Chapter 4: The Livonian War; 4.1: The Prelude

The political situation in Livonia became increasingly delicate during the 16th century. The Reformation had caused a divide between the knightly class and the clergy. The power of the bishoprics waned heavily.

An important prerequisite for stability in Old Livonia was the autonomy of the different states, but as time went on, they became more and more influenced by outside actors. The Bishop of Riga, Wilhelm, was in fact the brother of the duke of Prussia. In 1546, the different lords and estates of Livonia agreed to not allow any foreign people of ducal blood to be the heirs of neither bishops or the landmeister of the order. However, just ten years later, the aforementioned bishop of Riga declared the duke of Mecklenburg as his heir, and caused a conflict with it. The Livonian Order started a war against the Archbishopric of Riga, but since the latter was supported by the king of Poland, the order was forced to step down. Livonia had fallen under the influence of the Polish king.

The relations between Livonia and Muscovy had been on somewhat rocky grounds. During the Medieval Era, a lot of trade happened between the two regions, but politically they saw each other as enemies, due to the difference in religion (as Mucovy was Eastern Orthodox), as well as border disputes. The latter caused many border conflicts.

By the 16th century, the balance of power between Livonia and Muscovy had fallen to the side of Muscovy, which had become more powerful than all of Livonia combined. The only logical ally for Livonia would have been the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, powerful enough to combat the Russian threat. However, since the Commonwealth was the main enemy of the Teutonic Order until 1525, no military alliances were signed.

Muscovy encroached on the border of Livonia, by annexing the Republic of Novgorod in 1478. This made Livonia nervous, and it was decided to send a military expedition against Pskov, which was de jure independent but de facto a vassal state of Muscovy. This expedition backfired, the siege of the city failed and Muscovian forces pushed into Livonia, looting the land until reaching Viljandi (Fellin). They conquered the city but failed to capture the castle. After that, a ceasefire was signed for ten years. This initiated a cold war of sorts, it is the time when Muscovy built the Ivangorod Castle (Jaanilinna kindlus in Estonian) on Narva river, opposing the Hermann Castle.



A picture showing that.

The cold war erupted into flames in 1502, but after a battle where the Livonians, led by Wolter von Plettenberg, managed to defeat Muscovy, another ceasefire was signed. Livonia was aided by Lithuanian diplomats, as a result, Musocvy started to consider Livonia not as an equal partner, but as a vassal of the Commonwealth.

The ceasefire was prolonged decade after decade, until 1554, when something different happened. During the negotiations, Muscovian diplomats demanded that the Bishopric of Dorpat must start paying a tribute to Muscovy. Why? Because the Bishopric was considered as an ancient Russian territory (remember the short conquest in 1030-1061?).

Another demand was that Livonia had to cease imposing restrictions on merchants and craftsmen, who wished to migrate to Muscovy. There were two reasons why Livonia did that: 1) Merchants would have otherwise been able to bypass Livonia, which acted as an important middleman, and 2) Livonia did not wish to see the technical capabilities of its Eastern enemy increasing.

The Livonian diplomats were forced to accept these terms. Although part of the deal, the Livonian side did not start collecting the tax. They hoped to reach a further agreement peacefully, which would release them from the obligation to pay the tax. The deadline to pay the tribute was set to the end of 1557, but the talks on the issue in December 1557 failed. As the Livonian delegates did not have the agreed sum with them, the czar of Muscovy declared war (which was by the way pre-written even before the original 1554 deal), and Muscovian forces crossed the border into Livonia, initiating the first period of the Livonian War and the final nail in the coffin of the old order in Old Livonia.

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