Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 48. (2000)

LAVERY, Jason: Emperor Maximilian II. and the Danish-Swedish Struggle for Baltic Hegemony 1563–1576

Jason Lavery

northern Germany’s few remaining Catholic princes. In addition to the Scandinavian powers and Lübeck, King Sigismund August of Poland was invited to send a delegation to the conference. Poland had joined the war against Sweden in October 15 63.27 In order to further pressure the main combatants to negotiate, the emperor sent ambassadors Seifried von Kollonitsch and Günther von Bünau to the Scandinavian kings in March 1564.28

In April 1564, the Imperial court finalized a peace plan, one that Maximilian would advocate until the end of the war. As a basis for a comprehensive peace, the Scandinavian kingdoms either would renew a mutual defense pact from 1541 or agree to a fifty-year peace. Neither kingdom would gain territory. As far as the Three Crowns were concerned, the kings would use the same coats of arms that their forefathers used. In taking this position, the Imperial court supported the Danish claim that the Three Crowns belonged to a common Scandinavian heritage. The plan called on Sweden to restore commercial privileges to Lübeck that it had revoked in 1533. These privileges had given Lübeck a dominant role in Sweden’s foreign trade. Sweden also had to pay its debts to the city of Lübeck, return any captured ships, and refrain from piracy.29 In short, the Imperial court insisted on a negotiated settlement that prevented a Swedish victory.

Why did the Imperial court seek a negotiated solution that favored Denmark? In many respects, Denmark was an equal if not greater threat than Sweden to the Empire’s security. Denmark’s armed forces were almost entirely made up of German mercenaries. King Frederik II and his brother Duke Adolf used their positions as

27 HHStA, Reichshofratsprotokolle [hereafter: RHR Prot.] XVI 23, fols. 35r-37', 6 March 1564; Ibidem, Dänemark 1, Konv. 1564, fols. 26'-29v, Vienna, 6 March 1564, Ferdinand to Lübeck and Sigismund August (draft); fols. 30r—31v, Vienna, 6 March 1564, Ferdinand to August (draft); NSW 1, Alt 6, Nr. 314, fols. 91r-94v, Vienna, 6 March 1564, Ferdinand to Heinrich (rec. Wolfenbüttel 22 March 1564) (or); Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv, Loc. 8099, Dennemarck contra Schweden, fols. 10r— 13V, Vienna, 6 March 1564, Ferdinand to Elector Joachim of Brandenburg and Heinrich of Brunswick (copy); Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Marburg [hereafter: StAM], Best. 3, PA 1403, fols. 52'-55v, Vienna, 6 March 1564, Ferdinand to Philip (rec. Kassel 29 March 1564) (or).

28 HHStA, RHR Prot. XVI 23, fol. 44v, 12 March 1564; 5 Saxonica fols. lr-20\ Dresden, 28 March 1564 August to Ferdinand (ndr) (or); Ibidem, Dänemark 1, Konv. 1564, fols. 49r-52v, Copenhagen, 12 April 1564, Frederik to Ferdinand (ndr) (or); fols. 54'-63v, Lübeck, 17 April 1564, Lübeck to Ferdinand (ndr) (or); Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv, Loc. 7978 D. B. 7, fols. 90r-93v, Copenhagen, 10 April 1564, Frederik to August (Dresden 22 April 1564) (or); Jensen: Dan- marks konflikt, p. 110.

29 Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv, Loc. 8099, Dennemarck contra Schweden, fols. 18r—28v, Vienna, 10 April 1564, Ferdinand’s instructions for Boguslav Felix von Hassenstein und Lobkowitz and Christoph von Carlowitz (copy).

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