Swedish Estonia | Courland |
In 1621 the city of Riga surrendered; Livonia, hitherto a vassall of the
Kingdom of Poland,
except for the southeastern region of Latgale, was annexed by Sweden.
The Livonian Landtag (diet) maintained a considerable degree of autonomy. The German minority in Livonia maintained control of the country; all the nobles spoke German (although they, abroad, may have assumed Swedish nationality, such as Axel von Fersen, who tried to save Marie Antoinette). German was the language of the city council of Riga, of the guilds, of the Lutheran Church. The vast majority of the population - Estonians and Latvians - by status were serfs. During the Great Northern War (1699-1721), Swedish forces, although long victorious, were overextended. In 1710, the year following the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Poltava 1709, Swedish Livonia surrendered to the Russian Empire. Maintaining its autonomy, in 1712 Livonia, with the inclusion of Ösel, became Livland Gubernia. Livonia 1621-1721 Historical Atlas : Livonia Page List of Wars, Livonia Page |
E x t e r n a l . F i l e s |
Country Profiles | Links, Portals | Organizations | Accounts of History | Politics | Military History | Economic History |
Social History | Ethnography | History of Religion | Regional History | Local History | Institutions | Culture |
Biography | Others |
D o c u m e n t s |
Historical Data | Documents | Institutions | National Symbols |
P r i n t e d . R e f e r e n c e |
Bibliographies | Online Libraries | Online Journals | General Accounts | Specific Topics | Historical Dictionaries | Others |
WEB-BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . EXTERNAL FILES |
Country Profiles |
Articles : Livonia, from Wikipedia Articles : Livland, from Wikipedia German edition Article : Svenska Livland, from Wikipedia Swedish edition K.J. von Blomberg, An account of Livonia: with a relation of the rise, progress, and decay of the Marian Teutonick Order, 1701, posted on Google Books |
Links, on History |
Category : Livonia, from Wikipedia Kategori : Livland, from Wikipedia Swedish edition |
Organizations |
Öpetatud Eesti Selts (Learned Estonian Society) Estonian Museum Association; Latvijas Muzeju Biedriba (in Latvian) Eesti Genealoogia Selts (Estonian Genealogical Society); Latvian Genealogical Society; Association of the Four Baltic Noble Corporations, Livonia, Estonia, Courland, and Oesel (Baltische Ritterschaften); click Estonia, Livonia, Oesel (Estländische Ritterschaft; Livländische Ritterschaft; Oeselsche Ritterschaft) Institut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen in Nordosteuropa at Universität Hamburg Latvijas Institute Baltische Historische Kommission, page in German |
Historical Dictionary |
Enzyklopädie des Europäischen Ostens, in German |
Timelines |
Accounts of History | general |
Uldis Balodis, Livonian History Gustav von Bergmann, Geschichte von Livland, nach bossuetischer Art entworfen 1776, in German, posted on Google Books |
Specific Periods |
Article : Svenska Livland, from Wikipedia Swedish edition E. Seraphim, Geschichte Liv-, Est- und Kurlands von der "Aufsegelung" des Landes bis zur Einverleibung in das russische Reich, vol.1, 1895, in German, posted on Internet Archive Erik Esvelt, The Swedish Empire in the Baltic Nations 1998 J. Eckardt, Livland im achtzehnten Jahrhundert : Umrisse zu einer livländischen Geschichte, 1876, in German, posted on Internet Archive |
Historiography |
Military |
Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliothek Otto Sjögren, W.A. von Schlippenbach's Army of Livland (1896) translation by Dan Schorr 2002 Det Stora Nordiska Kriget, from Svenska Krig, in Swedish Article : Andra Polska Kriget, 1600-1629, from Wikipedia Swedish edition Article Riga Castle, from Wikipedia |
Economy & Finances |
Baltic Sea Trade, from Baltic Connections |
Ethnography |
Religion |
Chronology of Catholic Dioceses, Estonia,
Latvia, from Kirken i Norge Jewish Virtual History Tour : Estonia, Latvia, from Jewish Virtual Library; Estonia, Latvia, from International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project Category : Religion in Estonia, Religion in Latvia, from Wikipedia Religion, Eastern Orthodoxy in Estonia, from Estonica Patron Saint Index : Estonia, Patrons of Livonia Andres Andresen, The Reconfiguration of Lutheran Church Organization in the Baltic Region from the 1520s to 1917 Anton Fahne, Livland: Ein Beitrag zur Kirchen- und Sittengeschichte , 1875, in German, posted on Internet Archive A. Buchholtz, Geschichte der Juden in Riga bis zur Begründung der rigischen Hebräergemeinde im J. 1842, 1899, in German, posted on Internet Archive |
History of Regions |
Local History |
Tartu History Timeline, from tartu.ee (Dorpat) Riga, History of, from vest_ang |
Institutions |
Culture |
Biographies |
