Swedish Livonia

Swedish Livonia

Swedish Livonia ( Swedish : Svenska Livland ) was a province of the Swedish Empire from 1629 to 1721. The area consists of the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel , ceded by Denmark under the Treaty of Brömsebro ) and the northern part of today's Latvia (the Vidzeme region ).

The territories were conquered for Sweden as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Duchy of Livonia during the Polish-Swedish war that lasted from 1600 to 1629 . Parts of Livonia and the city of Riga had been under Swedish control since 1621. Swedish rule was first recognized in the Treaty of Altmark in 1629. The area itself only became part of the Swedish Empire with the Treaty of Oliva in 1660. The smaller part of the Wenden Voivodeship remained in the possession of Poland-Lithuania and was renamed the Livonia Voivodeship . Colloquially it was called Polish Livonia . This part corresponds to the Latgale region today .

Riga, the capital of Livonia, was also the second largest city in the Swedish Empire at the time. Together with the other Baltic Sea provinces, Livonia was important for the maintenance of the Swedish Dominium maris baltici . In contrast to Swedish Estonia , whose inhabitants voluntarily changed under Swedish rule in 1561 and whose autonomy remained unaffected, in Swedish Livonia under Charles XI. a policy of centralization enforced. As a result, the royal power in Livonia was strengthened at the expense of local rule.

Swedish Livonia was conquered by the Russian Tsar from 1700 during the Great Northern War and formed the Livonia Governorate . It was formally ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, along with Swedish Estonia and Ingermanland .

Swedish Livonia was ruled by governors-general appointed from Stockholm . But there was also a separate federal assembly.

Governors General

• 1628–1629 Gustaf Horn (1577–1645)
• 1629–1633 Baron Johan Skytte (1577–1645)
• 1633–1634 Nils Assersson Mannersköld (1586–1655)
• 1634–1643 Freiherr Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1591–1643)
• 1643–1643 Hermann von Wrangel (1587–1643)
• 1644–1644 Baron Erik Eriksson Ryning (1592–1654)
• 1645–1647 Baron Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1586–1656)
• 1647–1649 Baron Erik Stenbock (1612–1659)
• 1649–1652 Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1622–1686)
• 1652–1653 Count Gustaf Horn (1592–1657)
• 1653–1655 Baron Henrik Horn (1618–1693)
• 1655–1658 Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1622–1686)
• 1658–1661 Count Robert Douglas (1611–1662)
• 1661–1662 Count Axel Lillie (1603–1662)
• 1662–1666 Count Bengt Oxenstierna (1623–1702)
• 1666–1671 Count Claes Tott (1630–1674)
• 1671–1674 Baron Fabian von Fersen (1626–1677)
• 1674–1686 Baron Krister Horn (1622–1692)
• 1686–1695 Count Jakob Johann von Hastfer (1647–1695)
• 1696–1702 Count Erik Dahlberg (1625–1703)
• 1702–1706 Baron Carl Gustaf Frölich (1637–1714)
• 1706–1709 Count Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (1659–1719)
• 1709–1709 Heinrich Otto von Albedyl (1666–1738)
• 1709–1710 Count Niels Stromberg (1646–1723)

literature

• Ralph Tuchtenhagen : History of the Baltic countries , CH Beck, 2005.
• C. Bornhaupt: Draft of a geographical-statistical-historical description of LIv- Ehst- and Kurland , Wilhelm Ferdinand Häcker, Riga 1855, pp. 76-77