Chapter Overview

Chapter Overview Chapter 1. Genesis: Riga before Riga. The book opens with an origin story that introduces the watery and sandy landscape of early Riga and the pagans who lived in or near it at the close of the twelfth century. Chapter 1 considers the efforts of German merchants and Catholic missionaries to trade with and establish Christian communities among the Livish tribes who lived along the banks of the Düna River (which Latvians know as the Daugava). The chapter provides readers with a broader context for understanding these early encounters by ex- amining western Europe’s commercial and religious expansion during the Middle Ages. Chapter 2. Watering the Nations: Riga and the Northern Crusades. Based partly on the accounts of medieval chroniclers, chapter 2 explores the notion of Riga as a “city of God” to which thousands of monk-knights and other warriors arrived to do battle with the pagans in Livonia, which the crusaders called the “Land of Mary.” Here we consider the city’s role in the Baltic crusade as both a regional trading center and as a gathering point for military expeditions against pagans and Rus’. Chapter 3. Free Air in the Hanse City. Chapter 3 narrates Riga’s history as a prosperous member of the Hanseatic League of northern trading cities. A distant outpost of the decentralized Holy Roman Empire, the “free city” of Riga became an important collecting point for primary goods from the east (Russia) destined for western European markets. Chapter 3 maps the medieval city’s castles, churches, markets, and streets while exploring the roles played by Ger- mans and “non- Germans” in the city’s social and economic arrangements. Chapter 4. Master of Riga: The Archbishop, the Order, and the Rath. The subject of chapter 4 is Riga’s unstable political dynamics, for the division of power in Riga satisfied neither the region’s supreme religious authority, the Archbishop of Riga, nor the master of the Livonian Order, whose monk-knights were responsible for Livonia’s defense. Least of all did the arrangement please the wealthy merchants of the Riga Town Council (Rath), an administrative body that embodied the ideal of urban self- governance. A set piece of chapter 4 is the fate of the Riga Castle, which the citizens destroyed twice during Riga’s civil wars of the later Middle Ages. Chapter 5. Old Knights and New Teachings: The Reformation in Riga. Chapter 5 demonstrates the impact of new ideas on old arrangements in late medieval Riga. While the restlessness of the 1520s brought an end to the Catholic Church’s spiritual dominion over the city of Riga, the Reformation was no impediment to Riga’s growing material prosperity and in no way diminished the authority of its German elites. During an era when established authority was under challenge and neighboring viii Chapter Overview dynastic states sought to expand their power and influence, it fell to the Livonian Or- der’s long- reigning master Walter of Plettenberg to defend the feudal state and keep the peace in Riga. Chapter 6. Upheavals: The Livonian War and the Polish Interlude. The demise of the archbishopric and of the Livonian Order during the Livonian War (1558– 1582) left Riga and the territory of Livonia vulnerable to the ambitions of ag- gressive regional powers. Chapter 6 examines the tumultuous era that began with the failed Muscovite advance toward Riga and that continued through four decades of Pol- ish rule (1581– 1621). This era of alien occupation and of religious and political strife is illustrated by a close examination of Riga’s unique “Calendar Upheavals” of the 1590s. Chapter 7. Star City: The Swedish Century. For ninety years, Riga was under the dominion of the Swedish Empire, an absolutist state that relied on the Livonian port for supplies of food and for the defense of its Baltic possessions. As Riga was the empire’s largest city, its most important fortress, and a significant source of income, the city underwent extensive physical renovations that strengthened its defenses and transformed its appearance. Chapter 7 demonstrates that the peace, progress, educational advances, and cultural achievements of the seventeenth century made the Swedish era into something of a “golden age” for early modern Riga. Chapter 8. “This Accursed Place”: The Great Northern War. The concluding chapter examines the city’s experience during the Great Northern War (1700– 1721), whose end results were the destruction of Swedish power in the Baltic Sea and Russia’s acquisition of several new ports, including Riga. Chapter 8 focuses on the actions of three powerful monarchs, Charles XII of Sweden, Augustus II of Poland- Saxony, and Peter I of Russia, as they clashed over the eastern Baltic. Its principal con- cern, however, is the experience of Rigans during these extraordinary times. The book ends with a scene of devastation in the starving and bombed- out city of Riga as its ter- rified residents surrendered to the victorious Russian state. It was in this manner that more than two centuries of tsarist dominion over Riga began in 1710..

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