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Kuldīga Castle
Kuldīga Castle ( la , castrum Guldinge, de , Burc Goldingen, Schloß Goldingen) also Goldingen Castle and Jesus Castle (german: Jesusburg) was a medieval castle of the Livonian Order in historical Courland in town Kuldīga near Venta Rapid. Today on the left bank of the Venta at the end of the old bridge one can find the former castle mill, a castle guard's house and a city park with the castle ruins on Rumba Hill. National archaeological site, approved by Order No. of 29 October 1998, 128 as an object of state protection No. 1233 : Kuldīga Medieval Castle. History 13th-15th centuries Between 1242 and 1245 Kuldiga castle was established as the southern outpost of the Livonian order. Initially the castle was called ''Jesusburg'', later after the Curonian name for the place, ''Burg Goldingen''. In 1252 a Komtur of Curonia, whose seat was in Goldingen, was mentioned for the first time. At the end of the 13th century, all friars in Courland were subordinate to the Goldin ...
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Courland
Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. The largest city is Liepāja, the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were formerly held by the same duke. Geography and climate Situated in western Latvia, Courland roughly corresponds to the former Latvian districts of Kuldīga, Liepāja, Saldus, Talsi, Tukums and Ventspils. When combined with Semigallia and Selonia, Courland's northeastern boundary is the Daugava, which separates it from the regions of Latgale and Vidzeme. To the north, Courland's coast lies along the Gulf of Riga. On the west it is bordered by the Baltic Sea, and on the south by Lithuania. It lies between 55° 45′ and 57° 45′ North and 21° and 27° East. The name is also ...
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Durbe
Durbe (; german: Durben, lt, Durbė, pl, Dorbiany, russian: Дурбе ''Durbe''/Дурбен ''Durben'') is a town in Latvia. Durbe was first noted in 1260, when the Battle of Durbe occurred near Lake Durbe. As of 2020, the population was 492. Town rights were granted to Durbe in 1893 and confirmed in 1917. Durbe manor served as the headquarters of a German brigade in 1917. Town coat of arms was granted in 1925 - a silver apple tree. In Latvian folklore an apple tree is considered a magical source of youth and sympathy. Notable people Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (, Durbe – 22 August 1925, near Tukums) was a Latvian politician and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Latvia from its independence until 1924 and again from December of the same year until his death ... (1887 - 1925), Prime Minister of Latvia and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. See also * List of cities in Latvia References External links Durbe town ...
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Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square kilometres (11,382 square miles) and a population of 2.5 million residents, it is the List of German states by area, fifth-largest German state by area and the List of German states by population, tenth-most populous. Potsdam is the state capital and largest city, and other major towns are Cottbus, Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder). Brandenburg surrounds the national capital and city-state of Berlin, and together they form the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, the third-largest Metropolitan regions in Germany, metropolitan area in Germany with a total population of about 6.2 million. There was Fusion of Berlin and Brandenburg#1996 fusion attempt, an unsuccessful attempt to unify both states in 1996 and ...
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Frederick Casimir Kettler
Frederick Casimir Kettler (German: ''Friedrich Casimir Kettler''; 6 July 1650 – 22 January 1698) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1682 to 1698. Frederick Casimir was the son of Jacob Kettler and Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg. In his reign the Duchy lost its geopolitical position and became Sweden, Prussia and Russia's territorial subject of interests. Biography Frederick Casimir Kettler studied law in Germany and visited a number of European courts. In 1673 he was in the Dutch military service and took part with his Courland regiment in the Franco-Dutch War. On 5 October 1675, in The Hague, Frederick Casimir married princess Sophie Amalie of Nassau-Siegen and returned home. After his father died Frederick Casimir became the Duke of Courland and Semigallia and vigorously resorted to public affairs. In 1684 the duke's book printer George Radeckis in Jelgava became the first person to print books in the Latvian language. His efforts to restore the holdings were stopped ...
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Robert Douglas, Count Of Skenninge
Robert Douglas (17 March 1611 – 28 May 1662), Count of Skenninge, Baron of Skalby, was a Scottish cavalry general during the Thirty Years' War rising to the rank of Field Marshal (1657–1662) in the Swedish-Polish wars that followed. He founded the Swedish branch of Clan Douglas. Youth Douglas was born at Standingstone, near Garvald, East Lothian. who bore him six sons (of whom four lived to adulthood) and a daughter. Three sons became officers and died without issue. The daughter married an Oxenstierna. The remaining son, Gustaf, was first of the Swedish-born noble line of Douglas. He became a Colonel and Governor of Västerbotten. The Swedish noble family of Douglas descends from him. His grandson, Count Gustav Otto Douglas, was captured by the Russians during the Battle of Poltava, entered Russian service, and in 1717 was made Peter the Great's Governor General over Finland.Atina Nihtinen, 'Field Marshal James Kieth', p.99 In the 1890s the then head of the family, ...
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Second Northern War
The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brandenburg-Prussia (1657–60), the Habsburg monarchy (1657–60) and Denmark–Norway (Dano-Swedish War (1657–58), 1657–58 and Dano-Swedish War (1658–60), 1658–60). The Dutch Republic waged an informal trade war against Sweden and seized the colony of New Sweden in 1655, but was not a recognized part of the Polish–Danish alliance. In 1655, Charles X Gustav of Sweden invaded and occupied western Poland–Lithuania, the eastern half of which was Russo-Polish War (1654–67), already occupied by Russia. The rapid Swedish advance became known in Poland as the Deluge (history), Swedish Deluge. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Union of Kėdainiai, became a Swedish fief, the Polish–Lithuanian regular armies surrendered and the Polish king Joh ...
