Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 48. (2000)

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

Emperor Maximilian II and the Danish-Swedish Struggle for Baltic Hegemony 1563 - 1576

In the summer of 1565, Elector August believed that he had succeeded in persuading Maximilian to change his position on an embargo in exchange for a thousand badly needed cavalrymen for the Turkish front.48 Added pressure for an embargo came in the form of a growing Swedish threat to the Empire. During the summer of 1565, Swedish naval victories broke the Danish-Liibecker blockade and brought Swedish naval power to the Empire’s shores.49 Swedish diplomacy reached even deeper into the Empire. Erik XIV had opened talks on an alliance with August’s nemesis Duke Johann Friedrich of Saxony as well as Duchess Christine of Lorraine. The Duchess sought to regain the Danish and Norwegian thrones that her father, King Christian II, had lost in 1523.50 This potential alliance threatened not only Frederik and August, but also the stability of the whole Empire.

The elector’s expectation of an immediate introduction of an embargo was premature. He had gained Maximilian’s approval for sanctions, but the emperor still insisted on consensus, at least among the electors, for a prohibition of trade with Sweden. To gain the other electors’ endorsement, Maximilian sent Christopher Zott von Pemegg to Elector August and Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, while Timotheus Jung, a member of the Reichshofrat like Zott, was dispatched to the Rhineland. The emperor instructed Zott to speak with the eastern electors about the war in the north and the possibility of convening a full Diet during the coming year. Maximilian’s instructions to Zott included an explanation of his policy up until that point. As a new emperor, he at first did not see it prudent to incite enmity with Erik, ”a quite powerful potentate [ain zimblich mechtiger potentát].“ Now Maximilian was calling for approval of a ban on trade and stop Swedish aims for ’’domination“ of the Baltic.51

Maximilian also instructed Zott to inform the electors that he was also renewing his efforts to bring Sweden to the negotiating table. On 20 July 1565, the emperor sent the Swedish king an appeal to enter into a cease-fire and then negotiations with the Danes. Maximilian offered the next Diet as a possible forum for adjudicating the dispute. The emperor appealed to the Swedish monarch to agree to talks and cease his attacks and conspiracies. A refusal on the part of the Swedish monarch would force the emperor ”to consider the necessary ways and means, by

48 Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen [hereafter: DRA], Tyske Kancellis Udenrigske Afdelning Speciei Del [hereafter: TKUASD], Tyskland Sachsen A I, 7 unfol., Pfaffenroda, 12 July 1565, August to Frederik (rec. Copenhagen 4 August 1565).

49 L y b e c k : Svenska flottans historia, pp. 182-186; Westling: Det nordiska sjuárskrigets historia, part 1, pp. 517-519.

511 Lavery: Holy Roman Empire, pp. 154-160.

51 Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv, Loc. 7979 D.B. 8, fols. 214'-220v, Vienna, 20 July 1565, instructions for Zott (draft).

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