Swedish Livonia ( sv, Svenska Livland) was a

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

(including the island of Ösel ceded by

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

after the Treaty of Brömsebro) and the northern part of modern

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

(the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

region), represented the conquest of the major part of the Polish-Lithuanian

Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia ( or ; lt, Livonijos kunigaikštystė; la, Ducatus Ultradunensis; et, Liivimaa hertsogkond; lv, Pārdaugavas hercogiste; german: Herzogtum Livland), also referred to as Polish Livonia or Livonia ( pl, link=no, Inflanty) ...

during the 1600–1629 Polish-Swedish War. Parts of Livonia and the city of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

were under Swedish control as early as 1621 and the situation was formalized in the Truce of Altmark 1629, but the whole territory was not ceded formally until the Treaty of Oliva in 1660. The minority part of the Wenden Voivodeship retained by the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

was renamed the

Inflanty Voivodeship The Inflanty Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo inflanckie), or ''Livonian Voivodeship'', also known as Polish Livonia, was an administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, since it was formed in the 1620s out ...

("''Livonian Principality''"), which today corresponds to the

Latgale Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While ...

region of Latvia. Riga was the second largest city in the Swedish Empire at the time. Together with other Baltic Sea dominions, Livonia served to secure the Swedish ''

dominium maris baltici The establishment of a , . ("Baltic Sea dominion") was one of the primary political aims of the Danish and Swedish kingdoms in the late medieval and early modern eras. Throughout the Northern Wars the Danish and Swedish navies played a second ...

''. In contrast to

Swedish Estonia Estonia under Swedish rule (1561–1710) signifies the period of time when large parts of the country, and after 1645, entire present-day Estonia, were under Swedish rule. In the wake of the breakup of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Ba ...

, which had submitted to Swedish rule voluntarily in 1561 and where traditional local laws remained largely untouched, the uniformity policy was applied in Swedish Livonia under Karl XI of Sweden: serfdom was abolished, peasants were offered education as well as military, administrative or ecclesiastical careers, and nobles had to transfer domains to the king in the

Great Reduction In the Great Reduction of 1680, by which the ancient landed nobility lost its power base, the Swedish Crown recaptured lands earlier granted to the nobility. ''Reductions'' ( sv, reduktion) in Sweden and its dominions were the return to the Crown ...

. The territory in turn was conquered by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

and, following the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, formed the Governorate of Livonia. Formally, it was ceded to Russia in the

Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of ...

in 1721, together with Swedish Estonia and

Swedish Ingria Swedish Ingria ( sv, Svenska Ingermanland, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Nystad. History Ingria was ceded ...

Governors-general

The dominion was ruled by appointed governors-general, but retained its own diet. *

Jacob De la Gardie Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie ( Reval, 20 June 1583 – Stockholm, 22 August 1652) was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward. He was Privy Councilor from 1613 onward, Governo ...

(1622–1628) * Gustaf Horn (1628–1629) *

Johan Skytte Johan Skytte (1577, in Nyköping – 15 March 1645, in Söderåkra, Sweden) was a Swedish statesman, and the founder of the ''Academia Gustaviana'' (today's University of Tartu in Estonia), in 1632. He was a son of the mayor of Nyköping, Beng ...

(1629–1633) * Nils Assersson Mannersköld (1633–1634) * Bengt Oxenstierna (1634–1643) *

Herman Wrangel Herman Wrangel (born 1584/1587 – 10 December 1643) was a Swedish military officer and politician of Baltic German extraction. Biography Herman von Wrangel was born in Livonia. He came to Sweden around 1608. In 1612, he participated in th ...

(1643) * Erik Eriksson Ryning (1644) * Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1645–1647) * Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1649–1651) * Gustaf Horn (1652–1653) * Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1655–1657) *

Axel Lillie Count Axel Lillie, also spelled Lillje (23 July 1603 – 20 December 1662) was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor General of Pomerania in 1643, Privy Councilor in 1648, Governor General of Pomerania in 1 ...

(1661) * Bengt Oxenstierna (1662–1665) * Clas Åkesson Tott (the younger) (1665–1671) *

Fabian von Fersen Baron Fabian von Fersen (February 7, 1626 – July 30, 1677) was a Swedish general, freelord, field-marshal and governor general of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge. He served the Swedish Empire in multiple wars and received appointments Field ...

(1671–1674) * Krister Klasson Horn (1674–1686) *

Jacob Johan Hastfer Jacob Johan Hastfer (11 December 1647 Tallinn – 24 December 1695 Riga) was a Swedish officer and governor of the Livonia province between 1687 and 1695. References * 1647 births 1695 deaths Politicians from Tallinn Baltic-German peo ...

(1687–1695) *

Erik Dahlberg '' Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 162516 January 1703) was a Swedish military engineer, Governor-general and Field marshal. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. As an architect and draftsman, he was reno ...

(1696–1702) * Carl Gustaf Frölich (1702–1706) * Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (1706–1709) * Henrik Otto Albedyll (1709) *

Niels Jonsson Stromberg af Clastorp Niels Jonsson Stromberg af Clastorp (March 25, 1646 – August 16, 1723) was a Swedish soldier and Governor-General of Swedish Estonia from 1706 to 1709. He was born with the family name Brattman which was ennobled to Strömberg in 1674, and aft ...

(1709–1710)

Military

Swedish infantry and cavalry regiments

;Infantry regiments: * '' Garnisonsregementet i Riga'' (Garrison Regiment in Riga) * '' Guvenörsregementet i Riga'' (Governor's Regiment in Riga) * '' Livländsk infanteribataljon I'' (Livonian Infantry Battalion I) * '' Livländsk infanteribataljon II'' (Livonian Infantry Battalion II) * '' Livländsk infanteribataljon III'' (Livonian Infantry Battalion III) * '' Livländsk infanteribataljon IV'' (Livonian Infantry Battalion IV) * '' Livländskt infanteriregemente I'' (Livonian Infantry Regiment I) * '' Livländskt infanteriregemente II'' (Livonian Infantry Regiment II) * '' Livländskt infanteriregemente III'' (Livonian Infantry Regiment III) * '' Livländskt infanteriregemente IV'' (Livonian Infantry Regiment IV) * '' Livländskt infanteriregemente V'' (Livonian Infantry Regiment V) ;Cavalry regiments: * '' Laurentzens fridragoner'' ( Wolter Wolfgang von Laurentzen's Free Dragoons) * '' Lewenhaupts frikompani'' ( Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt's Free Company) * '' Adelsfanan i Livland och Ösel'' (Livonian and Öselian Banner of Nobles) * '' Livländsk dragonskvadron I'' (Livonian Dragoon Squadron I) * '' Livländsk dragonskvadron II'' (Livonian Dragoon Squadron II) * '' Livländskt dragonregemente I'' (Livonian Dragoon Regiment I) * '' Livländskt dragonregemente II'' (Livonian Dragoon Regiment II) * '' Öselska lantdragonskvadronen'' ( Öselian County Dragoon Squadron) Temporary cavalry regiments: * '' Livländska ståndsdragonbataljonen'' (Livonian Rank Dragoon Battalion) * '' Öselska ståndsdragonbataljonen'' ( Ösel Rank Dragoon Battalion)

References

* Andrejs Plakans, ''A Concise History of the Baltic States'', Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 105ff

Governors-general

Military

Swedish infantry and cavalry regiments

See also

References

Further reading