Misplaced Pages

#22977

137-625: The text is often used to interpret the self-image of the Teutonic Order after the loss of territory in Prussia , following the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466) . Recent scholarship has also suggested that the text may have been written in response to the Hospitallers aggressive propaganda campagne after the successfully repelled siege of Rhodes in 1480. The chronicle is known by several names. It

274-448: A war criminal sentenced after the war by a Polish court to death, albeit with his penalty later commuted to life imprisonment . Following the example of earlier German policies, there was a short-lived initiative in the Polish post-World War II government to rename the newly acquired original Prussia to an invented name of Masovian Pomerania ; it was, however, quickly abandoned. In 1995,

411-550: A Nazi political stronghold whose existence as an exclave resulted in German irredentist demands towards Poland, blamed as one of the primary causes of the calamity of World War II and the ensuing German atrocities. An important factor was also West Germany 's rejection of the validity of the postwar Polish Western border on the Oder–Neisse line (until 1972 total, 1972-1991 de iure ) rendering any attempts of Poles to remind or maintain

548-563: A bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany . In line with this assessment and the ideological justification of Recoverred Territories , the use of Prussia as a geographic designation was discouraged by the postwar authorities of Poland and the Soviet Union. The Polish region of Pomerelia (Gdansk Pomerania and the Chełmno Land) reverted to its original name already prior to World War II, as

685-514: A centre of learning and printing through the establishment of the Albertina University in 1544 for not only the dominant German culture, but also the thriving Polish and Lithuanian communities as well. It was in Königsberg that the first Lutheran books in Polish, Lithuanian, and Prussian languages were published. Rulership of Ducal Prussia passed to the senior Hohenzollern branch,

822-505: 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 with Ivan IV , proved a suitable figurehead for this faction. 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 and Siege of Reval ), in 1570–1571 ( Siege of Reval ; 30 weeks), and in 1574–1576 (first on Sweden's side, then came

959-649: A constituent part of the German Weimar Republic , following the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite . The democratic government of the Free State was removed as a result the 1932 Prussian coup d'état which also facilitated the Nazi takeover of government . In the March 1933 German federal election , the last pre-war German elections, the local population of East Prussia voted overwhelmingly for Adolf Hitler 's Nazi Party . After

1096-709: A further German attempt to expand the meaning of the designation of Prussia was undertaken, when the westernmost portion of Soviet Belarus (which, until 1939, belonged to the Polish state ), was placed under the German Civilian Administration ( Zivilverwaltungsgebiet ) as the Bialystok District , an entity in association with (but not part of) East Prussia, nevertheless it was also denoted on some Nazi maps as South East Prussia , with both territories remaining under common management and leadership of Erich Koch ,

1233-676: A joint domain administered directly by the king and grand duke. Having rejected peace proposals from its enemies, Ivan the Terrible found himself in a difficult position by 1579, when Crimean Khanate devastated Muscovian territories and burnt down Moscow (see Russo-Crimean Wars ), the drought and epidemics have fatally affected the economy, Oprichnina had thoroughly disrupted the government, while The Grand Principality of Lithuania had united with The Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569) and acquired an energetic leader, Stefan Batory , supported by Ottoman Empire (1576). Stefan Batory replied with

1370-467: A military and Christianizing mission. Adalbert, accompanied by armed guards, attempted to convert the Prussians to Christianity. He was killed by a Prussian pagan priest in 997. In 1015, Bolesław sent soldiers again, with some short-lived success, gaining regular paid tribute from some Prussians in the border regions, but it did not last. Polish rulers sent invasions to the territory in 1147, 1161–1166, and

1507-583: A missionary bishop appointed for Prussia in 1216. In the beginning of the 13th century, Konrad of Mazovia had called for Crusades and tried unsuccessfully to conquer Prussia for years. Bishop Christian of Oliva established the Order of Dobrzyń in order to defend Masovia against the raids of Old Prussians. However, the rather innumerous order (initially 15 knights, with 35 knights at its highest) did not prove effective in countering Prussians in battle. Christian achieved subjugation and conversion of Prussians only in

SECTION 10

#1732851038023

1644-510: A number of times in the early 13th century. While these were repelled by the Prussians, the Chełmno Land became exposed to their frequent raids. At that time, Pomerelia belonged to the diocese of Włocławek . Chełmno Land (including Michałów Land and later Lubawa Land) belonged in turn to the diocese of Płock , since 1223 governed in the name of the Bishop of Płock by Christian of Oliva ,

1781-745: A part of the Province of Pomerania , as well as the Regierungsbezirk Westpreussen which was made part of East Prussia ), while its bulk was awarded to the recreated Polish state . On the other hand, only minor part of East Prussia around Działdowo was transferred to Poland, the Klaipėda Region formed a free city supervised by the League of Nations , annexed following the Klaipėda Revolt by Lithuania but reclaimed by Germany in 1939, while

1918-541: A part of the kingdom remaining outside of Germany until the creation of the North German Confederation in 1866 during the unification of Germany . The merged territory was, however, again split into East and West Prussia in 1878. East Prussia , West Prussia , the Province of Posen and the Starostwo of Draheim were annexed by Germany upon the formation of North German Confederation in 1866 and became

2055-668: A replacement for the dissolved Holy Roman Empire from 1815 to 1866, only those of the territories of the kingdom which were previously included in the HRE as well as the Lauenburg and Bütow Land and the former Starostwo of Draheim (both integrated into the Province of Pomerania) became part of the Confederation, while the Grand Duchy of Posen (later demoted to an ordinary Province of Posen following

2192-558: A series of three offensives against Muscovy, trying to cut The Kingdom of Livonia from Muscovian territories. During his first offensive in 1579, with 22,000 men, he retook Polotsk ; during the second, in 1580, with 29,000-strong army, he took Velikie Luki , and in 1581 with a 100,000-strong army he started the Siege of Pskov . Frederick II of Denmark and Norway had trouble continuing the fight against Muscovy unlike Sweden and Poland. He came to an agreement with John III in 1580, giving him

