LIVONIA
Vidzeme
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Livonia was once the land of the
Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole
with its center at Turaida. The most prominent ruler of ancient
Livonia was Caupo of Turaida. During the Livonian
Crusade, ancient Livonia was colonized by the Livonian Brothers of the
Sword, later called the Livonian Order, and the name Livonia came to
designate a much broader territory: Terra
Mariana on the eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea, in present-day Latvia
and Estonia. Its frontiers were the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland in
the north-west, Lake Peipus and Russia to the east, and Lithuania to the
south. After the dissolution of the Livonian Order in 1561
as a result of the Livonian War, Livonia was annexated by Poland. Riga
remained a free city from 1561-’82. In 1570
Livonia was declared a kingdom by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV (1533-’84). Duke
Magnus of Holstein, a brother of King
Frederick II of Denmark (1559-’88) was to be its king. In the
30-years war Livonia was annexated by Sweden but it had to be ceded to Russia
in 1721. Russian rule
lasted until 1918 when Livland was inciorporated into the newly formed Soviet
Republic of Latvia. Later it was a part of the Latvian Republic of 1920, the
Socialist Soviet Republic of Latvia of
1940 and the restored Republic of 1991. |
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To
provide the crusaders who had invaded the country at the end of the 12th
century with a regular organisation Albrecht, first bishop of Riga founded a
knighthood in 1202. In 1204 the new Order was confirmed by Pope Innocentius
III and adopted the rules and organization of the Templars and also their
official name of ‘Milites Christi’,
be it with the addition of ‘de
Livoniæ’. They also adopted the red cross of that order on their cloaks
and added a red sword. Because of its emblem the knighthood was called Schwert-brüderorden
or Schwertritterorden (Brethren of the Sword). [1] Very
little has been preserved from the Bothers of the Sword. The only reliable
source for its emblems is a seal dated 1226 showing a sword point downwards
and a square cross in chief. This is said to have been red on a white
background, the colors and emblem of the cloaks of the brothers.
Seal of the Brethren of
the Sword 1226. Sword
point downwards and a square cross patée in chief. L.:
S. MAGISTER ET FR(atru)M
MILICIE C(r)R(st)I
DE LIVONIÆ |
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The Order was decimated in the Battle of Schaulen
(Saule) in 1236 against Lithuanians and
Semigallians. This disaster led the surviving Brothers to become incorporated
into the Order of Teutonic Knights in
the following year, bij certificate of Pope Gregory IX issued in Viterbo
on 12. May. From that point on they became known as the Livonian Order. They continued to function in all respects (rule,
clothing and policy) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by
their own Master (himself de jure subject to the Teutonic Order's Grand
Master). As a result the cross and sword of the order was replaced by a black
cross. This was displayed on the shield of the Marshal of the Order as is
demonstrated by his seal:
Seal of the Marhal of
Livonia. Knight
on horseback, on his shield and pennon a cross. Legend: X s(igillum)
marscalci de livonia. Date: 08.10.1348. [2] Banners of subordinated divisions were white and
black. The banner of the Order showed the Virgin Mary,
patron of the Teutonic Order on the obverse, and St. Mauritius, patron of the
Livonian Order on the reverse. It is depicted in the Banderia Prutenorum
of Jan Dlugosz containing the banners of the battallions participating in the
Battle of Tannenberg.
Livonian Banner (obv.),
St. Mauritius of Africa in armoury, proper, his skirt Azure, his belt,
elbows and knees Or , ducally crowned and nimbused Or, armed wit a halberd
Argent and Or, and a shield Argent, a cross Sable. In sinister chief a shield
Argent, a cross Sable. The
legend reads: “Banderium Liwonitarum, quod in prelio anno M
quadringentesimo tricesimo primo comisso Theodoricus Croe, marscalcus Liwonie,
ducebat.”[3] St. Mauritius was also the patron of the Holy Roman
Empire
Livonian Banner (rev.),
Holy Virgin with child in the upper left corner a shield: Argent, a cross
Sable. The legend reads: “Banderium magistri Livonie ordinis cruciferorum quod Theodricus Croe,
marscalcus Liuonie, ducebat in prelio anno M CCCC tricesimo primo circa
villam Dambky iuxta fluvium Wyrzscha prope Nakiel. Cui
Jodocus de Hogyerkyerche commendator de Tucholia, veluti locorum peritus
ducatum prebebat."[4] Perhaps the cross of the Schwert-brüderorden
was also used to make a difference between the Teuronic order and the
Livonian Order. This we may conclude from the fact that the square cross
patée of the Livonian Order was still used on 15th and 16th century coins. Even
we notice this cross on a shield which makes the arms of the Order of that
time (Argent) a square cross patée (Gules). Heinrich von Galen however seems to have readopted
the straight cross of the Teuronic Order. Its arms are on coins of Gotthard
Kettler. No pictures in colour of these arms however, are
known. |
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Wolter von
Plettenberg 1494-1535 |
Hermann von
Brüggeneye 1535-49 |
Godert
(Gotthard) Kettler 1559-61 |
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From about the end of the 15th century the personal
arms of the Masters were combined in different ways with the black cross. [5] The earliest way was the personal arms supported by the cross (or
the cross charged with the personal arms but the second way was a quartering
of the personal arms with the cross.