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King Louis XIV Of France
, house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France , burial_date = 9 September 1715 , burial_place = Basilica of Saint-Denis , religion = Catholicism (Gallican Rite) , signature = Louis XIV Signature.svg Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign in history whose date is verifiable. Although Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe, the King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Bossuet, Colbert, Le Brun, Le Nôtre, Lully, Mazarin, Molière, Racine, Turenne, a ...
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Duchess Sophie Of Prussia
Duchess Sophie of Prussia (c. 31 March 1582 – c. 24 November 1610) was a German princess of the Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Kingdom of Poland and a member of the House of Hohenzollern. Sophie was the daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, and Marie Eleonore of Cleves. She was courted by Wilhelm Kettler, son of Gotthard Kettler of Courland and Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Their marriage contract was signed in Königsberg on 5 January 1609. Sophie died on 24 November 1610, four weeks after the birth of her only son, Jacob, who later succeeded his paternal uncle Friedrich Kettler Friedrich Kettler ( Latvian: Frīdrihs Ketlers, 25 November 1569 in Mitau (now Jelgava) – 17 August 1642) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia (Latvian: ''Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste'', now part of Latvia) from 1587 to 1642. He was the son ... as Duke of Courland. References 1582 births 1610 deaths 17th-century Latvian people People from the Duchy of Prussia House of Hohen ...
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Jacob Kettler
Jacob Kettler (german: link=no, Jakob von Kettler) (Latvian: Hercogs Jēkabs Ketlers) (28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was one of the greatest Baltic German Dukes of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1642–1682). He was intelligent, spoke Latvian and lived mostly in Goldingen, capital of Courland and Semigallia. Under his rule, the Courland and Semigallia became more independent, reached its peak in wealth and engaged in colonization putting part of Latvia on the worlds map as one of the smallest, but fastest growing states in the world at that time. Early life Kettler was born in Goldingen, now known as Kuldīga. He was the son of Wilhelm Kettler and Princess Sophia of Prussia, a daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, and was a godson of King James I of England. While his father was exiled from the duchy, Jacob lived in the courts of Stettin and Berlin. He studied in Rostock and at the University of Leipzig and sympathized with the ideas of mercantilism. ...
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Wilhelm Kettler
Wilhelm Kettler (20 June 1574 – 7 April 1640) was the Duke of Courland, a Baltic German region in today's Latvia. Wilhelm ruled the western Courland portion of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, while his brother Friedrich Kettler, Friedrich ruled the eastern Semigallia portion. Life and family

Born in Jelgava, Mitau in 1574, Wilhelm Kettler was the youngest son of Gotthard Kettler and his wife, Anna of Mecklenburg. After their father's death in 1587, Wilhelm and his brother Friedrich inherited the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The brothers divided the duchy between themselves, and Wilhelm ruled the Courland portion, with the seat in Kuldīga. In 1609, William married Princess Sophia of Prussia (1582-1610), Sophia of Brandenburg-Prussia (1582–1610), daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, receiving as a dowry the territory of Grobiņa. Due to conflicts with the local nobility, he lost control of the duchy in 1617 and emigrated. Thereafter, his brothe ...
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Friedrich Kettler
Friedrich Kettler ( Latvian: Frīdrihs Ketlers, 25 November 1569 in Mitau (now Jelgava) – 17 August 1642) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia (Latvian: ''Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste'', now part of Latvia) from 1587 to 1642. He was the son of Gotthard Kettler, the first Duke of Courland. Until 1617, he ruled only the eastern ''Zemgale'' (Semigallia) portion of the duchy, while his younger brother, Wilhelm Kettler, ruled the western Courland portion. Friedrich ruled the entire duchy from 1617 onward, after his brother emigrated due to conflicts with the nobility. Life and reign Friedrich Kettler was born to Gotthard Kettler and his wife, Anna of Mecklenburg. The first of two sons, Friedrich in his youth had a good education and travelled to many other European countries. According to Gotthard Kettler's will, the duchy was to be divided between his two sons. After his father's death in 1587, Friedrich and his younger brother, Wilhelm, became co-rulers of the duchy. After Wi ...
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Gotthard Kettler
Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland (also ''Godert'', ''Ketteler'', german: Gotthard Kettler, Herzog von Kurland; 2 February 1517 – 17 May 1587) was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia. Biography Kettler was born near Anröchte, Kreis Soest, of an old Westphalian noble family and the ninth child of the German knight Gotthard Kettler zu Melrich (mentioned 1527–1556) and his wife Sophie of Nesselrode. Gotthard's older brother Wilhelm Kettler was bishop of Münster from 1553 to 1557. Kettler enlisted in the Livonian order around 1537 and became a knight. In 1554 Gotthard Kettler became Komtur of Dünaburg (Daugavpils), and in 1557 Komtur of Fellin (Viljandi). In 1559, during the Livonian War (1558–1582) he succeeded Wilhelm von Fürstenberg as a Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. When the Livonian Confederation came under increasing pressure from Ivan IV of Russia, Kettler converted to Lutheranism and secularised Semigallia ...
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