1561 transfer of territory from the Livonian Confederation to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
This article is about the 1561 treaty. For other treaties concluded in
Vilnius
(Vilna, Wilna, Wilno), see
Treaty of Vilna
.
The
Treaty of Vilnius
or
Vilna
was concluded on 28 November 1561, during the
Livonian War
, between the
Livonian Confederation
and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
in
Vilnius
. With the treaty, the non-Danish and non-Swedish part of
Livonia
, with the exception of the
Free imperial city
of
Riga
, subjected itself to the
Grand Duke of Lithuania
,
Sigismund II Augustus
with the
Pacta subiectionis (Provisio ducalis)
. In turn, Sigismund granted protection from the
Tsardom of Russia
and confirmed the Livonian estates' traditional privileges, laid out in the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
.
The secularization of the
Livonian Order
was the "final act"
[1]
in Livonia's transition from the
Middle Ages
to the
Early Modern era
. The territories were re-organized in the
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
and the
Duchy of Livonia
, the latter competing with the
Kingdom of Livonia
during the war. After its
reconquest
, Sigismund's successor
Stephen Bathory
(Batory) ignored the privileges of 1561, granted a new constitution and initiated
counter-reformation
. These measures were reversed after the
Swedish conquest
. When after a further
series of wars
Livonia capitulated to Russia in 1710
, the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
was confirmed by
Peter the Great
.
Background
[
edit
]
In 1513, the
Grand Master
of the
Livonian Order
bought his order out of the union with the
Teutonic Knights
.
[2]
Thus, the secularization of the
Teutonic Order State
, which led to the establishment of the Protestant
Duchy of Prussia
under the
Polish
king
in 1525
, did not affect
Livonia
, where the
Recess of Wolmar
(Valmiera) forbade any future secularization in 1546.
[2]
The
Protestant Reformation
had started in
Riga
in 1517, and afterward it had spread to all of Livonia; religious freedom was declared in 1554.
[3]
As the
Livonian Confederation
was in decline due to internal struggles, a faction of the order favored rapprochement with
Poland?Lithuania
, while another faction violently opposed it.
[2]
After a civil war starting in 1556, the pro-Polish faction gained the upper hand.
[2]
With the
Treaty of Pozvol
, concluded in 1557, the
Livonian Confederation
had turned to Poland?Lithuania for protection, triggering
Ivan IV of Russia
's intervention in what was to become the
Livonian War
.
[4]
In 1558, Ivan IV had conquered the
Dorpat
(Tartu) area, annihilating the
Bishopric of Dorpat
.
[5]
With the
Treaty of Vilnius of 31 August 1559
,
Gotthard von Kettler
,
Grand Master
of the
Livonian Order
, had put the order's lands under protection of Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Sigismund II Augustus
.
[6]
The order ceded about one seventh of its territory, allowed Sigismund to garrison its most important castles, and agreed to share with him any conquests made from Ivan IV.
[7]
The alliance was intended to neutralize the imminent threat of annexation of the order's lands by
Russia
, yet despite earning military support from Polish-Lithuanian chancellor
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł
, Kettler was
defeated in ?r?eme (Ermes, 1560)
and unable to prevent the occupation of most of Livonia by Russian forces.
[6]
After the treaty, the disintegrating order agreed to secularization if necessary, and since Sigismund was reluctant to support it militarily, continued its search for a protector at the courts of
Denmark-Norway
and the
Holy Roman Emperor
.
[7]
In 1560,
Johann von Munchhausen
sold his bishoprics of
Osel-Wiek
and
Courland
to
Magnus
, brother of
Danish
king
Frederick II
.
[5]
In June 1561,
part of Estonia
subordinated itself to
Sweden
.
[5]
Riga
had turned to the
Holy Roman Empire
and became a
Free imperial city
.
[8]
Hard-pressed by
Ivan IV of Russia
, the remnant of the
Livonian Confederation
concluded a treaty with Poland?Lithuania on 28 November 1561, subordinating themselves to the
Sigismund II Augustus
.
