Jump to content

Magnus, Duke of Holstein

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Yobot (talk | contribs) at 14:12, 30 November 2016 (→King of Livonia: WP:CHECKWIKI error fixes using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Magnus
Bishop of Ösel-Wiek
Reign1560–1572
Bishop of Courland
Reign1560–1583
King of Livonia (nominal)
Reign1570–1578
Born(1540-09-05)5 September 1540
Copenhagen Castle
Died28 March 1583(1583-03-28) (aged 42)
Pilten
Burial
Pilten (1583)
Roskilde Cathedral (1662)
ConsortMaria Vladimirovna of Staritsa
IssueMarie of Oldenburg
Eudoxia of Oldenburg
HouseOldenburg
FatherChristian III of Denmark
MotherDorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
ReligionLutheranism

Magnus of Holstein (5 September [O.S. 26 August] 1540 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1583) was a Prince of Denmark [1] and a member of the House of Oldenburg. As a vassal of Ivan IV of Russia, he was the titular King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578.[2]

Early life

Duke Magnus was born at the Copenhagen Castle in 1540 as the second son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. At the age of 17 he was sent to Germany to be educated at various German courts. Following the death of his father in 1559, he returned to Denmark for the coronation of his older brother, King Frederick II of Denmark.

The same year, the prince-bishop of Ösel-Wiek and Courland Johannes V von Münchhausen in Old Livonia sold his lands to King Frederick II for 30,000 thalers. To avoid hereditary partition of his lands, King Frederick II gave that territory to his younger brother Magnus on condition that he renounced his rights to succession in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. In 1560, Magnus landed with an army on Saaremaa where he was immediately elected bishop by the cathedral chapter.[3]

King of Livonia

See also: Livonian War

During the Livonian War, on 10 June 1570, Duke Magnus arrived in Moscow, where he was crowned King of Livonia by Ivan IV. 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 dyak Vasily Shchelkalov. The territories of the new kingdom still had to be conquered, but even so Põltsamaa Castle was proclaimed the future official residence of the king.[4]

The newly crowned king Magnus of Livonia left Moscow with 20,000 Russian soldiers with the intention of conquering Swedish-controlled Reval. Ivan's hope of the support of Frederick II of Denmark, the older brother of Magnus, failed. By the end of March 1571, Magnus gave up the struggle for Reval and abandoned the siege.[1][5]

In 1577, having lost Ivan's favor and receiving 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 gave the rights to the throne to the genus of Stefan Batory.[6]

Magnus spent the last six years of his life at the castle of Pilten in the Bishopric of Courland, where he died as a pensioner of the Polish crown.[7]

In 1662, Magnus' body was returned to Denmark and was reburied in the Roskilde Cathedral.[8]

Spouse and issue

On 12 April 1574, he married Maria Vladimirovna of Staritsa, daughter of Vladimir of Staritsa, Duke of Staritsa. His issue included:

Ancestry

Family of Magnus, Duke of Holstein
16. Theodoric, Count of Oldenburg
8. Christian I of Denmark
17. Helvig of Schauenburg
4. Frederick I of Denmark
18. John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
9. Dorothea of Brandenburg
19. Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg
2. Christian III of Denmark
20. Albrecht III, Elector of Brandenburg
10. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg
21. Margaret of Baden
5. Anna of Brandenburg
22. William III, Duke of Luxembourg
11. Margaret of Thuringia
23. Anne, Duchess of Luxembourg
1. Magnus of Denmark, King of Livonia
24. Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
12. John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
25. Adelheid of Pomerania
6. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
26. Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
13. Dorothea of Brandenburg
27. Catherine of Saxony
3. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
28. William IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
14. Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
29. Elisabeth of Stolberg-Wernigerode
7. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
30. Eric II, Duke of Pomerania
15. Catherine of Pomerania-Wolgast
31. Sophia of Pomerania-Stargard

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 849. ISBN 0-313-33536-2.
  2. ^ Goodrich, S. C. (2008). "Early Russian History". A Pictorial History of England. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 150. ISBN 0-554-73173-8.
  3. ^ Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture By Richard C. Frucht; ISBN 1-57607-800-0; p.70
  4. ^ Viirand, Tiiu (2004). Estonia. Cultural Tourism. Kunst Publishers. pp. 82–84. ISBN 9949-407-18-4.
  5. ^ Ivan the Terrible By Isabel De Madariaga ISBN 0-300-11973-9
  6. ^ War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790 By Stewart Philip Oakley ISBN 0-415-02472-2
  7. ^ Frederik II and the Protestant Cause: Denmark's Role in the Wars of Religion By Paul Douglas Lockhart Page 38 Page 39
  8. ^ Kønigsfeldt, Johannes Peter Frederik; Danske historiske forening (1856). Genealogisk-historiske tabeller over de nordiske rigers kongeslægter (in Danish). B. Lunos bogtrykkeri,. p. 52.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Magnus, Duke of Holstein.
Preceded by Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg & Oldenburg
1559 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Ösel-Wiek
1560–1572 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Courland
1560–1583 		Succeeded by
Preceded by nominated King of Livonia by Ivan IV
1570–1578 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magnus,_Duke_of_Holstein&oldid=752295310"