Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to the late 18th century, when the territory was partitioned in 1795 among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation born from several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. The Grand Duchy expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other neighbouring states, including what is now Belarus, Lithuania, most of Ukraine as well as parts of Latvia, Moldova, Poland and Russia.
Duchy of Courland and SemigalliaThe Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; 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 and incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1726.
Ivan the TerribleIvan IV Vasilyevich (Иван IV Васильевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was Grand Prince of Moscow and Sovereign of all Russia from 1533, and the first crowned Tsar of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. Ivan IV was the eldest son of Vasili III by his second wife Elena Glinskaya, and a grandson of Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologina. He succeeded his father after his death, when he was three years old. A group of reformers united around the young Ivan, crowning him the tsar of Russia in 1547 at the age of 16.
Teutonic OrderThe Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their s to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for supporting Catholic rule in the Holy Land and the forced conversion to Catholicism in the Baltics during the Middle Ages, as well as providing military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe.
CuroniansThe Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians. The Curonians or Kurs (kurši; kuršiai; Kuren; Kúrir; кърсь) were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what are now the western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic tribes. They gave their name to the region of Courland (Kurzeme), and they spoke the Curonian language. Curonian lands were conquered by the Livonian Order in 1266 and they eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to the ethnogenesis of Lithuanians and Latvians.
SzlachtaThe szlachta (Polish: AUDPl-szlachta.ogg'szlachta endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the state, exercising extensive political rights and power. Szlachta as a class differed significantly from the feudal nobility of Western Europe. The estate was officially abolished in 1921 by the March Constitution.
Swedish EmpireThe Swedish Empire (Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power") was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which the country became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region. The beginning of the period is usually taken as the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, who ascended the throne in 1611, and its end as the loss of territories in 1721 following the Great Northern War.
NarvaNarva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 53,626 inhabitants (as of 2023) Narva is Estonia's third largest city after capital Tallinn and Tartu. Narva was nearly completely destroyed in 1944 during World War II. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1944–1991, the city's original inhabitants were not permitted to return, and immigrant workers from Soviet Russia and other parts of then Soviet Union (USSR) were introduced.
VidzemeVidzeme (ˈvid̪͡z̪eme; Old Latvian orthography: Widda-semme, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River. Sometimes in German, it was also known as Livland, the German form from Latin Livonia, though it comprises only a small part of Medieval Livonia and about half (the Latvian part) of Swedish Livonia.
LatviansLatvians (latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture, history and ancestry. A Balto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and modulated the name to "Latvis", meaning "forest-clearers", which is how medieval German, Teutonic settlers also referred to these peoples.