2329-760: A small part of Hither Pomerania were also transferred to Poland as part of the territories recovered from Germany, following World War II . As agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles , most of the Pomerelian part of the Province of West Prussia that had belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire since the Partitions of Poland was retroceded to the Second Polish Republic , becoming its Pomeranian Voivodeship ,

2466-423: A target of aggressive Germanization, German settlement, anti-Catholic campaigns ( Kulturkampf ), as well as disfranchisement and expropriations of Poles. After the Treaty of Versailles , only the predominantly German-speaking western and eastern rim of the former West Prussia remained a part of Germany, forming part of the rump province of Posen-West Prussia (except for the Lauenburg and Bütow Land remaining

2603-603: A trading post on the site of the future city of Riga , which Bishop Albrecht von Buxthoeven founded in 1201. The Livonian Chronicle of Henry from the 1220s gives a firsthand account of the Christianization of Livonia, granted as a fief by the Hohenstaufen ( de facto but not known as) the King of Germany, Philip of Swabia ( r.  1198–1208 ), to Bishop Albert of Riga (Albert of Buxhoeveden), nephew of Hartwig II ,

2740-649: A verdict until April 1236, when the Sword Brothers were tasked to return Reval to the Danish king. The terms of the agreement were not finalised until the Treaty of Stensby (7 June 1238), when the Livonian Sword Brothers, crushed at Saule and now submitted to the Teutonic Order , relinquished their claims to Reval and much of northern Estonia to Denmark, and to share future territorial gains with two-thirds for

2877-604: A very important Swedish dominion, with Riga being the second largest Swedish city and Livonia paying for one third of the Swedish war costs. Sweden lost Swedish Livonia, Swedish Estonia and Ingria to the Russian Empire almost 100 years later, by the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 and the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. The Livonian Voivodeship ( Lithuanian : Livonijos vaivadija ; Polish : Województwo inflanckie )

SECTION 20

#1732851038023

3014-604: A war between Bishop William of Riga and the Brothers in 1557. After coming to an agreement with Sigismund II Augustus and his representatives (especially Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł ), the last Livonian Master, Gotthard Kettler , secularized the Order and converted to Lutheranism . In the southern part of the Brothers' lands, he set up the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for his family. Most of

3151-445: A wide range of biblical literature, crusade narratives ( William of Tyre , Jacques de Vitry , Oliver of Paderborn , Vincent of Beauvais , Wilbrand of Oldenburg , Richard of San Germano , Johannes de Beke , Ludolf of Sudheim ), Teutonic Order chronicles (amongst others Peter of Dusburg , Nikolaus of Jeroschin , the Ältere Hochmeisterchronik , Livonian Rhymed Chronicle ), as well as several archival documents. The main body of

3288-637: Is a historical region in Central Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea , that ranges from the Vistula delta in the west to the end of the Curonian Spit in the east and extends inland as far as Masuria , divided between Poland , Russia and Lithuania . This region is often also referred to as Old Prussia . Tacitus 's Germania (98 AD) is the oldest known record of an eyewitness account on

3425-615: 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 the Livonian War a pro-independence wing emerged among the Livonian gentry and townspeople, forming the so-called "Peace Party". Dismissing hostilities, these forces perceived an agreement with Muscovy as

3562-415: The Ältere Hochmeisterchronik (Older Grand Masters' Chronicle), written a few decades earlier in Prussia . This title, which accompanies an edition of a part of the text, is most commonly used in modern (German) scholarship. However, the text is self-titled Croniken van der Duytscher Oirden der ridderscap van den huse ende hospitael Onser Liever Vrouwen van Jherusalem (Chronicle of the Teutonic Order of

3699-1000: The 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania , the Klaipėda region was integrated again into East Prussia. During World War II , the Polish ethnic minorities of Catholic Warmians and Powiślans , as well as Lutheran Masurians were persecuted by the Nazi German government, which wanted to erase all aspects of Polish culture and Polish language in Warmia , Masuria and Powiśle The Jews who remained in East Prussia in 1942 were shipped to concentration camps, including Theresienstadt in occupied Czechoslovakia , Kaiserwald in occupied Latvia , and camps in Minsk in occupied Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Soldau concentration camp and Hohenbruch concentration camp  [ de ] were operated in

3836-653: The Archbishop of Bremen , who sailed (1200) with a convoy of ships filled with armed crusaders to carve out a Catholic territory in the east as part of the Livonian Crusade . Bishop Albert founded the military order of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword ( Latin : Fratres militiæ Christi Livoniae , German: Schwertbrüderorden ) in 1202; Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204. Albert did so in order to aid

3973-551: The Balts as the speakers of the Baltic languages . The Balts would have become differentiated into Western and Eastern Balts in the late 1st millennium BC. The region was inhabited by ancestors of Western Balts – Old Prussians , Sudovians / Jotvingians , Scalvians , Nadruvians , and Curonians while the eastern Balts settled in what is now Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus. The Greek explorer Pytheas (4th century BC) may have referred to

4110-733: The Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and the secularization of its Prussian territories by Albert of Brandenburg in 1525, but the Livonian Order managed to maintain an independent existence. In 1418, the Archbishop of Riga , Johannes Ambundii , organised the five ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire in Medieval Livonia (Livonian Order, Courland, Ösel–Wiek, Dorpat and Riga) into the Livonian Confederation . A diet or Landtag

4247-630: The Bishopric of Riga in the conversion of the pagan Curonians , Livonians , Semigallians , and Latgalians living on the shores of the Gulf of Riga . The membership of the order comprised German "warrior monks ". Alternative names of the order include the Christ Knights, Sword Brethren, and the Militia of Christ of Livonia. From its foundation, the undisciplined Order tended to ignore its supposed vassalage to

Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik - Misplaced Pages Continue

4384-691: The Chełmno and the Michałów Lands, as well as sometimes the Lubawa Land), resulting in its increasing usage in this context in the Polish scientific historical publications. Powiśle , Warmia and Masuria are now in Poland (most of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , and the four counties of Pomeranian Voivodeship east of Vistula ), the former Memelland or Klaipėda region is now divided between

