Magnus, Duke of Holstein

Magnus of Denmark
Magnus of Denmark
Bishop of Ösel-Wiek
Reign	1560–1572
Bishop of Courland
Reign	1560–1583
King of Livonia (nominal)
Reign	1570–1578
Born	5 September 1540; Copenhagen Castle, Denmark
Died	28 March 1583 (aged 42); Pilten, Latvia
Burial	Pilten (1583); Roskilde Cathedral (1662)
Spouse	Maria Vladimirovna of Staritsa
Issue	Marie of Oldenburg; Eudoxia of Oldenburg
House	House of Oldenburg
Father	King Christian III of Denmark
Mother	Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
Religion	Lutheranism

Magnus of Denmark or Magnus of Holstein (5 September [O.S. 26 August] 1540 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1583) was a Prince of Denmark,[1] Duke of Holstein, and a member of the House of Oldenburg. As a vassal of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, he was the titular King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578.[2]

For the king of Denmark and Norway, see Magnus the Good.

Early life

Duke Magnus was born at the Copenhagen Castle in 1540 as the second son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. At the age of 17 he was sent to Germany to be educated at various German courts. Following the death of his father in 1559, he returned to Denmark for the coronation of his older brother, King Frederick II of Denmark.

The same year, the prince-bishop of Ösel-Wiek and Courland Johannes V von Münchhausen in Old Livonia sold his lands to King Frederick II for 30,000 thalers. To avoid hereditary partition of his lands, King Frederick II gave that territory to his younger brother Magnus on condition that he renounced his rights to succession in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. In 1560, Magnus landed with an army on Saaremaa where he was immediately elected bishop by the cathedral chapter.[3]

King of Livonia

During the Livonian War, on 10 June 1570, Duke Magnus arrived in Moscow, where he was crowned King of Livonia by Ivan IV. Magnus took the oath of allegiance to Ivan as his overlord and received from the corresponding charter for the vassal kingdom of Livonia in what Ivan termed his patrimony. The treaty between Magnus and Ivan IV was signed by an oprichnik and by a member of the zemskii administration, the dyak Vasily Shchelkalov. The territories of the new kingdom still had to be conquered, but even so Põltsamaa Castle was proclaimed the future official residence of the king.[4]

The newly crowned king Magnus of Livonia left Moscow with 20,000 Russian soldiers with the intention of conquering Swedish-controlled Reval. Ivan's hope of the support of Frederick II of Denmark, the older brother of Magnus, failed. By the end of March 1571, Magnus gave up the struggle for Reval and abandoned the siege.[1][5]

In 1577, having lost Ivan's favor and receiving no support from his brother, Magnus called on the Livonian nobility to rally to him in a struggle against foreign occupation. He was attacked by Ivan's forces and taken prisoner. On his release, he renounced his royal title. Magnus gave the rights to the throne to the genus of Stephen Báthory.[6]

Magnus spent the last six years of his life at the castle of Pilten in the Bishopric of Courland, where he died as a pensioner of the Polish crown.[7]

In 1662, Magnus' body was returned to Denmark and was reburied in the Roskilde Cathedral.[8]

Spouse and issue

On 12 April 1574, he married Maria Vladimirovna of Staritsa, daughter of Vladimir of Staritsa, Duke of Staritsa. His issue included:

Marie of Oldenburg (c. July 1580 – c. 1597)
Eudoxia of Oldenburg (c. 1581 – c. 1588)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Magnus, Duke of Holstein

16. Theodoric, Count of Oldenburg

8. Christian I of Denmark

17. Helvig of Schauenburg

4. Frederick I of Denmark

18. John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

9. Dorothea of Brandenburg

19. Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg

2. Christian III of Denmark

20. Albrecht III, Elector of Brandenburg

10. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg

21. Margaret of Baden

5. Anna of Brandenburg

22. William III, Duke of Luxembourg

11. Margaret of Thuringia

23. Anne, Duchess of Luxembourg

1. Magnus of Denmark, King of Livonia

24. Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

12. John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

25. Adelheid of Pomerania

6. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

26. Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg

13. Dorothea of Brandenburg

27. Catherine of Saxony

3. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg

28. William IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

14. Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

29. Elisabeth of Stolberg-Wernigerode

7. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

30. Eric II, Duke of Pomerania

15. Catherine of Pomerania-Wolgast

31. Sophia of Pomerania-Stargard

References

Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 849. ISBN 0-313-33536-2.
Goodrich, S. C. (2008). "Early Russian History". A Pictorial History of England. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 150. ISBN 0-554-73173-8.
Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, By Richard C. Frucht; ISBN 1-57607-800-0; p.70
Viirand, Tiiu (2004). Estonia. Cultural Tourism. Kunst Publishers. pp. 82–84. ISBN 9949-407-18-4.
Ivan the Terrible By Isabel De Madariaga ISBN 0-300-11973-9
War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790 By Stewart Philip Oakley ISBN 0-415-02472-2
Lockhart, Paul Douglas (1 January 2004). "Frederik II and the Protestant Cause: Denmark's Role in the Wars of Religion, 1559-1596". BRILL – via Google Books.
Kønigsfeldt, Johannes Peter Frederik; Danske historiske forening (1856). Genealogisk-historiske tabeller over de nordiske rigers kongeslægter (in Danish). B. Lunos bogtrykkeri. p. 52.

External links

Livonian Wars, by Kara Broughton
Die Münzen von Herzog Magnus (in German)

Preceded by Christian III of Denmark	Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg & Oldenburg 1559	Succeeded by Frederick II of Denmark
Preceded by Johann V von Münchhausen	Bishop of Ösel-Wiek 1560–1572	Succeeded by Denmark-Norway
Preceded by Johann IV von Münchhausen	Bishop of Courland 1560–1583	Succeeded by Denmark-Norway–Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Preceded by Commonwealth of Both Nations	nominated King of Livonia by Ivan IV 1570–1578	Succeeded by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

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[DBS-1] Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 849. ISBN 0-313-33536-2.

[2] Goodrich, S. C. (2008). "Early Russian History". A Pictorial History of England. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 150. ISBN 0-554-73173-8.

[3] Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, By Richard C. Frucht; ISBN 1-57607-800-0; p.70

[4] Viirand, Tiiu (2004). Estonia. Cultural Tourism. Kunst Publishers. pp. 82–84. ISBN 9949-407-18-4.

[5] Ivan the Terrible By Isabel De Madariaga ISBN 0-300-11973-9

[6] War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790 By Stewart Philip Oakley ISBN 0-415-02472-2

[7] Lockhart, Paul Douglas (1 January 2004). "Frederik II and the Protestant Cause: Denmark's Role in the Wars of Religion, 1559-1596". BRILL – via Google Books.

[8] Kønigsfeldt, Johannes Peter Frederik; Danske historiske forening (1856). Genealogisk-historiske tabeller over de nordiske rigers kongeslægter (in Danish). B. Lunos bogtrykkeri. p. 52.