__NOTOC__ The six-year Truce of Altmark (or Treaty of Stary Targ, pl, Rozejm w Altmarku, sv, Stillståndet i Altmark) was signed on 16 (O.S.)/26 (N.S.) September 1629 in the village of Altmark (

Stary Targ Stary Targ (literally "Old Market"; formerly german: Altmark) is a village in Sztum County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stary Targ. It lies approximately east of ...

), in Poland, 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 ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, ending the

Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage (after 1600–1611, 1617–1618, and 1620–1625) in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century. It began in 1626 and ended four years later with ...

Provisions

The truce allowed Sweden to retain control of

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

. Sweden also evacuated most of the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the Prussia (region), region of P ...

but kept the coastal cities. Poland had other Swedish gains returned from the 1625 invasion. Most of Livonia north of the

Daugava River , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

was ceded to Sweden (

Swedish Livonia Swedish Livonia ( sv, Svenska Livland) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Brömse ...

), but

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 m ...

, the southeastern area, remained under Polish rule. Sweden received the right to two third of all the shipping tolls at Polish ports, such as at

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

(Danzig) and Elbląg (Elbing) and from the

, for six years. The shipping tolls financed Sweden's involvement in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

. The Truce of Altmark was signed shortly after Sweden had been defeated by Poland led by

Field Crown Hetman Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

Stanisław Koniecpolski Stanisław Koniecpolski (1591 – 11 March 1646) was a Polish military commander, regarded as one of the most talented and capable in the History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795), history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. ...

and Holy Roman Imperial troops at Trzciana, which nearly lead to the capture of King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

. Gustavus was wounded several times and was once saved by one of his men. The Polish Parliament (''

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

'') did not impose new taxes to pay the soldiers of the imperial army fighting under

Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg Johann or Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1583 in Boitzenburger Land – 28 April 1641, in Dresden) was a German Field Marshal. At different times during the Thirty Years' War, he was a Field Marshal for the Holy Roman Empire and its opponen ...

and low morale made some of them mutiny or go over to Sweden. Several other countries intervened diplomatically, which eventually forced

Sigismund III of Poland Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

to enter the truce. In 1635, the truce was extended by the

Treaty of Stuhmsdorf The Treaty of Stuhmsdorf ( sv, Stilleståndet i Stuhmsdorf), or Sztumska Wieś ( pl, Rozejm w Sztumskiej Wsi), was a treaty signed on 12 September 1635 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Empire in the village of Stuhmsd ...

. Sweden gave up the Prussian ports, and Poland ceded most of Livonia with

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 Ba ...

but kept the

region.

References

Other Sources

*Ulf Sundberg (2002) ''Svenska freder och stillestånd 1249-1814'' (Hjalmarson & Högberg)

External links

Scan and edition of the treaty

Scan of the treaty at IEG Mainz

Provisions

See also

References

Other Sources

External links

Scan and edition of the treaty

Further reading