4521-628: The Chełmno Land formed part of the Duchy of Warsaw following the Treaties of Tilsit , and Danzig was granted a status of a Free City . However, after the Congress of Vienna , the Polish duchy was again partitioned between Russia and Prussia, with Prussia annexing the Free City and the Chełmno Land into the reconstituted West Prussia . The annexation was associated with another attempt to artificially expand

4658-737: The Early Middle Ages , was forcibly occupied by the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights in 1308, following an invasion of Poland under the pretext of aiding the King Władysław I Łokietek to quell a rebellion against him, incited by a conspiracy of the Margraviate of Brandenburg with the local Swienca family . Teutonic atrocities against the Polish population followed, such as the Slaughter of Gdańsk . The Teutonic Knights took control of

4795-655: The First Partition of Poland , the King in Prussia gained majority of the territory of Royal Prussia including the Lauenburg and Bütow Land (but excluding Danzig and Toruń which were captured along with the region of Greater Poland in the Second Partition of Poland ), as well as the Starostwo of Draheim . The former Royal Prussia was divided in 1773. Its bulk which included the historically Prussian Malbork Land (northern parts of Pomesania and Pogesania ) but also

4932-434: The Greater Poland Province ) of the Kingdom of Poland , while the eastern part of the monastic state became a fief and protectorate of Poland, also considered an integral part of the "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland, initially called Monastic Prussia or Teutonic Prussia , secularised in 1525 to become Ducal Prussia. At the same time, the Polish monarchs assumed the title of the King of Prussia. After Pomerelia

5069-410: The Hanseatic League in 1340, thus connecting Prussia to the European trade network spanning via the North Sea and the Baltic Sea . In 1492, a life of Saint Dorothea of Montau , published in Marienburg (Malbork), became the first printed publication in Prussia. "Prussian land was my father's land and I will claim its territory till Osa river  [ pl ] i.e. all the Prussian lands until

5206-435: The Hanseatic League in 1361. These events resulted in a series of Polish–Teutonic Wars throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Under the Teutonic rule, an influx of western, mainly German-speaking farmers, traders and craftsmen was encouraged. Subsequent rebellions organized by the local population against the Teutonic state, initially by the Lizard Union and later by the Prussian Confederation , both pledging allegiance to

5343-446: The Holy Roman Emperor arrived from many European countries, warning that 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 . At stake

5480-461: The Kingdom of Poland also began direct negotiations with Gustav, but nothing resulted because on 29 September 1560, Gustav I Vasa died. The chances for success of Magnus , (who had become Bishop of Courland and of Ösel-Wiek) in 1560 and his supporters looked particularly good in 1560 (and in 1570). In 1560 he had been recognised as their sovereign by the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek and by the Bishopric of Courland , and as their prospective ruler by

5617-413: The Klaipėda and Tauragė counties of Lithuania , while the rest of the northern Prussia forms the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave of the Russian Federation . Only the latter part remains outside of the European Union . Livonia Livonia , known in earlier records as Livland , is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea . It is named after the Livonians , who lived on

Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik - Misplaced Pages Continue

5754-403: The Lubawa Land. Therefore, the pope set up further crusades. The Duke finally invited the Teutonic Knights in 1226, expelled by force of arms by King Andrew II of Hungary in the previous year following their attempts to build their own state within Transylvania. The Knights were expected to fight the inhabitants of Prussia in exchange for a fief of Chełmno Land . Prussia was conquered by

5891-414: The Malbork Land comprising northern parts of Pomesania and Pogesania ) forming (along with the northern part of Greater Poland detached from the Grand Duchy of Posen ) the Province of West Prussia , while Warmia was assigned to East Prussia , with both West and East Prussia remaining outside the German Confederation . In contrast, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land was annexed in 1777 immediately into

6028-488: The Malbork Land comprising northern parts of Pomesania and Pogesania . These were the only actual Prussian territories of Royal Prussia. Initially enjoying broad autonomy including an own local legislature, the Prussian Estates , and maintaining its own laws, customs and rights, Royal Prussia was ultimately re-absorbed directly into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , following the Union of Lublin in 1569 . The locally spoken language differed among social classes, with

6165-416: The Nazi Germany during the invasion of Poland in 1939, as well as renamed Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen , with numerous German atrocities against the local population . Nazi Germany also undertook another attempt to artificially expand the meaning of the designation of Prussia, this time by enlarging the territory of the province of East Prussia through annexation into it of parts of Northern Masovia under

6302-617: The Northern Seven Years' War (1563-1570) broke out, with Sweden pitted against the Free City of Lübeck , Denmark, and Poland. While only losing land and trade, Frederick II and Magnus were not faring well. But in 1568 Erik XIV became insane and his brother Johan took his place as King John III of Sweden . Johan III, due to his friendship with Poland, 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, King Sigismund II Augustus of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , know that he

6439-553: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569 under the Union of Lublin . Eric XIV of Sweden did not like this, and the Northern Seven Years' War between the Free City of Lübeck , Denmark, Poland, and Sweden broke out. While only losing land and trade, Frederick II of Denmark and Magnus von Lyffland of the Œsel-Wiek did not fare well. But, in 1569, Erik XIV became insane and his brother John III of Sweden took his place. After all parties had been financially drained, Frederick II let his ally, King Zygmunt II August , know that he

6576-402: The Province of Pomerania , but remained outside the Holy Roman Empire and was incorporated in 1815 only into its successor, the German Confederation , continuing to be a part of the Diocese of Chełmno . The Province of East Prussia (the original Prussia) and the annexed Polish territories turned into the Province of West Prussia were merged in 1829 to form a single Province of Prussia ,

6713-426: The Prussian Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor , a part of the Soviet share of the former East Prussia. The government of the Lithuanian SSR followed Soviet policy and viewed the Prussian Lithuanians as Germans. About 8,000 persons were repatriated from DP camps during 1945–50. However, their homes and farms were not returned as either Russians or Lithuanians had already occupied their property. Prussians who remained in

6850-418: The Russian SFSR . The part assigned to Poland was organized as the provisional Masurian District , later reduced by the annexation of its northern strip with the towns of Gierdawy and Iławka by the Soviet Union, and transferring its westernmost counties to Gdańsk Voivodeship and easternmost counties to Białystok Voivodeship , and finally transformed into Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1946. The Klaipėda Region

