Lyceum & Book Club - Week 15 - Lecture Notes on the Livonian War

Russia took the port town of Narva (right across from Ivangorod) in May of 1558 and the city of Dorpat in July, meeting no resistance.

And why didn't he meet any resistance?

Because the bishopric of Dorpal was not on the best of terms with the Livonian confederacy due to an older dispute between the two concerning authority. Wilhelm von Furstenberg,of the Livonian Order, offered the Bishopric assistance, but the Bishopric refused his help because he was afraid the Livonian Order would then just take over the Bishopric instead. After the Dorpat's defeat, Furstenberg turned to Germany seeking aid, but Germany was having financial problems and could offer no assistance.

The Treaty of Vilnius (1559/1561) was negotiated between the Livonians and Poland-Lithania, but the parliament of Poland(Poland and Lithuania Commonwealth was a confederation - so each partner had their own concerns) felt the issue was something that really only affected Lithuania rather than Poland. They would not agree to the treaty, so only limited assistance was given. Instead the Livonian Order turned to Denmark to see what they could offer.

Facing defeat against Russia, the head of the Livonia Order dissolved the Order and turned over most of Livonia to Poland-Lithuania and in return was made Duke of Courland. (and he also converted to Lutheranism)

Some members of the Lithuanian nobility were very wary of the growing union between Poland and Lithuania. They signed a truce with Russia that lasted all of 1561 with an end date in 1562.They even offered Ivan the crown of Lithuania, but Ivan was busy preparing his army in the interim.

With the Livonian Confederacy dissolved, other provinces started looking to make their own deals with neighboring powers.

The bishop of Osel-Wieck sold his bishopric in northwest Livonia to the Danes in exchange for protection and a personal loan. The king of Denmark put his younger half-brother, Magnus, in charge of that province.(this will be important later on)

The town of Reval and surrounding area, in the north on the shores of the Baltic Sea, turned to Sweden for protection.(now remember - Sweden and Denmark, who now controls the bishopric right next door to Reval, are involved in their own conflict back on their home territory. This is just inviting trouble - what better place to carry out war than on some distant land where the effects don't touch you)

And of course, both Denmark and Sweden sent troops to protect their new acquisitions.

This is one of those instances where one conflict leads into a different simultaneous conflict that is interrelated. So let's sidestep for a moment from Russia and Poland-Lithuania and look at what is happening with Denmark and Sweden.

The bishop of Osel-Wieck sold his bishopric in northwest Livonia to the Danes in exchange for protection and a personal loan. The king of Denmark put his younger half-brother, Magnus, in charge of that province.

Magnus though had ambitions of his own and bought the Bishopric of Courland for himself without the king of Denmark's knowledge. He also tried to expand into Harrien-Wierland in Estonia - Sweden's new territories.

While that is going on, Sigismund of Poland-Lithuania was close to John (later John III), Erik, the king of Sweden's brother. John tried to talk Erik into aligning with Poland-Lithuania against Russia in the Livonian conflict. In 1562,John married Sigismund's sister. Later John gave Sigismund a loan, secured by seven Livonian castles. This led to Erik imprisoning John in 1563.

Sigismund then allied with Denmark against Erik of Sweden because of Sigismund's family relationship with John III.

1563 - Erik, the new king of Sweden turned down the Livonian Order's request for assistance. So the Livonian Order went back to Poland-Lithuania and this time they did agreed to an alliance and signed the second Treaty of Vilnius.

In May of that year, a naval skirmish occurred between Denmark and Sweden and tension between the two just took off with this incident as the spark. In August, the Northern Seven Years War officially begins.

1563 - 1570 - Denmark and Sweden were busy fighting each other in northern Livonia and not involved in the battles taking place between Poland-Lithuania and Russia further south.

Ivan was hoping to form an alliance with Sweden against Poland-Lithuania so he disregarded events in the north of Livonia and focused his attention on Poland-Lithuania.

1562 to 1583 - there was almost constant warfare in this region between Poland-Lithuania and Russia.

1564 - Poland-Lithuania defeated Russia at Czasniki and the Ula River pushing Russia back from Poland-Lithuania's border.

1566 - Poland-Lithuania offered to divide Livonia with Russia and end the conflict, but Russia was having success and Ivan felt he could attain the whole territory without compromise, so he rejected their offer.

1568 - Erik of Sweden was deposed in favour of his brother John III. Once John III of Sweden ascended the throne, he switched sides and joined the alliance with Poland-Lithuania and two years later, signed a treaty with both Poland-Lithuania and Denmark.

1570 - The Treaty of Stettin is signed ending the Northern Seven Years War.

So now Ivan wanted to drive Sweden out of Livonia.

1570 - Ivan IV convinced the king of Denmark's half-brother, Magnus, that if he fought on Russia's side,Ivan would give him the crown of Livonia under Russia's protection.So Magnus began an unsuccessful 8 month siege of Reval on Russia's side. Because Russia was unable to break through and help him, Magnus was forced to sign a truce with Poland-Lithuania.

1565 to 1576 - Ivan IV was more focused on the domestic situation in Russia than on the Livonian War. The Crimean Tartars saw an opening with Ivan focused in the west and made a number of raids culminating in the burning of Moscow in 1571.

1572 - 1578 - Poland-Lithuania was involved in domestic succession issues (king Sigismund Augustus died in 1572 and Stephen Bathory of Transylvania was elected in 1576) and a brief war with Danzig in 1577 so they too were not focused on the war in Livonia, but soon after Poland-Lithuania was ready to take on Russia again.

The Tsar (called The Terrible) found himself in a difficult position as the tide of battle began to turn.The Crimean Tatars devastated Russian territories and burnt down Moscow (see Russo-Crimean Wars), the drought and epidemics have fatally affected the economy, and Oprichnina had thoroughly disrupted the government, while Lithuania had united with Poland (new union in 1569) and acquired an energetic leader, king Stefan Batory. Not only did Batory reconquer Polotsk (1579), but he also seized Russian fortresses at Sokol, Velizh, Usvzat, Velikie Luki (1580), where his soldiers massacred all Russian inhabitants, and laid siege to Pskov (1581–82). Polish-Lithuanian cavalry devastated the huge regions of Smolensk, Chernigov, Ryazan, southwest of the Novgorodian territory and even reached the Tsar's residences in Staritsa. Ivan prepared to fight, but the Poles retreated. In 1581, a mercenary army hired by Sweden and commanded by Pontus de la Gardie captured the strategic city of Narva and massacred its inhabitants, 7,000 people. The Livonian War left Russia impoverished.-neworldencyclopedia.com

Isolated with no allies,Ivan IV was forced to make peace in 1582,with the signing of the Treaty, giving back all of his Livonian conquests to Poland-Lithuania in return for Pskow. The next years saw Ivan signing a treaty with Sweden in which she retained both Narva and Ivangorod and thus Russia's only access to Baltic Sea with the surrender of the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland was gone.In the end,Poland-Lithuania controlled most of the contested area with Sweden retaining control over northern Estonia and the city of Reval.

In 12 years, Russia and Sweden would be fighting over the same territory and 1600 would see the Swedish-Poland War start.