Swedish Livonia

Swedish Livonia (Swedish: 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 Brömsebro) and the northern part of modern Latvia (the Vidzeme region), represented the conquest of the major part of the Polish-Lithuanian Duchy of Livonia during the 1600–1629 Polish-Swedish War. Parts of Livonia and the city of Riga 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 in 1660. The minority part of the Wenden Voivodeship retained by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was renamed the Inflanty Voivodeship ("Livonian Principality"), which today corresponds to the Latgale region of Latvia.

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Swedish Livonia Svenska Livland
1629–1721
Flag Coat of arms (18th century)
Baltic provinces of Swedish Empire in the 17th century.
Status	Dominion of the Swedish Empire
Capital	Riga
Common languages	Swedish, Estonian, Latvian, Livonian, Low German (Latin as lingua franca)
Religion	Lutheranism
Government	Dominion
King of Sweden
• 1611–1632	Gustav II Adolf
• 1720–1751	Frederick I
Governor-General
• 1622–1628	Jacob De la Gardie
• 1696–1702	Erik Dahlberg
Legislature	Diet
History
• Conquered by Sweden	1621
• Truce of Altmark	25 September 1629
• Treaty of Oliva	23 April 1660
• Great Northern War	1700–1721
• Conquered by Russia	1713
• Treaty of Nystad	30 August 1721
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Livonia Danish province of Øsel Governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire)
Today part of	Estonia Latvia

Part of a series on the
History of Latvia
Ancient Latvia Kunda culture Narva culture Corded Ware culture Amber Road / Aesti Baltic Finns (Livonians, Vends) Balts Latgalians Curonians Selonians Semigallians
Middle Ages Principality of Jersika Principality of Koknese Tālava Livonian Crusade Livonian Brothers of the Sword Livonian Order Archbishopric of Riga Bishopric of Courland Terra Mariana Baltic Germans
Early modern period Livonian War Kingdom of Livonia Duchy of Livonia Inflanty Voivodeship Swedish Livonia Polish–Swedish Wars (1600–1629) Second Northern War Great Northern War Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Couronian colonization
National Awakening Governorate of Livonia Courland Governorate Vitebsk Governorate The First Latvian National Awakening New Current
Modern Latvia Latvian Riflemen German occupation United Baltic Duchy Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic War of Independence 1934 Latvian coup d'état 1940 Soviet occupation Nazi occupation The Holocaust in Latvia 1944 Soviet re-occupation Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Popular Front of Latvia Singing Revolution Restoration of Independence 2008 Latvian financial crisis
Chronology
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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 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 during the Great Northern War and, following the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, formed the Governorate of Livonia. Formally, it was ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, together with Swedish Estonia and Swedish Ingria.