6987-450: The Starostwo of Draheim were annexed in 1777 immediately into the Province of Pomerania . The annexation of Royal Prussia allowed the Prussian king to assume the title of King of Prussia thereafter. Further attempts to expand the meaning of the designation of Prussia was undertaken following the Second Partition of Poland , when Greater Poland and Northern Masovia were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and renamed South Prussia , and

SECTION 50

#1732851038023

7124-421: The Teutonic Knights during the Prussian Crusade and administered within their State of the Teutonic Order , which begins the process of Germanization in the area. Bishop Christian had to deal with the constant cut-back of his autonomy by the Knights and asked the Roman Curia for mediation. In 1243, the Papal legate William of Modena divided the Prussian lands of the Order's State into four dioceses, whereby

7261-407: The Third Partition of Poland , when Prussia annexed parts Masovia , Podlachia , Trakai Voivodeship and Samogitia under the name of New East Prussia . Both invented names were eventually abandoned, following the Napoleonic Wars . All the annexed Polish lands remained outside of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806. During the Napoleonic era the Greater Polish territories and

7398-407: The Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Peter the Great confirmed German as the exclusive official language. Russia then added Polish Livonia in 1772 during the Partitions of Poland . 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,

7535-427: The Vistula River , including Pamede , because this is my inheritance" — Vytautas the Great 's statement in no uncertain terms in 1413, long after the Battle of Grunwald , during the negotiations with the Teutonic Knights . Moreover, in 1421, the Lithuanian representatives emphasized the territorial and cultural links between Lithuanians , Sudovia , and old Yotvingian lands, but the Order continued to enjoy

7672-407: The bailiff of Weißenstein (Paide) belonged to the five-member entourage of the Order's Master. Pope Gregory IX asked the Brothers to defend Finland from Novgorodian attacks in his letter of 24 November 1232; however, no known information regarding the knights' possible activities in Finland has survived. ( Sweden eventually took over Finland after the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249.) In

7809-493: The persuasions of Kettler to the burghers. King Eric's brother and future King Johan married the Polish princess Catherine 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 to Finland , Erik XIV forbade him to deal with any foreign countries without his consent. Shortly after that, Erik XIV quickly lost any allies that he

7946-487: The sovereignty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (not ratified by the Sejm 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 The Bishopric of Courland , and his brother all but gave up the land in Livonia. Sweden was given roughly the same area as the former Duchy of Livonia after the 1626–1629 Polish–Swedish War . The area, usually known as Swedish Livonia , became

8083-427: The unification of Germany . The merged territory was, however, again split into East and West Prussia in 1878. As agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles , East Prussia, minus the Memelland , expanded by addition of the Regierungsbezirk Westpreussen (the only part of former West Prussia containing originally Prussian territory) remained within the Free State of Prussia , a successor of the Kingdom of Prussia and

8220-423: The (originally Prussian) territory of Regierungsbezirk Westpreussen east of Vistula remained with Germany as a part of East Prussia, while the western rim of Pomerelia became part of the German province of Posen-West Prussia , named so in spite of containing no originally Prussian territory. Danzig became a free city under the protection of the League of Nations . The area was occupied and illegally annexed by

8357-468: The 13th century) to the State of the Teutonic Order in 1346. Livonia, as understood after the retreat of Denmark in 1346, bordered on the Gulf of Finland in the north, Lake Peipus and Russia to the east, and Lithuania to the south. As a consequence of the Livonian 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 various Finnic tribes in

SECTION 60

#1732851038023

8494-401: The Baltic governorates of Estonia , Livonia, and Courland — an area roughly corresponding to the historical medieval Livonia — were administratively subordinated to a common Governor-General . Amongst the holders of this post were Count Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov and Count Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov . Livonia remained within the Russian Empire until the end of World War I , when it

8631-462: The Battle of Saule in 1236 the Lithuanians and Semigallians decimated the Order. This disaster led the surviving Brothers to become incorporated into the Order of Teutonic Knights in the following year, and from that point on they became known as the Livonian 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 (himself de jure subject to

8768-443: The Danish king and one third for the Livonian Order. The Livonian Order was a largely autonomous branch of the Teutonic Knights (or Teutonic Order) and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1418 to 1561. After being defeated by Lithuanian forces in the 1236 Battle of Saule , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights as the Livonian Order in 1237. Between 1237 and 1290,

8905-449: The Duchy of Prussia, Brandenburg-Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia), the former Province of East Prussia , or to the territory of Old Prussians , but almost never when referring to contemporary geographic region. Since 1991, the name Prussia has, however, been re-acknowledged among Polish historians as the proper designation for the historic region, understood as defined by its original borders (excluding Pomerelia with Gdańsk Pomerania ,

9042-406: The German terminology to include areas west of the Vistula , including Vistula/Eastern Pomerania, although it was never inhabited by Baltic Prussians but by the Slavic Poles. After the area was reintegrated with Poland in 1466 both names were in use: Pomerania was used when referring to the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Gdańsk Pomerania) and the Chełmno Voivodeship , while Royal Prussia was used as

9179-524: The Germans as forced labour in the region. There was also a camp for Romani people in Königsberg (see Romani Holocaust ). The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, with activities including distribution of Polish underground press , infiltration of the German arms industry, sabotage actions, executions of Nazis, theft of German weapons, ammunition and equipment, smuggling data on German concentration camps and prisons, and organization of transports of POWs who escaped German POW camps via

9316-433: The Great launched several expeditions against the Prussians. They destroyed many areas in Prussia, including Truso and Kaup, but failed to dominate the population totally. A Viking ( Varangian ) presence in the area was "less than dominant and very much less than imperial." According to a legend, recorded by Simon Grunau , the name Prussia is derived from Pruteno (or Bruteno), the chief priest of Prussia and brother of

