The Treaty or Peace of Pozvol, Pasvalys or Pozwol was a peace treaty and an alliance concluded on 5 and 14 September 1557 between the
Livonian Confederation and the
Polish-Lithuanian union, whereby the former put its territories under Polish-Lithuanian protection.
[De Madariaga (2006), p. 127] The treaty was preceded by disputes between the members of the
Livonian Confederation and military pressure by
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
,
King of Poland and
Grand Duke of Lithuania
The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...
, and provoked
Russian tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
Ivan IV "the Terrible" to start the
Livonian War
The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...
.
Background
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
(Albrecht),
Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (german: Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens; la, Magister generalis Ordo Teutonicus) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the super ...
, had introduced the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
and secularized the southern part of the
Teutonic Order State
The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Centr ...
, creating Europe's first Protestant state in 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 region of Prussia establish ...
in 1525 under
Polish protection. His efforts to introduce Protestantism to
the order's Livonian territories met with resistance and divided the
Livonian Confederation.
[Frost (2000), p. 4]
When Albert's brother
Wilhelm
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
, who as
Archbishop of Riga attempted to implement a
Lutheran church order in his bishopric, appointed Protestant
Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg as his
bishop coadjutor, the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
estates rebelled and arrested both Wilhelm and Christopher.
[
]
Treaty
An ongoing Danish mediation of this conflict became void with the intervention of Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and by the terms of Cracow protector of Wilhelm's brother, Albert.[ He demanded that Wilhelm and Christopher be released and the Livonian Confederation accept his protection.][ When he declared war][Tiberg (1984), p. 86] and raised an army to underline his demands,[ which left for Livonia in July 1557,][Reddaway (1978), p. 353] the Livonians gave in and signed three respective treaties[Macinnes et al. (2000), p. 67] on 14 September[Lubieniecki (1995), p. 798] in the encampment of Sigismund II Augustus' army near Pozvol (Pasvalys, Podzwol, Pozwoł).[Kiaupa (2005), p. 107]
All three treaties concerned the relation between the Livonian estates and Sigismund.[Tiberg (1984), p. 90] The first two treaties were the result of a mediation by envoys from the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, and were drafted on 5 September.[ Wilhelm was restored to his former position as archbishop, with his liberty and all former rights confirmed.][ Livonia restored its relation to Lithuania, and both realms concluded a defense-offense pact.][ The new grand master, Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, signed the alliance for the order][ and also ratified the other two treaties on 14 September along with other members of the order.][
]
Consequences
The alliance was directed against the Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
, then striving for hegemony in the area and regarding the treaty as a '' casus belli''.[ Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible", who in March had ended the ]Russo-Swedish War
Wars between Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and ...
with the Treaty of Novgorod and since focussed on Livonia, claiming the subordination of Dorpat
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
(Tartu) for a start.[
The tsar reacted to Pozvol by invading Livonia before the alliance would result in an actual mobilization of forces, starting the ]Livonian War
The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...
(1558–1583).[ As a result, ]Reval
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...
(Tallinn) turned to Sweden for protection, Ösel
Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...
(Saaremaa) was occupied by Denmark-Norway, and the order's grand master Gotthard von Kettler secularized what was left of the Russian-occupied order state, formally subordinated it to Sigismund II Augustus, and established himself as duke of Courland.
Sources
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty Of Pozvol
Pozvol
Pozvol
Pozvol
1557 treaties
1557 in Europe
1557 in Poland
1557 in Lithuania