Bernd von der Borch 1471-83 Arms: Three birds sejant 2&1. |
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Wolter von Plettenberg 1494-1535 Arms: Per pale Azure and Or |
Hermann von Brüggeneye 1535-‘49 Arms:
NN |
Johann von der Recke 1549-‘51 Arms: Azure, a fess compony Gules and Argent |
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Heinrich von Galen 1551-‘57 Arms (1553): ¼: 1&4: A square
cross patée; 2&3: Or, three double hooks 2&1 Gules |
Heinrich von Galen 1551-‘57 Arms (1557): ¼: 1&4 A cross;
2&3: Or, three double hooks 2&1 Gules |
Johann Wilhelm von Fürstenberg 1557-‘59 Arms: ¼: 1&4: A cross;
2&3: Or, two bars Gules |
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Godert (Gotthard) Kettler 1559-‘61 Arms: ¼ 1&4: A cross; 2&3: Or, a kettle hook Gules. Crests: 1. A crucifix; D.: A cross; S.: A kettle hook Gules. Under the command of the Teutonic Order the cross of
the Livonian Order was a red square cross of different forms (patée, potent,
eight-pointed) on a white field. On the arms of its later Masters, it was quartered
with the personal arms of the Master. This can be seen on the arms of the masters Heinrich von Galen (1551-’57)
and Gotthard Kettler (1559-’61). |
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After
the dissolution of the Livonian Order in 1561, Livonia was annexated by
Poland. Riga remained a free city from 1561-’82. In 1566
by Treaty of Union between the landowners of Livonia and authorities of
Lithuania, Livonia was made a duchy. At
this occasion a coat of arms was granted to the Livonian Knights by king
Sigismund August II of Poland (1548-’72) on 26. December 1566. It was: Arms: Gules, a griffin Argent armed with a sword in his
right paw, his breast charged with the crowned cypher SA Or. [6] Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz (1537-’79) became the first Governor of the Duchy (1566–1578), residing in
Sigulda castle. He impaled his arms of the Kosciesza clan consisting
of an arrow with a bar Argent on a field Gules with these arms. The arms of
the Kosciesza clan at least dates from the beginning of the 15th century when
it appeared in a Burgundian Armorial known as MS 4790 of the Bibliothèque de
l’Arsenal in Paris. [7]
Until
1569 it was a province of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the Union of Lublin in
1569, it became a joint domain of the Polish Crown and
the Grand Duchy. |
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1570-1578 |
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In 1570 Livonia
was declared a kingdom by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV (1533-’84). Duke Magnus of
Holstein, a brother of King Frederick
II of Denmark (1559-’88) was to be its king.
On June 10 1570
Duke Magnus of Holstein arrived in Moscow where he was crowned as King of
Livonia. Magnus took the oath of allegiance to Ivan as his overlord and
received from the corresponding charter for the vassal kingdom of Livonia in
what Ivan termed his patrimony. The treaty between Magnus and Ivan IV was
signed by an oprichnik and by a member of the zemskii
administration, the d’iak V. Shchelkalov. The territories of the new
kingdom still had to be conquered. The new king Magnus of Livonia left Moscow
to the conquest of Swedish controlled Reval. Ivan’s hope for the support of
Frederick II of Denmark failed. By the end of March 1571 Magnus gave up the
struggle for Reval and abandoned the siege. In 1577 having
lost Ivan’s favor and getting no support from his brother, Magnus called on
the Livonian nobility to rally to him in a struggle against foreign
occupation. He was attacked by Ivan’s forces and taken prisoner. On his
release he renounced his royal title. Magnus spent the last six years of his
life at the castle of Pliten in Courland where he died as a pensioner of the
Polish crown. |
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Magnus of Holstein |
King of Livonia 1570-1577 |
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Duke Magnus of Holstein (26.08.1540 – 18.03.1583) was a Prince of Denmark,
the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Queen Dorothea of
Saxe-Lauenburg, He was a bishop of Oesel (Saaremaa) from 1560 until his
death in 1583.