9453-400: The Knights of the House and Hospital of Our Beloved Lady of Jerusalem) or Croniken van der Duytscher Oirden in short. This contemporary title is sometimes used in Dutch scholarship. In English scholarly literature, Utrecht Chronicle of the Teutonic Order alludes to the original title and the geographical origin of the text. The text opens with a lengthy prologue, which places the origins of

9590-472: The Livonian Order conquered all of Courland , Livonia, and Semigallia , but their attack on northern Russia was repelled in the Battle of Rakvere (1268). In 1346, after the St. George's Night Uprising the Order purchased the rest of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark . The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle describe conditions within the Order's territory. The Teutonic Order fell into decline following its defeat in

9727-521: The Livonian Sword Brothers, Nicholas' Bishopric of Riga, and the city of Riga. Previous generations of historians have argued that Baldwin attempted to make the whole Baltic region an ecclesiastical state, but Manfred Hellmann  [ de ] (1993) refuted this idea as "fanciful speculation". 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

9864-763: The Lutheran Ducal Prussia . Brandenburg Electors obtained the separation of the Duchy of Prussia from Poland in 1660, taking advantage of the Russo-Swedish Deluge , and merged it with the Electorate of Brandenburg to form Brandenburg-Prussia , shortly thereafter becoming the Kingdom of Prussia . Subsequently, it entered into an alliance with Austria and Russia, invading Polish territories of Royal Prussia, annexing and dividing it, with its bulk (including Pomerelia and

10001-677: The Middle Ages were first called Bruzi in the brief text of the Bavarian Geographer and have since been referred to as Old Prussians , who, beginning in 997 AD, repeatedly defended themselves against conquest attempts by the newly created Duchy of the Polans . The territories of the Old Prussians and the neighboring Curonians and Livonians were politically unified in the 1230s under the State of

10138-515: The Polish king, caused the Thirteen Years' War which ultimately led to the Second Peace of Thorn , when most of the region and was reclaimed by Poland and henceforth formed the bulk of Royal Prussia . With the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) , the territory of the Monastic State was divided into eastern and western parts. The western part became the province of Royal Prussia (later also part of

10275-547: The Prussian regional identity an easy target for the Polish authorities, interpreted as undermining future security and territorial integrity of Poland. The policy achieved its goals, and the name Prussia is nowadays used in Polish official documents and colloquial language almost exclusively in historical context, when referring to Royal Prussia , the Free State of Prussia and its preceding entities (the (post-1466) Monastic Prussia ,

10412-555: The Slavic Poles. The possession of Danzig and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333. Both times, as well as in 1339, the Teutonic Knights were ordered by the Pope to return Pomerelia and other lands back to Poland, but did not comply. The conquered Danzig (Gdańsk) joined

10549-590: The State of Prussia was perceived as a primary driving force for the Partitions of Poland with subsequent persecution and attempted Germanization of Poles , politically dominated by the Prussian Junkers with strong anti-Polish sentiment , and finally, the German Province of East Prussia was regarded as an area of persecutions against Polish-speaking minority (Warmians, Masurians, Powiślans), but most importantly as

10686-620: The Teutonic Knights. Numerous events of the New Testament are similarly associated with Mount Zion, emphasising the holiness of the place. The remainder of the text is strictly organised by the sequential list of grand masters of the Teutonic Order. It alternates between the history of the Holy Land, Livonia and Prussia. For this purpose, the author combined forty to fifty different sources in Latin, Dutch, German, and possibly French. The sources include

10823-399: The Teutonic Order . The former kingdom and later state of Prussia (1701–1947) derived its name from the region. The Teutonic Knights invaded and annexed the region of Pomerelia from Poland into their monastic state , which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308–1310, the meaning of the term Prussia was widened in

10960-515: The Teutonic Order in a biblical past, starting with Noah and Melchizedek . The prologue identifies the true place of origin of the Teutonic Order at Mount Zion in Jerusalem , overshadowing the traditional place of origin at Acre during the Third Crusade . Various Old Testament figures, such as Moses , David , and Judas Maccabeus , are linked to Mount Zion and presented as prefigurations of

11097-735: The Teutonic Order's Grand Master ). The January 1229 death of Albert of Riga caused a diocesan feud in the Archbishopric of Riga , as two rival candidates were elected. Pope Gregory IX , through cardinal Otto of Tonengo , tasked Baldwin of Alna as papal legate to resolve the dispute. After securing the submission of Courland, Baldwin soon found himself in conflict with various factions in Livonia, fleeing to Dünamünde and temporarily leaving Livonia in early 1232. The pope made him bishop of Semigallia and gave him papal legation throughout much of Livonia, and Baldwin returned by 1233. He tried to take

11234-525: The Teutonic Order, gave to Magnus the portions of the Kingdom of Livonia which he had taken possession of, but they refused to give him any more land. Once Eric XIV of Sweden became king in September 1560 he took quick actions to get involved in the war. He negotiated a continued peace with Muscovy and spoke to the burghers of Reval city. He offered them goods to submit to him as well as threatening them. By 6 June 1561,they submitted to him contrary to

11371-421: The aristocracy and urban burghers initially highly Germanised as a result of earlier Teutonic policies, but gradually shifting towards Polish in the later years, while the peasantry continued as predominantly Kashubian- and Polish-speaking West of Vistula ; the part East of Vistula was predominantly German-speaking, with decreasing number of Old Prussian and increasing number of Polish minorities. A small area in

11508-504: The authorities of the Bishopric of Dorpat ; the Bishopric of Reval with the Harrien - Wierland gentry were on his side; the Livonian Order conditionally recognised his right of ownership of the (future) Duchy of Estonia . Then along with Archbishop Wilhelm von Brandenburg of the Archbishopric of Riga and his Coadjutor Christoph von Mecklenburg , Kettler , the last Master of

11645-524: The bishops retained the secular rule over about one third of the diocesan territory: all suffragan dioceses under the Archbishopric of Riga . Christian was supposed to choose one of them, but did not agree to the division. He possibly retired to the Cistercians Abbey in Sulejów , where he died before the conflict was solved. The city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad ) was founded in 1255, and joined

