation needed]
Shortly after that, Erik XIV quickly lost any allies that he was about to obtain, either in the form of Magnus or of the Archbishop ofRiga. Magnus was upset that he had been tricked out of hisinheritance ofHolstein. After Swedenoccupied Reval,Frederick II of Denmark made a treaty with Erik XIV of Sweden in August 1561. Magnus and his brother Frederick II were in great disagreement, and Frederick II negotiated a treaty with Ivan IV on 7 August 1562 to help his brother obtain more land and to stall further Swedish advances. Erik XIV did not like this, and theNorthern Seven Years' War (1563–1570) broke out, with Sweden pitted against theFree City of Lübeck, Denmark, and Poland-Lithuania. While only losing land and trade, Frederick II and Magnus were not faring well. But in 1568 Erik XIV becameinsane and his brother Johan took his place as KingJohn III of Sweden.[citation needed]
Johan III, due to his friendship with Poland-Lithuania, began a policy against Muscovy. He would try to obtain more land in Livonia and to dominate Denmark. After all parties had been financially drained, Frederick II let his ally, KingSigismund II Augustus ofPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, know that he was ready for peace. On 15 December 1570, theTreaty of Stettin concluded the Northern Seven Years' War.[citation needed]
It is, however, more difficult to estimate the scope and magnitude of the support Magnus received in Livonian cities.[citation needed] Compared to the Harrien-Wierland gentry, the Reval city council, and hence probably the majority of citizens, demonstrated a much more reserved attitude towards Denmark and towards King Magnus of Livonia. Nevertheless, there is no reason to speak about any strong pro-Swedish sentiments among the residents of Reval. The citizens who had fled to the Bishopric of Dorpat or had been deported to Muscovy hailed Magnus as their saviour until 1571. Analysis indicates that during theLivonian War a pro-independence wing emerged among the Livonian gentry and townspeople, forming the so-called "Peace Party".[citation needed] Dismissing hostilities, these forces perceived an agreement with Muscovy as a chance to escape the atrocities of war and to avoid the division of Livonia. Thus Magnus, who represented Denmark and later struck a deal withIvan IV, proved a suitable figurehead for this faction.[citation needed]
The Peace Party, however, had its own armed forces – scattered bands of household troops (Hofleute) under diverse command, which only united in action in 1565 (Battle of Pärnu andSiege of Reval), in 1570–1571 (Siege of Reval; 30 weeks), and in 1574–1576 (first on Sweden's side, then came the sale ofÖsel–Wiek to theDanish Crown, and the loss of territory toTsardom of Russia). In 1575, after Muscovy attacked Danish claims in Livonia, Frederick II dropped out of the competition, as did the Holy Roman Emperor. After this Johan III held off on his pursuit for more land due to Muscovy obtaining lands that Sweden controlled. He used the next two years of truce to get in a better position. In 1578, he resumed the fight, not only for Livonia, but also for everywhere due to an understanding that he made with thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1578, Magnus retired to the Commonwealth and his brother all but gave up the land in Livonia.[citation needed]
During the many years of theLivonian War (1558–1582), the Livonian Order suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of troops ofMuscovite Russia in theBattle of Ergeme in 1560 and continued living under great threat. Letters to theHoly Roman Emperor arrived from many European countries, warningthat Moscow has its eyes on much more than only a few harbors or the province of Liefland ... the East Sea (Ostsee-Baltic Sea) and the West Sea (Atlantic) are equally in danger. Duke Barnim the Elder, 50 years duke of Pomerania, warned,that never before did he experience the fear than now, where even in his land, where people send by Moscow are everywhere.[citation needed] At stake was theNarva-trade-route and practically all trade in the North, and with that all of Europe. Due to the religious upheavals of theReformation the distantHoly Roman Empire could not send troops, which it could not afford anyway. TheDuchy of Prussia was not able to help for much of the same reason, andDuke Albrecht (r. 1525–1568) was under continuous ban by the Empire. The Hanseatic League was greatly weakened by this[clarification needed] and thecity state of Luebeck fought its last great war. The emperorMaximilian II (r. 1564–1576) diffused the greatest threat by remaining on friendly terms with TsarIvan IV of Russia (r. 1533–1584), but not sending Ivan IV troops as requested in his struggles with thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[citation needed]
In the next phase of the conflict, in 1577, Ivan IV took advantage of the Commonwealth's internal strife (called the war againstGdańsk in Polish historiography), and during the reign ofStefan Batory in Poland, invaded Livonia, quickly taking almost the entire territory, with the exception ofRiga andReval. In 1578,Magnus of Livonia recognized thesovereignty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (not ratified by theSejm of Poland-Lithuania, nor recognized by Denmark). The Kingdom of Livonia was beaten back by Muscovy on all fronts. In 1578, Magnus of Livonia retired to TheBishopric of Courland, and his brother all but gave up the land in Livonia.[citation needed]
In 1796, the Riga Governorate was renamed as the Governorate of Livonia (Russian:Лифляндская губе́рния /Liflyandskaya guberniya,Latvian:Vidzemes guberņa,Estonian:Liivimaa kubermang). From 1845 to 1876, the Baltic governorates ofEstonia, Livonia, andCourland — an area roughly corresponding to the historicalmedieval Livonia — were administratively subordinated to a commonGovernor-General. Among the holders of this post were CountAlexander Arkadyevich Suvorov[21] and CountPyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov.
Livonia remained within the Russian Empire until the end ofWorld War I, when it was split between the newly independent states of Latvia and Estonia. TheUnited Baltic Duchy, alternately known as the "Grand Duchy of Livonia", proclaimed by the Baltic German nobility on 12 April 1918, was never recognised by any state, and dissolved at the German surrender in November 1918. Livonia had ceased to exist. From 1918 to 1920, both Soviet troops and GermanFreikorps fought against Latvian and Estonian troops for control over former Livonia, but their attempts were defeated.[citation needed]
The historical land of Livonia has been split betweenLatvia andEstonia ever since 1918. TheLivonian language is spoken by fewer than 100 individuals as a second language, and is understood to be fast approachingextinction. The last native Livonian speaker died in June 2013.
^Pihlajamäki, Heikki (2017). "The outset: The Livonian and Swedish Legal orders at the Time of the Swedish Conquest".Conquest and the Law in Swedish Livonia (ca. 1630–1710): A Case of Legal Pluralism in Early Modern Europe. The Northern World. Leiden: Brill. p. 24.ISBN9789004331532. Retrieved19 June 2020.A division into five rival small principalities thus developed during the thirteenth century: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, the bishoprics of Dorpat, Oesel–Wiek and Courland. The five principalities formed the Livonian Confederation, the Ordenstaat, until its dissolution in 1561.
^abcKoch, Kristine (2002).Deutsch als Fremdsprache im Russland des 18. Jahrhunderts [German as a foreign language in 18th-century Russia]. Die Geschichte des Deutschen als Fremdsprache (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 59.ISBN3-11-017503-7.
^abAlfredas Bumblauskas (2005).Senosios Lietuvos istorija 1009 – 1795 (in Lithuanian).Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla. pp. 256–259.ISBN9986-830-89-3.
Estonian Manors Portal the English version includes the description of 438 well-preserved historical manors of nowadays Estonia (historically – northern part of Old-Livonia/Alt-Livland)
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