[6]
Treaty
[
edit
]
In November 1561 the new Grand Master Gotthard Kettler secularized the Order and surrendered Livonia to Sigismund Augustus, retaining the Duchy of Courland for himself as Polish-Lithuanian vassal. The Northern Crusade was over, the Northern Wars had begun.
Frost, Robert I.
: The Northern Wars, Harlow 2000, p. 5.
The treaty comprised the
Pacta subiectionis
by which the Livonian estates accepted Polish-Lithuanian superiority.
[9]
This document is also known as
Provisio ducalis
.
[10]
Also included was the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
by which
Sigismund II Augustus
guaranteed the Livonian estates several privileges, including religious freedom with respect to the
Augsburg Confession
, the
Indigenat
(
Polish
:
Indygenat
), and continuation of the traditional German jurisdiction and administration.
[9]
The terms regarding religious freedom forbade any regulation of the traditional Protestant order by religious or secular authorities, and ruled that cases of disagreements be judged only by Protestant scholars.
[11]
The Livonian regions south of the
Daugava River
(Duna, Dvina), comprising
Courland
(Kurland) and
Semigallia
(Semgallen, Zemgale, ?iemgala), were established as the secular
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
with
Gotthard von Kettler
as its duke.
[12]
Shaped after the
Prussian model
, Courland and Semigallia was thus made a hereditary fief of the
Grand Duke of Lithuania
, later of the
Polish Crown
.
[8]
In contrast, Livonia north of the Daugava was subordinated directly to Sigismund II Augustus as
Duchy of Livonia
,
[8]
also referred to as
Livonia transdunensis
, with Kettler installed as Sigismund's "Royal administrator".
[10]
These territories however excluded
Riga
, then a
Free imperial city
of the
Holy Roman Empire
, part of
Estonia
with
Reval
(Tallinn), which was under
Swedish
protection, and the westernmost part of Estonia with
Øsel
(Osel, Saaremaa), which was
Danish
.
[8]
Consequences
[
edit
]
In the
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
, a stable political system was established on the basis of the 1561 treaty, and only in 1617 this was modified by the
Formula regiminis
and
Statuta Curlandiæ
, which granted the indigenous nobles additional rights at the duke's expense.
[13]
The situation north of the Daugava was quite different. On 25 December 1566, the
Union of Grodno
established a
real union
between the
Duchy of Livonia
the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
, Livonia's administrative division was re-organized with its castellans becoming members of the Lithuanian senate.
[10]
The union however did not impact Livonian jurisdiction, which was to be carried out according to the traditional customs.
[14]
When in 1569 the
Union of Lublin
transformed the
Polish-Lithuanian
personal union
into a
real union
, the
Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
, Livonia became a Polish-Lithuanian
condominium
.
[10]
Ivan IV of Russia
subdued nearly all of
Livonia transdunanesis
between 1572 and 1577.
[10]
Magnus
, in addition to his Livonian possessions, bought the succession in the
Bishopric of Reval
and established the
Kingdom of Livonia
under Ivan IV's patronage.
[5]
After the Polish-Swedish victory in the
Battle of Wenden (1578)
, Russian forces were subsequently expelled from Livonia, and the
Livonian War
ended with the treaties of
Jam Zapolski
and
Narva-Plyussa
.
[10]
Only then, Sigismund's successor
Stephen Bathory
(Batory) was able to re-assume control over the
Duchy of Livonia
.
[10]
Bathory however regarded the re-conquered territories as his war booty,
[10]
refused to confirm the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
, and in 1582 replaced it with the
Constitutiones Livoniae
, which tolerated
Indigenat
and Augsburg Confession, but revoked their status as elementary right and else did not contain any privileges.
[9]
The traditional German administration and jurisdiction was gradually impaired by the establishment of
voivodeships
, the appointment of Royal officials, and the replacement of
German
with
Polish
as administrative language.
[9]
Riga
was added to Polish-Lithuanian Livonia by the
Treaty of Drohiczyn
of 14 January 1581, including a
Corpus Privilegiorum Stephanorum
similarly reducing its freedoms.
