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

Maximilian tried to console August by assuring him that the issue would be discussed at the Diet, and that he would use his influence to convince the Diet to accept an embargo. Furthermore, a delay in the implementation of sanctions would not benefit Sweden greatly since winter was about to set in, thus limiting Sweden’s ability to trade and communicate with Germany.5*

While Maximilian’s letter was en route to the elector’s residence in Torgau, August employed yet another means of leverage against the emperor. At the end of September, Lübeck, pointing to a Swedish navy no longer hemmed in by a blockade, exhorted the elector of Saxony to intervene on its behalf at the Imperial court for a commercial ban.s9 August sent a copy of the letter to Maximilian. In a cover letter he painted an even darker picture of the situation by revealing that he had just received reports that Sweden had assembled 800 horsemen for an attack on Holstein or Lübeck.®

In spite of the oncoming winter, August’s dispatch pushed the emperor closer to prohibiting trade with Sweden. Maximilian, to August’s disappointment, was still not yet prepared to take unilateral and immediate action. Nonetheless, the emperor and his advisors in the Reichshofrat no longer believed that measures against Sweden could be deferred until spring. Reports were now coming in from many parts of the Empire of Swedish troop acquisitions. On 25 October 1565, the council concluded that Sweden’s actions could possibly ignite a ’’great fire [grosses fewr]“ in the Empire. Erik XIV’s unwillingness to answer Maximilian’s calls for negotiations were seen by the council as contempt for the Empire. The council proposed that the emperor continue to pressure the electors to sanction an embargo as well as contact the leaders of the circles concerning Swedish troop acquisitions.6'

Maximilian articulated his new policy most clearly in instructions that he gave to Christopher Zott von Pemegg in another legation to Elector August at the end of October 1565. The emperor explained that he was trying to convince the four Rhenish electors that Sweden seriously threatened Lübeck and the northern states. Instead of hoping that all four would now support sanctions against Sweden, the emperor now just wanted ’’the larger portion [das mehrer thail]“ to back an embargo before the convocation of the Diet. According to the emperor, interventions by 58 59 * 61

58 Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv Loc. 7979 D.B. 8, fols. 395-398’, Vienna 12 Oct. 1565 Maximilian to August (rec. Torgau 21 Oct. 1565) (or).

59 Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv Loc. 7979 D.B. 8, fols. 309-315’, 28 Sept. 1565 Lübeck to August (ndr) (or).

® Säch. HStA, Geheimes Archiv Loc. 7979 D.B. 8., fols. 317r—318’, Dresden 15 Oct. 1565 August to Maximilian (draft).

61 HHStA, RHR Prot. XVI 24, fols. 177r-178\ 25 Oct. 1565.

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