Baltische Biographische Lexika (Baltic Biographical Lexica), in German J.F. von Recke, Allgemeines Schriftsteller- und Gelehrten-Lexikon der Provinzen Livland, Esthland und Kurland, vol.II : G-K, 1829, vol.III : L-R, 1831, Supplements vol.I : A-K, 1859, in German, posted on Internet Archive J.G. Frobien, Rigasche Biographieen, (1881) 1973, in German, posted on Internet Archive Svenskt Biografisk Handlexikon, 1906, in Swedish, posted by Project Runeberg Biografica : flottan - en matrikel över flottans officerare 1687-1721, by Bengt Nilsson, in Swedish |
Others |
Palearctic Ecoregion, from WWF F.G. von Bunge, Einleitung in die Liv-, Esth- und curländische Rechtsgeschichte und Geschichte der Rechtsquellen, 1849, in German, posted on Internet Archive F.G. von Bunge, Geschichte des Gerichtswesens und Gerichtsverfahrens in Liv-, est- und Curland, 1874, posted on Internet Archive A.K.H. Bergengruen, Die grosse moskowitische Ambassade von 1697 in Livland, 1892, in German, posted on Internet Archive |
WEB-BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . EXTERNALLY POSTED DOCUMENTS |
Historical Data | Lists of Statesmen |
World Statesmen : Livonia |
Population Figures |
Image Databanks |
Europeana Wikimedia Commons |
Archival Deposits | Online |
Digital Archive, from Estonial National Archive 2402 Livonica II, from Nationell Arkiv, Sweden Katalog des schwedischen Generalgouverneur-archivs zu Riga 1908, IA |
Archival Deposits | Catalogue Online |
Katalog des schwedischen Generalgouverneur-archivs zu Riga
, 1908, posted on Internet Archive Estonia Documents, at Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem P.K. Grimsted, Archives and manuscript repositories in the USSR, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belorussia, 1981, posted on Internet Archive Dokumentesammlung des Herder-Instituts, mainly Baltic documents |
Document Collections |
Baltic Connections : Exhibition Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brefvexling vol.13 : 1635 1919, in Swedish, posted on Google Books |
Individual Documents |
Privilege of Gustav II. Adolf for Riga 1621, from
Baltic Connections |
Historical Maps |
click here Old City Maps, from NLE Cartography Collection Old geographical maps from the NLE Cartography Collection K.R. Kupffer, Baltische Landeskunde : Atlas (1911) in German, posted on Internet Archive List of Maps of the (former Swedish) Baltic Provinces, kept in RA Stockholm, Krigsarkivet, some of them clickable; comment in Swedish Maps, on Uldis Balodis, Livonian History |
Historical Encyclopedia Entries |
Article : Livland, from Nordisk Familjebok 1st edition 1885,
2nd edition 1912, in Swedish Entry : Livonia pp.271-277, Estland pp.277-279. Letten/Litland pp.279-280,, in : T.G. Smoillett, The Present State of the World, vol.1 1768, posted on Google Books; Livonia listed under chapter "Sweden" |
Institutions | Archives |
State Archives of Latvia |
Musea |
Category : Museums in Estonia, from Wikipedia List of Museums in Latvia, from Wikipedia |
Monuments |
Libraries |
National Symbols | Flags, Coats of Arms |
Coat of Arms, Vidzeme, from International Civic Heraldry |
Coins |
The Coinage of the Baltic Countries, by
Girts Eisters Swedish Livonia and Riga, from Medieval Coinage Svenska besittningar och dess myntning : Livland Search Coin Archives for Livonia William Urban, Medieval Livonian Numismatics |
PRINTED REFERENCE |
Bibliographies | general |
on Estonia, Latvia |
Estonian National Bibliography, from Slavic and East European Library Eesti Rahvus Bibliograafia (Estonian National Bibliography) National Bibliography Databases, from National Library of Latvia Baltische Historische Kommission, Publikationen (in German) |
on Livonia |
on Specific Issues Concerning Livonia |
Baltic Amber Bibliography Estonia Publikationen, from IKGN |
Online Libraries | general |
Internet Archives Gutenberg Library Online |
on Eastern Central Europe |
National Library of Estonia : E-Library Central and Eastern European Online Library Virtual Library Eastern Europe, maintained in Germany, most sources in German |
Online Journals | full text online |
Livländische Geschichtsliteratur
vol.2 1884,
vol.4 1904, posted on Internet Archive Baltische Monatsschrift 1859, posted on Internet Archive Estonian Journal of Archaeology, years 2000-2006 / vols. 4-10 online Acta Historica Tallinensia, years 2000-2006 / vols.4-10 online |
General Accounts | on Eastern Europe |
Kevin O'Connor, The History of the Baltic States, Westport CT : Greenwood 2003, KMLA Lib.Sign. 947.9 O18h Reinhard Wittram, Baltische Geschichte. Die Ostseelande Livland, Estland und Kurland 1180-1918 (Baltic History. The Baltic Lands of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, 1180-1918), Darmstadt : Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft (1954) 1973, in German |
on Estonia or Latvia |
Toivo U. Raun, Estonia and the Estonians, Stanford : Hoover Institution Press 2001 [G] Andrejs Plakans, The Latvians, a Short History, Stanford : Hoover Institution Press 1995, 257 pp. |
Specific Topics |
Historical Atlas |
Latvijas Vestures Atlants, Riga 1998 [G] |
Historical Dictionary |
Tojvo Miljan, Historical Dictionary of Estonia, Lanham Md. : Scarecrow 2004 Andreis Plakans, Historical Dictionary of Latvia, Lanham Md : Scarecrow 2008 |