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The Duchy of
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The
Establishment of the Duchy of
The territories that comprised
the Livonian Confederation in the Baltic
region were militarily weak and losing appeal.
Territory expansion became the new buzzword. The Swedes, Russians, and Poles saw the weak
The nobles of
Click here for the list of the Dukes
of Courland
The Legal
Foundations: Constitution, Court and Diet.
Duke Gotthard Kettler obtained from the King of Poland the Pacta Subjections. This written document signed by Duke Gotthard established the boundaries of the duchy, religious rights, confirmed all privileges of Courland nobles, right to free commerce, the right to coin money and Poland to recognize all the laws of Courland. Following the war, he sought to rebuild the duchy that had been destroyed. In order to enlist the unsupportive nobles, he had to provide them with certain privileges, which initiated the Privilegium Gotthardinum. Under the laws provided for by Duke Gotthard, nobles had the right to engage in commerce, distill spirits, brew beer, hunt, fish, run taverns, etc., forbid the nobles from taxes and other obligations. In case of war they were to provide horses and men. Also rights were given to the nobles to have squires preside as judges on their private manors and non-noble inhabitants. The nobles were given rights to the land along with the right of enserfment.
Of 359 fiefs in
The Religious Awakening:
Lutheranism, Calvinism, Orthodox
and Brethren religion was also being challenged by the status quo of
Catholicism and Protestantism in all the regions. King Sigismund Augustus of
Wars:
Duke Gotthard Kettler
died on May 17, 1577 succeeded by his two sons.
Trying to be fair to both of them, he divided the Duchy between
them. Friedrich will rule Semigallia and Wilhelm to rule
The local nobles wasted little
time bringing complaints to the King about the brothers that eventually
resulted in his intervention. Wilhelm
was eventually stripped of his ducal rights and heredity rights after a
commission was appointed to reside over the murder of some local nobles, who
were acting for the King. They were
summoned in the middle of night and murdered.
Gotthard and Magnus von Norde, who in 1615
traveled under the service of the King, had verbally abused the dukes in
public. Duke Friedrich had no children,
which spelled doom for their Kettlers rule. Duke Friedrich appealed the King's decision,
but the King's position wouldn’t change.
Many other leaders wrote letters to the Polish King to persuade him to
appeal his earlier conviction. Duke
Wilhelm moved to
Mercantilism
and Industry:
Duke Jacob Kettler
was a very determined individual. In
1634, he joined the Polish army during the Polish-Russian War. He was well educated by Western
standard. He became very interested in
Mercantilism. He learned that the
peasants for the past several centuries were well known for their skills as
daring sailors. His goal was to improve
the treatment of his serfs and beyond.
In 1639, Duke Jacob began to rule over
Though a small country, he
competed in the shipping and trade industry, alongside
Duke Jacob founded his first colony in 1642 in Tobago Island, Caribbean and built a fort and set out colonizing the land. Becoming very wealthy and a renowned among the larger European countries, he realized that in order to have a steady economy, there must be a middle class.[7][7] But home trouble was brewing.
Click on the below
map or on the flag 
to learn more about
The Polish-Lithuania-Swedish War:
Following the invasion of Muscovy
into
The
Northern War:
Duke Friedrich Casimir tried to revive his father’s shipping
business. He served as duke from 1682
to1698. Towards the end of the century,
his interest wavered and he had to give up the colonies and the prestige. The landed nobility used this opportunity to
strength their control over the serfs.
