Kingdom of Livonia
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Livonia was a nominal state in what is now the territory of the present-day Estonia
and Latvia
, declared as such by Ivan IV during the Livonian War
but never properly established. On June 10, 1570 the Danish Duke Magnus of Holstein arrived in Moscow where he was crowned King of Livonia. Magnus took the oath of allegiance to Ivan as his overlord and received from the corresponding charter for the vassal kingdom of Livonia in what Ivan termed his patrimony. The treaty between Magnus and Ivan IV was signed by an oprichnik
and by a member of the zemskii administration, the d'iak
Vasiliy Shchelkalov
. The territories of the new kingdom still had to be conquered. The new king Magnus of Livonia left Moscow with 20,000 Russian soldiers on the conquest of Swedish controlled Reval. Ivan’s hope of the support of Frederick II of Denmark
, the older brother of Magnus, failed. By the end of March 1571 Magnus gave up the struggle for Reval and abandoned the siege.
In 1577 having lost Ivan's favor and getting no support from his brother, Magnus called on the Livonian nobility to rally to him in a struggle against foreign occupation. He was attacked by Ivan's forces and taken prisoner. On his release he renounced his royal title. Magnus spent the last six years of his life at the castle of Pilten
in the Bishopric of Courland
where he died as a pensioner of the Polish crown.
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, declared as such by Ivan IV during the Livonian War
Livonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
but never properly established. On June 10, 1570 the Danish Duke Magnus of Holstein arrived in Moscow where he was crowned King of Livonia. Magnus took the oath of allegiance to Ivan as his overlord and received from the corresponding charter for the vassal kingdom of Livonia in what Ivan termed his patrimony. The treaty between Magnus and Ivan IV was signed by an oprichnik
Oprichnik
An oprichnik was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina ....
and by a member of the zemskii administration, the d'iak
Dyak (clerk)
Dyak is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department"....
Vasiliy Shchelkalov
Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov
Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? – 1610 or 1611) and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Андрей Яковлевич Щелкалов) Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? –...
. The territories of the new kingdom still had to be conquered. The new king Magnus of Livonia left Moscow with 20,000 Russian soldiers on the conquest of Swedish controlled Reval. Ivan’s hope of the support of Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...
, the older brother of Magnus, failed. By the end of March 1571 Magnus gave up the struggle for Reval and abandoned the siege.
In 1577 having lost Ivan's favor and getting no support from his brother, Magnus called on the Livonian nobility to rally to him in a struggle against foreign occupation. He was attacked by Ivan's forces and taken prisoner. On his release he renounced his royal title. Magnus spent the last six years of his life at the castle of Pilten
Piltene
-Population:Population : 40,000 -History:*September 1234: Bishopric of Courland established , consisting of three separate enclaves after numerous distributions of the Couronian lands among the Bishops of Courland, and of Riga, and the Teutonic Order.*1290: The cathedral chapter is incorporated...
in the Bishopric of Courland
Bishopric of Courland
The Bishopric of Courland was the second smallest ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade...
where he died as a pensioner of the Polish crown.