11782-731: The bishops. In 1215, Albert ordered the construction of a cathedral in Riga. In 1218, he asked King Valdemar II of Denmark for assistance, but Valdemar instead arranged a deal with the Brotherhood and conquered the north of Estonia for Denmark. The Brotherhood had its headquarters at Fellin (Viljandi) in present-day Estonia , where the walls of the Master's castle still stand. Other strongholds included Wenden (Cēsis) , Segewold (Sigulda) and Ascheraden (Aizkraukle) . The commanders of Fellin, Goldingen (Kuldīga) , Marienburg (Alūksne) , Reval (Tallinn) , and

11919-572: The bulk (including entire Warmia and most of Masuria) remained within the Free State of Prussia , a successor of the Kingdom of Prussia and a constituent part of the German Weimar Republic , following the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite . Since its conquest by the Soviet Army with evacuation and expulsion of the German-speaking inhabitants in 1945 in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement ,

12056-403: The castle of Reval (modern Tallinn ) from the Sword Brothers, but in c. August–September 1233 they defeated Baldwin, who excommunicated many Sword Brothers in retaliation. 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

12193-470: The early medieval period, but these populations would probably have undergone Slavicization before the 10th century. The territory was identified as Brus in the 8th-century map of the Bavarian Geographer and Bruzze/Pruzze/Przze in the Dagome iudex . Adam of Bremen mentions Prussians as Prusos/Pruzzi in 1072., while Gallus Anonymous mentions Prussia in his Gesta principum Polonorum in 1113. In

12330-427: The eastern part of the region, and initiated German colonization to change the region's ethnic composition. The Province of East Prussia (the original Prussia) and the annexed Polish territories turned into the Province of West Prussia were merged in 1829 to form a single Province of Prussia , a part of the kingdom remaining outside of Germany until the creation of the North German Confederation in 1866 during

12467-526: The failed Greater Poland uprising (1848) ), the Provinces of West Prussia and East Prussia (merged in the years 1829 to 1878 to form a single Province of Prussia ) remained outside of the German Confederation (thus of Germany) until the creation of the North German Confederation in 1866 at the start of the unification of Germany . Outside of the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany, Pomerelia

12604-569: The fight, not only for Livonia, but also for everywhere due to an understanding that he made with the Rzeczpospolita . In 1578, Magnus retired to the Rzeczpospolita and his brother all but gave up the land in Livonia. During the many years of the Livonian War (1558–1582), the Livonian Order suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560 and continued living under great threat. Letters to

12741-595: The first half of the 13th century, Bishop Christian of Prussia recorded the history of a much earlier era. In Neo-Latin the area is called Borussia and its inhabitants Borussi . After the Christianisations of the West Slavs in the 10th century, the state of the Polans was established and there were first attempts at conquering and baptizing the Baltic peoples. Bolesław I Chrobry sent Adalbert of Prague in 997 on

12878-595: The former East Prussia. The designation of Kaliningrad Oblast was promoted by the Soviet authorities in the case of the Russian part of the territory, instead. The policy was embraced by the Polish population who had hardly any sympathy for the legacy of Prussia, partially due to numerous attempts throughout history to annex various Polish territories with their subsequent artificial renaming as another part of Prussia in order to imply their originally Prussian history (see above), while

13015-517: The former Klaipėda Region were fired from their jobs and otherwise discriminated against. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some Prussian Lithuanians and their descendants did not regain lost property in the Klaipėda region. Prussia as a political entity was abolished on 25 February 1947 by decree of the Allied Control Council . The decree declared that Prussia from early days had been

13152-438: The governments of Berlin and Brandenburg proposed to merge the states in order to form a new state with the name of "Berlin-Brandenburg", though some suggested calling the proposed new state "Prussia", in spite of the territories being located far away from the region of Prussia. The merger was rejected in a plebiscite in 1996 – while West Berliners voted for a merger, East Berliners and Brandenburgers voted against it. In 1525,

13289-636: The grand masters and land commanders. The chronicle was first produced in Middle Dutch in the Northern Low Countries, primarily, it seems, for an audience of Teutonic Order members. Soon after its creation, the text is found in both Livonia ( Low German ) and Prussia ( High German ). The Prussian manuscripts were subsequently adapted and extended, after which they found their way into Prussian urban cultural spheres ( Johann Funck having possessed two manuscripts), as well as Teutonic Order audiences in

13426-400: The historically Polish Pomerelia (Vistula Pomerania) formed the newly established province of West Prussia , while the name Pomerania/Pomerelia was avoided by Prussian and later German authorities in relation to this region, aiming to eradicate its usage completely. The historically Prussian Warmia was in turn integrated into East Prussia . In contrast, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land and

13563-590: The last Grand Master reigning in the State of the Teutonic Order , Albert of Brandenburg , a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern , adopted the Lutheran faith, resigned his position, and assumed the title of " Duke of Prussia ". In a deal partially brokered by Martin Luther , the Duchy of Prussia became the first Protestant state and a vassal of Poland. The ducal capital of Königsberg , now Kaliningrad , became

13700-570: The leader of the city's anti-Elector opposition Hieronymus Roth . In 1663, the city burghers, forced by Elector Frederick William , swore an oath of allegiance to him, however, in the same ceremony they still also pledged allegiance to Poland. Taking advantage of the fact that Ducal Prussia lay outside of the Holy Roman Empire , Frederick I achieved the elevation of the duchy to a kingdom in 1701, styling himself King in Prussia , because his kingdom included only part of historic Prussia, and

13837-525: The legendary king Widewuto , who lived in the 6th century. The regions of Prussia and the corresponding tribes are said to bear the names of Widewuto's sons — for example, Sudovia is named after Widewuto's son Sudo. The Old Prussians spoke a variety of languages, with Old Prussian belonging to the Western branch of the Baltic language group . Old Prussian, or related Western Baltic dialects, may have been spoken as far southeast as Masovia and even Belarus in

13974-483: The meaning of the designation of Prussia by transferring the northern part of Netze District , a fragment of Greater Poland detached from its bulk (the Grand Duchy of Posen ), to West Prussia , while the district's easternmost fragment was awarded to the Russian-ruled Congress Poland . Though the Kingdom of Prussia was a member of the German Confederation established by the Congress of Vienna as