On his seal as
a bishop of Oesel from 1563 his arms are: Arms: Quarterly
of Oesel and Gotland, and a base of Reval. On an escutcheon another quarterly
of Norway, Schleswig, Holstein and Stormarn, charged with Oldenburg. On his seal of
majesty he is surrounded by the arms corresponding with his titles:
Seal of Magnus of Holstein
as a bishop of Oesel etc.. The
bishop sitting on his throne between two angels playing the trumpet. In the
margin the arms of Norway, Schleswig, Holstein Stormarn, Oldenburg, Oesel,
Reval and Gotland. The legend runs: SIGILLVM
MAIESTATIS MAGNI DEI GRATIA EPISCOBI OZILIÆ MARITIME CVRONIÆ ECCLESIARVM
ADMINISTRATORIS REVALIE HÆREDIS NORVEGIÆ SLESVIC HOLSAT STORET DITMAR COMI
OLIT DELM. On his seal as
a king of Livland showing a crowned coat of arms the arms for his Livonian
territories are added. It is:
Seal of King Magnus of
Livonia (Latvijas arhīvi. Nr.3./4., 2011., 55. lpp.) [8] Arms: Quarterly
of Estonia, Livonia Semigallia and Oesel and a base per pale of Gotland and
two latin crosses in saltire. On an escutcheon: Quarterly of Norway,
Schleswig, Holstein and Stormarn, with a base per pale of Delmenhorst and
Oldenburg and charged with an escutceon of Ditmarschen. Legend: MAGNVS D – G – REX LIVONIÆ HÆ NOR DVX SCHLES H. The blasoning
of the quarters is: Delmenhorst: Azure, a pointed cross patée Or. Ditmarschen: Gules a rider on horseback, his horse Argent,
his armoury Or. Estonia: Or, three lions passant guardant Azure. Gotland: Gules, a paschal lamb Argent, his cross and
banner Or. Holstein: Argent a bordure indented Gules Livonia: Gules a griffing armed with a sword Argent. Norway: Gules a lion Or armed with an axe Argent. Oesel: Azure, an eagle rising Argent [9] Oldenburg: Or, two bars Gules. Riga: Gules, a crozier and a latin cross in saltire Argent. (not certain,
here: two latin crosses in saltire) Schleswig: Or, two lions passant Azure Semigallia: Azure, a stag Proper Stormarn: Gules, a swan Argent cowned Or.
Obverse of a 1 Schilling coin of Livonia 1572 For the
Duchy of Livonia the arms with the griffin-and-sword were continued, the
crowned cypher SA omitted. |
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1629-1721 |
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The First Polish-Swedish War
ended with the Treaty of Altmark in 1629, which formalised the occupation of
Poland-Lithuania's Livonia under Swedish rule as Swedish Livonia. In fact,
parts of Livonia as far south as Riga had been in Swedish hands since 1621. Only
the remainder of Livonian territory, the small eastern part of Livonia, named
Latgallia, remained in Polish
hands. The country retained its own diet, or parliament. For Swedish Livonia the arms with
the griffin were continued, the cypher of Sigismun August omitted, the crown
maintained.[10]
Arms of Livonia Embroidery, made for the funeral of King Karl X
Gustav of Sweden of 4 November 1660. Stockholm, Livrustkammaren inv.
nr. 24861 (60:13:a) |
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1721/1772-1918 |
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Sweden
was defeated at the end of the Great Northern War. The victors, Russia,
Poland and Denmark, divided the spoils with the Treaty of Nystad. Much of
Livonia was handed over to Russia, although it had already been occupied by
Russian troops in 1710. After Polish Livonia had been ceded to Russia at the second partition of Poland in 1772 the arms corresponding with the title Prince of Livonia (Князь Лифляндскіи) were incorporated into the larger arms of Tsar Paul I, adopted in 1800. For the occasion the arms of Livonia were:
Arms of Livonia in
the “Complete Armorial of the Greater Russian Empire, 1800” [11] Arms: Azure, a griffin armed with a
sword Argent, in his sinister paw a shield Sable the letter ‘R’ also Argent. |
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On 8 December 1856 arms were granted to the Livonia Governorate. They are:
Arms: Gules, a griffin Argent, armed with a sword Or, on
his breast the cypher ПB ИB (Petr, Vtorii Imperator' Vserossiiskii) Gules imperially crowned. Crown: The russian Imperial crown Garland: Branches of oak Or, tied with the blue ribbon of
the Order of St. Andrew. On the arms of
the Republic of Latvija of 18 November 1920 and readopted 17 February 1990
Livonia is represented by a white griffin armed with a sword on a red field.. Æ See illustration in the head of this
essay |
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© Hubert de Vries 2012-12-10. Updated 2019-10-21
Heraldry of the World