Duke Friedrich Wilhelm in 1998, because of his youth, his mother
Elizabeth Sofia and his father’s brother Ferdinand acted as regents. Lacking such leadership, Courland and
Peter I never gave up on
capturing the
The Male-Line of the Kettler ends:
From 1721-1737, the last Kettler, Duke Ferdinand emerges. At this point, the duchy and Poland-Lithuania
is fairly weak. When Duke Ferdinand dies
childless, his widow Anna the Tsar Ivan V daughter, persuaded the Tsar to allow
Ernst Johann Biron to be the new duke. Russian
domination of Courland-Semigallia was secured. Russification of Courlandic affairs ended with Duke Peter tenure. The duke was in constant conflict with the
local nobles, those who, however weakly supported Duke Ernst rule; those who
thought
Courland’s
Annexation to
In 1763 King Stanislas
Poniatowski of Poland-Lithuania was undergoing a
civil war between pro and anti-Russian factions. Catherine the Tsarist of Russia agreed with
Frederick II of
The Moravian Brethren Movement entered the Baltic lands. The nobility saw it as a good thing and thought it would make peasant more obedient. This movement was stopped. However in 1770, the censorship was lifted. The piestic spirit had already become deeply embedded in the folk memory of the Latvian peasant. This new religion in the Baltic lands ideology was thought to be a good thing.[11][11] Opponents of the King of Poland and Patriotic party who formed the confederation of Targowica and the insurrection led by General Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1794 was the final assault of a revolutional uprising that was going to be tolerated on Catherine’s doorstep. Russian and Prussian military intervention put an end to the revolt and Poland-Lithuania.[12][12]
Duke Peter and the Courlandic nobles, at the end of the third partition, were
ready to pledge their loyalty to Catherine the Great of Russia. Tsarine Catherine
bought the estates of Duke Peter and the end of a 233 years existence of
Courland and the extension of the Russian boarders to the
[13][1] The Reign of Duke James in
[14][2] http://www.poloniatoday.com/history6.htm
[15][3] The Enchiridion of Erasmus, Erasmus
[16][4] The Latvians Plakans
[17][5] The Reign of Duke James in
[18][6] The Ancient Couronians
in Africa,
[19][7] Senie kurzemnieki Amerika un
[20][8] http://historicaltextarchive.com/austria/chap25.htm
[21][9] http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5539/courland/courland.html
[22][10] http://www.utb.boras.se/uk/se/projekt/history/articles/decline/decline2.htm
[23][11] The Latvians, Plakans
[24][12] http://www.campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/EastEurope/2PartPoland.html>
Anderson, Edgar. The
Ancient Couronians in
DK: DK, 1970.
The
summary page emphasizes in detail the duke Jacobson of Courland (1642-81) reign
during Courland expansion into West Africa, the
Anderson, Edgar. Senie kurzemnieki Amerika un
Duchy of
Courland was one of the first European countries to play a role in the
Berkis, Alexander V. The reign
of duke James in
Berkins, author, was born and educated in
Plakans Andrejs. TheLatvians.
Stanford:
The
history of the Latvians and
Erasmus. The Enchiridion of Erasmus.
Translated by Raymond Himelick.
University Press, 1963.
“Reawakening” of the religious spirit for
those who have the Enchiridion. This
book was Erasmus ideal of the Scripture should be easy to read and
understandable by anyone. The first
published in 1503 when he was about thirty-five years of age. He attended St. Lebwin’s
T. R. Jasinski-Herbert, “Polonia Today,” A brief History of
May 24, 2001,
<http://www.poloniatoday.com/historyix.htm > (01 June 2001).
This site is dedicated towards Polish causes across the globe. The site has several links that emphasizes history, current events, advertisement, and online news. My material evaluated came from its history link that provided several brief chapters of Polish History.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., s.v “The Cossacks.”
< http://historicaltextarchive.com/austria/chap25.htm>
The reformation in chapter 25 details the Sweden-Polish War and the Treaty of Olvia.
This site
provides a brief history of
H. Spaugh, “A Short
Introduction to the History, Custom and Practices of the
<http://www.everydaycounselor.com/archive/sh/shistory.htm>
John Hus a Roman Catholic Priest became disenfranchise with the corruption of the Catholic Church. He started to speak out against the Catholic Church and was called before the Council of Constance to recant his words. He refused and was bound and burned to death at the stake. Emerged were the new Moravians such as Martin Luther with the spreading of the Protestant Reformation.
M. Dziedzic, “Russian and
Eastern Europe Chronology,” The Second Partition of
http://www.campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/EastEurope/2PartPoland.html>
(01 June 2001)
This web site is part of the History Department of
North Park University. The site contains
the research of students. You can find
brief history ob the Balkans,
M. Bjorkman and L. Hult, “The Decline of the Great Power” n.d.,
http://www.utb.boras.se/uk/se/projekt/history/articles/decline/decline2.htm (01 June 2001
There are two authors who speak very simple about
the subject. The color background of the
article and links are easy to read. The
authors give a brief history of several battles by
G. Eisters, "Duchy of
<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5539/courland/courland.html> (06 May 2001)
This site provides a
history and a graphic display of historical Baltic and a very brief history of
the Duchy of Courland. The sight shows a
list of the rare coins used during the period. The author is a collector a rare coins. She
doesn’t exactly say which Baltic country she’s from, however I suspect
Originally
published at http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/