14111-471: The name West Prussia was always regarded in Poland as an artificial German invention. In the case of East Prussia (the original Prussia), Polish authorities promoted using the designations of Powiśle in the case of Pomesania and Pogesania, approximately translated in English: “Vistula Plains” , Warmia in the case of the former Prince-Bishopric of Warmia and Masuria in the case of the remainder of Polish share of

14248-696: The name of Regierungsbezirk Zichenau , as well as of the Suwałki Region , both referred to as South East Prussia , in relation to the New East Prussia of the times of Polish Partitions (see above). At the same time, the Regierungsbezirk Westpreussen was separated from East Prussia and integrated into Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen . In the aftermath of the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941,

14385-588: The name of the wider province, which, however, also included the Malbork Voivodeship and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , covering the Prussian historical areas of Pomesania , Pogesania and Warmia , the only actual Prussian territories of the province, while the rump Teutonic state, called the Monastic Prussia thereafter, formed a part of Poland as a fief, finally secularised in 1525 to become

14522-635: The north and Baltic tribes in the south. The descendants of the crusaders formed the nucleus of the new ruling class of Livonia after the Livonian Crusade, and they eventually became known as Baltic Germans . Beginning in the 12th century, Livonia became a target for economic and political expansion by Danes and Germans , particularly for the Hanseatic League and the Cistercian Order . Around 1160, Hanseatic traders from Lübeck established

14659-573: The ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia to neutral Sweden . Beginning in 1944 with the East Prussian offensive of Soviet troops, the German-speaking population was evacuated . The province of East Prussia ceased to exist in 1945, following the Potsdam Agreement , when it was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union , with the latter dividing its part further between the Lithuanian SSR and

14796-401: The region from Poland, integrating it into their monastic state , which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308–1310, the meaning of the term Prussia was widened in the German terminology to include areas west of the Vistula , including Vistula/Eastern Pomerania, although it was never inhabited by Baltic Prussians but by

14933-572: The region mostly for Polish prisoners, as well as several subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp , and several prisoner-of-war camps for Allied POWs, including Polish, Belgian, British, French , Dutch, Serbian, Italian, Soviet, Australian, Canadian, New Zealander, South African, such as Stalag I-A , Stalag I-B , Stalag I-C , Stalag I-D, Stalag XX-B , Stalag Luft VI and Oflags 52, 53, 60 and 63 with numerous forced labour subcamps. Many expelled Poles from German-occupied Poland were enslaved by

15070-465: The region of Prussia remains divided between northern Poland (most of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , and the four counties of Pomeranian Voivodeship east of Vistula ), Russia 's Kaliningrad exclave , and southwestern Lithuania (former Klaipėda Region ). Indo-European settlers first arrived in the region during the 4th millennium BC, which in the Baltic would diversify into the satem Balto-Slavic branch which would ultimately give rise to

15207-529: The remaining lands were seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Denmark and Sweden re-occupied the north of Estonia. In 1561, during the Livonian War , Livonia fell to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and became a dependent vassal of Lithuania. Eight years later, in 1569, when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Livonia became

15344-418: The ruling Electors of Brandenburg , in 1618, and Polish sovereignty over the duchy ended in 1657 with the Treaty of Wehlau . There was strong opposition to the separation of the region from Poland, especially in Königsberg. A confederation was formed in the city to maintain Poland's sovereignty over the city and region. The Brandenburg Elector and his army, however, entered the city and abducted and imprisoned

15481-545: The sale of Ösel–Wiek to the Danish Crown , and the loss of territory to Tsardom 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

15618-568: The shores of present-day Latvia . By the end of the 13th century, the name was extended to most of present-day Estonia and Latvia, which the Livonian Brothers of the Sword had conquered during the Livonian Crusade (1193–1290). Medieval Livonia, or Terra Mariana , reached its greatest extent after the Saint George's Night Uprising (1343-1345), which forced Denmark to sell the Duchy of Estonia (northern Estonia conquered by Denmark in

15755-510: The southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea in the 7th and 8th centuries. The largest trade centres of the Prussians, such as Truso and Kaup , seem to have absorbed a number of Norse people . Prussians used the Baltic Sea as a trading route, frequently travelling from Truso to Birka (in present-day Sweden ). At the end of the Viking Age , the sons of Danish kings Harald Bluetooth and Cnut

15892-537: The southern parts of the Holy Roman Empire , where the first reception of the text can be dated to 1528. Including all its adaptations and known, but now missing manuscripts, nearly sixty manuscripts have been identified thus far. Prussia (region) Prussia ( Polish : Prusy [ˈprusɨ] ; Lithuanian : Prūsija ; Russian : Пруссия [ˈprusʲ(ː)ɪjə] ; Prussian : Prūsa ; German : Preußen [ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] ; Latin : Pruthenia / Prussia / Borussia )

16029-543: The support of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Western nobility (e.g. French, English). The Teutonic Knights soon turned against their Polish benefactors in the same way, as they earlier did in Hungary. The Polish region of Pomerelia (including Gdańsk Pomerania and the city of Gdańsk as its parts) which was never inhabited by the Old Prussians , and which was called Pomorze ('Pomerania') in Polish language since

16166-714: The territory and its inhabitants. Pliny the Elder had already confirmed that the Romans had navigated into the waters beyond the Cimbric peninsula ( Jutland ). Suiones , Sitones , Goths and other Germanic people had temporarily settled to the east and west of the Vistula River during the Migration Period , adjacent to the Aesti , who lived further to the east. The region's inhabitants of

16303-708: The territory as Mentenomon and to the inhabitants as Guttones (neighbours of the Teutones , probably referring to the Goths ). A river to the east of the Vistula was called the Guttalus , perhaps corresponding to the Nemunas , the Łyna , or the Pregola . In AD 98 Tacitus described one of the tribes living near the Baltic Sea ( Latin : Mare Suebicum ) as Aestiorum gentes and amber -gatherers. The Vikings started to penetrate