[15]
Under Stephen Bathory, the Duchy of Livonia was subjected to
counter-reformation
led by bishop
Otto von Schenking
, who had converted to
Catholicism
, and the
Jesuits
of Riga and
Dorpat
(Tartu).
[11]
The respective Jesuit colleges and the Catholic bishopric with its see in
Wenden
(C?sis) were founded in 1566.
[15]
Counter-reformation focussed on the
Latvian
and
Estonian
population, since they were not explicitly mentioned in the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
- a disputed interpretation since the German Livonian estates traditionally spoke for all Livonians.
[11]
Lutherans
were forbidden to preach in
Estonian
,
Latvian
and
Russian language
, while at the same time Catholic documents were published in these languages.
[15]
Stephen Batory participated in counter-reformation by granting revenues and estates confiscated from Protestants to the Catholic Church and by initiating a (largely unsuccessful) recruitment campaign for Catholic colonists.
[16]
These measures however proved to have only limited impact on the Estonian and Latvian population, while alienating the German gentry to a degree that they supported the Swedish take-over of Livonia (without
Latgalia
,
Courland and Semigallia
), formalized in the treaties of
Altmark (1629)
and
Stuhmsdorf (1635)
.
[16]
The
Polish?Swedish wars
had begun in 1600, when Catholic
Sigismund III Vasa
tried to incorporate Protestant
Swedish Estonia
into the Polish-Lithuanian
Duchy of Livonia
, whereupon the local nobles turned to the duke of
Sodermanland
and later Swedish king,
Charles IX
for protection.
[17]
Charles IX expelled the Polish forces from Estonia, and his campaigns in the Duchy of Livonia were concluded in 1621 by his successor
Gustavus Adolphus
, who established the
dominion
of
Swedish Livonia
from the bulk of the
Duchy of Livonia
.
[17]
Swedish rule ended the counter-reformation, and the privileges of the Livonian nobles resembled those outlined in the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
.
[18]
When in 1710
Estonia and Livonia capitulated to Russia
during the
Great Northern War
, the capitulations explicitly referred to the
Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti
, with the respective references being confirmed in the
Treaty of Nystad
(1721).
[18]
Sources
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Frost (2000), p. 5
- ^
a
b
c
d
Roberts (1986), p. 157
- ^
Grudulis (1998), pp. 128-129
- ^
De Madariaga (2006), p. 127
- ^
a
b
c
d
Steinke (2009), p. 119
- ^
a
b
c
De Madariaga (2006), pp. 129-130; Sahanowitsch (2001), pp. 93-94
- ^
a
b
Roberts (1986), p. 162
- ^
a
b
c
d
Rabe (1989), p. 308
- ^
a
b
c
d
Tuchtenhagen (2005), p. 36
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Dyba? (2006), p. 109
- ^
a
b
c
Kahle (1984), p. 17
- ^
Bulow (2003), p. 75
- ^
Dyba? (2006), p. 110
- ^
Steinke (2009), p. 121
- ^
a
b
c
Tuchtenhagen (2005), p. 37
- ^
a
b
Tuchtenhagen (2005), p. 38
- ^
a
b
Steinke (2009), p. 120
- ^
a
b
Kahle (1984), p. 18
Bibliography
[
edit
]
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Als die Bayern Bonn eroberten
(in German). Utz.
ISBN
3-8316-0244-1
.
- De Madariaga, Isabel (2006).
Ivan the Terrible
. Yale University Press.
ISBN
0-300-11973-9
.
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Reiche und Territorien in Ostmitteleuropa. Historische Beziehungen und politische Herrschaftslegitimation
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ISBN
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The Northern Wars. War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe 1558-1721
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ISBN
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.
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ISBN
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ISBN
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.
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ISBN
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- Sahanowitsch, Henads (2001). "Der Eintritt des Großfurstentum Litauens in die polnische Adelsrepublik. Weißrußland im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert". In Beyrau, Dietrich; Lindener, Rainer (eds.).
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ISBN
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ISBN
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.
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ISBN
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.