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, a ...

(including the island of

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 ...

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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

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 n ...

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 Ba ...

were under Swedish control as early as 1621 and the situation was formalized in the

Truce of Altmark __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), in Poland, by the Polish–Lithuani ...

1629, but the whole territory was not ceded formally until the

Treaty of Oliva The Treaty or Peace of Oliva of 23 April (OS)/3 May (NS) 1660Evans (2008), p.55 ( pl, Pokój Oliwski, sv, Freden i Oliva, german: Vertrag von Oliva) was one of the peace treaties ending the Second Northern War (1655-1660).Frost (2000), p.183 ...

in 1660. The minority part of the

Wenden Voivodeship Wenden Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wendeńskie) 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 ...

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 m ...

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''. In contrast to Swedish Estonia, which had submitted to Swedish rule voluntarily in 1561 and where traditional local laws remained largely untouched, the

uniformity policy The uniformity policy was the concept of implementing Swedish law to the dominions of Sweden during the latter's Swedish Empire, time as an empire. It is symbolized by the slogan ''unus rex, una lex et grex unus'' ("one king, one law, one people") p ...

was applied in Swedish Livonia under

Karl XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-G ...

: 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 Cro ...

. 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-Swedi ...

and, following the

Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia With the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 the Swedish dominions Estonia and Livonia were integrated into the Russian EmpireLuts (2006), p. 159 following their conquest during the Great Northern War.Frost (2000), p. 294 The Livonia ...

in 1710, formed the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

. 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 Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, but retained its own

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

. *

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, Governor o ...

(1622–1628) *

Gustaf Horn Count Gustav Horn af Björneborg (October 22, 1592 – May 10, 1657) was a Finnish nobleman of the Swedish Empire, military officer, and Governor-General. He was appointed member of the Royal Council in 1625, Field Marshal in 1628, Gove ...

(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 Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *Nils Björk (1898–1989), ...

(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 the ...

(1643) * Erik Eriksson Ryning (1644) *

Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna af Korsholm och Wasa, 1st Count of Korsholma and Vaasa, Finnish: ''Gabriel Pentinpoika Oxenstierna'', (18 March 1586 at Lindholmen Castle, Västergötland – 12 December 1656 at Edsberg Manor, Sollentuna) was a ...

(1645–1647) * Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1649–1651) *

(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 1652 ...

(1661) * Bengt Oxenstierna (1662–1665) * Clas Åkesson Tott (the younger) (1665–1671) * Fabian von Fersen (1671–1674) *

Krister Klasson Horn Krister is a Swedish variant of the Swedish masculine given name Christer and may refer to: *Krister Bringéus (born 1954), Swedish diplomat *Krister Classon (born 1955), Swedish comedian, actor, director and screenwriter *Krister Dreyer (born 1974 ...

(1674–1686) * Jacob Johan Hastfer (1687–1695) *

Erik Dahlberg '' Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 162516 January 1703) was a Sweden, 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 w ...

(1696–1702) *

Carl Gustaf Frölich Count Carl Gustaf Frölich (163714 March 1714) was a Sweden, Swedish military officer of German descent, Riga Governor in 1700-1706 and infantry general. He was the brother of a Pietist writer and mystic Eva Margareta Frölich (1650-1692) and ...

(1702–1706) *

Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (15 April 1659 – 12 February 1719) was a Swedish general, particularly known for his participation in the Great Northern War. Biography He was born on 15 April 1659 in a Swedish fortified camp near Copenhagen. He attend ...

(1706–1709) *

Henrik Otto Albedyll Henrik Otto von Albedyll (1666 —1738), was a Swedes, Swedish freiherr and military officer of German Baltic origin. In 1719 he was acting General Governor of Swedish Livonia. Biography Henrik Otto von Albedyl was born in a family of an old ...

(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 after ...

(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 Wolter is a given name and surname of Low German and Low Franconian origin. It is equivalent to the English Walter, High German Walther, Dutch Wouter and French Gauthier. People with the name Wolter include: Given name * Wolter von Plettenberg (c ...

's Free Dragoons) * '' Lewenhaupts frikompani'' (

'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'' (

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