16440-506: The text ends with the death of Grand Master Ludwig of Ellrichshausen in 1467, followed by a list of commanderies in Prussia and Livonia. The text ends with a history of the Utrecht bailiwick and the lives of the land commanders until Johan van Drongelen himself (1469-1492). Interwoven throughout the text are papal and imperial privileges granted to the Teutonic Order, as well as several indulgences . Coats of arms accompany all descriptions of

16577-696: The title King of Prussia was still held by the Polish monarchs. Lithuanian culture thrived in the part of the region known as Lithuania Minor , while the Kursenieki lived along the coast in the vicinity of the Curonian and Vistula Spits . The Old Prussian language had mostly disappeared by 1700. The last speakers may have died in the plague and famine that ravaged Prussia in 1709 to 1711. In 1724, King Frederick William I of Prussia prohibited Poles , Samogitians and Jews from settling in Lithuania Minor in

16714-471: The titles in Livonia. That war would last from 1577 to 1582. Muscovy recognized Polish–Lithuanian control of Ducatus Ultradunensis only in 1582. After Magnus von Lyffland died in 1583, Poland invaded his territories in The Duchy of Courland , and Frederick II decided to sell his rights of inheritance . Except for the island of Œsel , Denmark was out of the Baltic by 1585. As of 1598 Inflanty Voivodeship

16851-507: The west of Pomerelia, the Lębork and Bytów Land, was granted to the rulers of the Duchy of Pomerania as a Polish fief before it was reintegrated with Poland in 1637, and later again transformed into a Polish fief , which it remained along the Starostwo of Draheim until the First Partition of Poland . The realm of the King in Prussia established in 1701 from the former Ducal Prussia subsequently entered into an alliance with Austria and Russia, invading Polish territories of Royal Prussia. In

16988-431: Was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Duchy of Livonia , part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , since it was formed in the 1620s out of the Wenden Voivodeship till the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The Russian Empire conquered Swedish Livonia during the course of the Great Northern War and acquired the province in the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, confirmed by

17125-513: Was about to obtain, either in the form of Magnus or of the Archbishop of Riga . Magnus was upset that he had been tricked out of his inheritance of Holstein . After Sweden occupied 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

17262-420: Was divided onto: Based on a guarantee by Sigismund II Augustus from the 1560s, the German language retained its official status. The armies of Ivan the Terrible were initially successful, taking Polotsk (1563) and Parnawa (1575) and overrunning much of Grand Duchy of Lithuania up to some 250 km (160 mi) proximity of Vilnius . Eventually, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland formed

17399-456: Was formed in 1419. The city of Walk was chosen as the site of the diet. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, Middle Low German - as spoken in the towns of the Hanseatic League — functioned as the established language of the Livonian lands, but High German subsequently succeeded it as the official language in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor once again asked for help of Gustav I of Sweden , and

17536-648: Was greatly weakened by this and the city state of Luebeck fought its last great war. The emperor Maximilian II ( r.  1564–1576 ) diffused the greatest threat by remaining on friendly terms with Tsar Ivan IV of Russia ( r.  1533–1584 ), but not sending Ivan IV troops as requested in his struggles with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In 1570, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia installed Duke Magnus as King of Livonia . The other forces opposed this appointment. The Livonian Order saw no other way than to seek protection from Sigismund II Augustus ( King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ), who had intervened in

17673-421: Was once referred to as "Preussischen Chronica" (Prussian Chronicle) and later labelled "Order's Chronicle or Grand Masters' Chronicle" by Christoph Hartknoch . In the nineteenth century it received the title Große Hochmeisterchronik (Great Grand Masters' Chronicle) by Max Töppen . Theodor Hirsch then changed this to Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik (Younger Grand Masters' Chronicle), in order to distinguish it from

17810-415: Was primarily concerned with ending the internal conflict in Livonia on terms favourable to Rome. 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. In 1234, the pope recalled Baldwin, and replaced him with William of Modena . The pope did not give

17947-453: Was ready for peace. On 15 December 1570, the Treaty of Stettin concluded the Northern Seven Years' War. It is, however, more difficult to estimate the scope and magnitude of the support Magnus received in Livonian cities. 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

18084-442: Was ready for peace. On 15 December 1570, the Treaty of Stettin was concluded. In the next phase of the conflict, in 1577, Ivan IV took advantage of the Commonwealth's internal strife (called the war against Gdańsk in Polish historiography), and during the reign of Stefan Batory in Poland, invaded Livonia, quickly taking almost the entire territory, with the exception of Riga and Reval . In 1578, Magnus of Livonia recognized

18221-424: Was reintegrated with Poland in 1466, the designation Pomerania was restored and used when referring to the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Gdańsk Pomerania) and the Chełmno Voivodeship , while the entire territory conquered by the Kingdom of Poland from the Teutonic Order was known as Royal Prussia . The latter also included, however, also the truly Prussian historical areas of Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , as well as

18358-413: Was returned to the Lithuanian SRR, while the remaining territory, annexed by the Russian FSSR, was in turn named the Kaliningrad Oblast in 1946. The inhabitants not evacuated during the war were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, with the exception of Polish minorities of Powiślans , Warmians and Masurians , considered to be of Polish descent. The situation was different, however, for

18495-617: Was split between the newly independent states of Latvia and Estonia. The United 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 German Freikorps fought against Latvian and Estonian troops for control over former Livonia, but their attempts were defeated. The historical land of Livonia has been split between Latvia and Estonia ever since 1918. The Livonian language

18632-415: Was termed Polish Pomerania ( Pomorze Polskie ) since at least the 18th century to distinguish it from Hither and Farther Pomerania , territories long outside of Polish rule. In the late 19th century this term was used in order to underline Polish claims to that area that was then ruled by the German Kingdom of Prussia . The designation of Polish Pomerania became obsolete since Farther Pomerania and

18769-417: Was the Narva -trade-route and practically all trade in the North, and with that all of Europe. Due to the religious upheavals of the Reformation the distant Holy Roman Empire could not send troops, which it could not afford anyway. The Duchy of Prussia was not able to help for much of the same reason, and Duke Albrecht ( r.  1525–1568 ) was under continuous ban by the Empire. The Hanseatic League

#22977