Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
1561–1795 Polish–Lithuanian vassal state in the Baltics / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Latin: Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; German: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; Latvian: Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; Lithuanian: Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; Polish: Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominally vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom from 1569 to 1726[1] and incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1726.[2] On March 28, 1795, it was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
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Duchy of Courland and Semigallia | |||||||||||
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1561–1795 | |||||||||||
Status | Vassal state of Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1561–1569) and Poland–Lithuania (1569–1795) | ||||||||||
Capital | Mitau | ||||||||||
Common languages | German, Latvian, Livonian, Latgalian | ||||||||||
Religion | Lutheran, Roman Catholic | ||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Courlander, Couronian, Courish, Courlandish | ||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
Duke | |||||||||||
• 1561–1587 | Gotthard Kettler (first) | ||||||||||
• 1769–1795 | Peter von Biron (last) | ||||||||||
Legislature | Landtag | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
28 November 1561 | |||||||||||
1637–1690 | |||||||||||
28 March 1795 | |||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
• Total | 27,290 km2 (10,540 sq mi) | ||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||
• Estimate | ~200,000 (17th century) | ||||||||||
Currency | Thaler | ||||||||||
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Today part of | Latvia |
There was also a short-lived wartime state with the same name that existed from March 8 to September 22, 1918. Plans for it to become part of the United Baltic Duchy, subject to the German Empire, were thwarted by Germany's surrender of the Baltic region at the end of the First World War.[3] The area became a part of Latvia at the end of World War I.