Swedish Livonia () was a

dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

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

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

(including the island of

Ösel Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

ceded by

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

(the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) 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 north-centra ...

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

Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia, also referred to as Polish Livonia or Livonia, was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that existed from 1561 to 1621. It corresponds to the present-day areas of northe ...

during the 1600–1629

Polish-Swedish War This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

. Parts of Livonia and the city of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

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 The Treaty or Peace of Oliva (; ; ) was one of the peace treaties ending the Second Northern War (1655–1660).Frost (2000), p. 183 It was signed on .Evans (2008), p. 55 The Treaty of Oliva, the Treaty of Copenhagen in the same year, and the T ...

in 1660. The minority part of the

Wenden Voivodeship Wenden Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Duchy of Livonia, part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was formed in 1598 by King Sigismund III Vasa, out of Wenden Presidency (Province), whi ...

retained by the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

was renamed the

Inflanty Voivodeship The Inflanty Voivodeship (), 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 of the Wenden Voivodeship and ...

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

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

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 Kingdom of Denmark, Danish and Kingdom of Sweden, Swedish kingdoms in the Late Middle Ages, late medieval and Early Modern era, early modern eras. Th ...

''. In contrast to

Swedish Estonia Estonia under Swedish rule signifies the period of time between 1561 and 1710, when present-day Estonia was under the rule of the Swedish Empire. In the wake of the breakup of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Baltic German Baltic nobility, ...

, 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. The territory in turn was conquered by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

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

Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad, or the Treaty of Uusikaupunki, was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire on in the then Swedish town of Nystad (, in th ...

in 1721, together with Swedish Estonia and

Swedish Ingria Swedish Ingria (, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721 in what is now the territory of Russia. At the latter date, it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Ny ...

Kings and Queen of Livonia

the House of Vasa * Gustav II Adolf the Great (Gustavs II Ādolfs Lielais) (1611 – 1632) * Christina (Kristīna) (1632 – 1654) House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken * Charles X Gustav (Kārlis X Gustavs) (1654 –1660) * Charles XI (Kārlis XI) (1660 – 1697) *

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

(Kārlis XII) (1697 – 1718) * Ulrika Eleonora (Ulrika Elenora) (1719 – 1720) House of Hesse * Frederick I (Frederiks I) (1720 – 1751)

Governors-general

The dominion was ruled by appointed

governors-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

, but retained its own diet. *

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

(1622–1628) * Gustaf Horn (1628–1629) * Johan Skytte (1629–1633) * (1633–1634) * Bengt Oxenstierna (1634–1643) *

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

(1643) * (1644) * Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1645–1647) *

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (15 October 1622 – 26 April 1686) was a Swedish Empire, Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden, Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three ...

(1649–1651) * Gustaf Horn (1652–1653) *

(1655–1657) * Axel Lillie (1661) * Bengt Oxenstierna (1662–1665) * (1665–1671) * Fabian von Fersen (1671–1674) * (1674–1686) * Jacob Johan Hastfer (1687–1695) * Erik Dahlberg (1696–1702) * Carl Gustaf Frölich (1702–1706) * Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (1706–1709) * Henrik Otto Albedyll (1709) * Niels Jonsson Stromberg af Clastorp (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 A free company (sometimes called a great company or, in French, ''grande compagnie'') was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and were ...

) * '' 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'' (

Rank Dragoon Battalion)

References

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

Kings and Queen of Livonia

Governors-general

Military

Swedish infantry and cavalry regiments

See also

References

Further reading