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that great Conqueror From his Loins after several generations descended Billiengus a potent King of the Vandals whose Mother say some was Charles the Great 's Sister He was the first that after his own conversion brought in the profession of Christianity into Mecklenburg tho afterwards at the instigation of his Son Micislaus both himself and all his Subjects turn'd Apostates The next famous Prince of Mecklenburg was Gottschalck surnam'd the Godly who would often himself take the pains to preach Christianity to his Subjects by whom he was at last for his Religion murder'd in the year 1066. From him descended amongst many others Henry II. who dying in the year 1228 left behind him two Sons Nicolot and John From the former of these sprang all the succeeding Princes of the Vandals until William the last Prince of that Line who died in the year 1430. From the later surnam'd Knese Janko or John the Divine because he had taken a Doctor of Divinity 's degree in the University at Paris are descended the present Dukes of Mecklenburg This John left behind him Henry who was six and twenty years kept prisoner by the Turks Father to Henry surnam'd the Lion whose two Sons Albert and John Dukes of Mecklenburg were by the Emperor Charles IV. created Princes of the Empire in the year 1349. Which is not to be understood tho I find this construction put upon it by several of the modern German Historians as if these two Princes before Charles's creation had been only ordinary Lords or Barons of Mecklenburg and by the Emperor advanc'd to the dignity of Princes or Dukes For from him they receiv'd no more than an admission into the number of the Estates of the Empire under whose protection they were brougth by making themselves members thereof upon condition they should be subject to its Laws and contribute to its necessities Albert's eldest Son Albert II. was chosen King of Sweden and not long after taken prisoner by Margaret Queen of Denmark by whom after several years imprisonment he was at last releas'd upon the payment of a vast ransom So that the management of the Dukedom of Mecklenburg was committed to his Brother Magnus a Prince that if we believe Chytraeus who in his first Book of the Saxon Chronicle has given him a noble character was nomine re Magnus endow'd with all the excellent qualities that are requisite to make a brave Prince His Son John who succeeded his Father in the Dukedom founded the University at Rostock in the year 1419. This Duke's Successors Henry the Fat and Magnus II. Founder of the Cathedral Church at Rostock upon the death of William the last Prince of the Vandals made themselves Masters of the whole Land of Mecklenburg After the death of this Magnus and his Son Albert II. the Dukedom came to his Grandchild John Albert in the year 1547 who first brought in the Lutheran Confession into his Dominions by demolishing Popish Abbeys and converting their Revenues to the use of the University at Rostock His Son John III. who died in the year 1592 left two Sons the eldest was Adolph Frideric who married Ann-Mary Countess of East Frisland by whom amongst other children he had Christian-Ludowic the present Duke of Mecklenburg-Swerin His youngest Son was Gustavus Adolphus who seated himself at Gustrow In the late Civil Wars in Germany the whole Land of Mecklenburg was overrun by the Imperial Army and the Dukedom conferr'd upon their ambitious and at last unfortunate General Albrecht Duke of Friedland However within a little while after the two Dukes Adolph Frideric and John Albrecht were reinstated in their Dominions by Gustavus Adolphus the victorious King of Sweden their Kinsman For a character of the present Dukes of Mecklenburg the Reader may have recourse to the following descriptions of Swerin and Gustrow the places of their residence The strength of these Princes would be considerable enough Militâ—â—â— strength sufficient to secure their own Territories and keep their neighbours in awe if firmly united Their equal pretensions to the sole government of the City and University at Rostock did formerly occasion some animosities between the two Houses but this quarrel has for some years last past been quite laid aside and now a difference in Religion the Duke of Swerin being a Romanist and he of Gustrow a Lutheran is the greatest cause of their mutual fears and jealousies Heretofore they thought it their chief interest to adhere to the Swedes and secure themselves under the wings of the potent Kings of that Nations but when after the many conquests of the brave Gustavus Adolphus the power of those Princes grew so formidable as to threaten an universal slavery to their neighbours round about them rather then the defence of any of their Liberties the Dukes of Mecklenburg thought it high time to relinquish that party and join with the Dane and Branburger in opposing their common enemy the King of Sweden They saw Wismar rent out of their hands without any probability of being ever recover'd and they had reason to fear that a great part of the adjoining Country would follow it if their ruin were not timely prevented by the strength of their new Allies The whole Land of Mecklenburg so much I mean as is now subject to the two Dukes which bear that Title is usually divided into these six parts Territries The Dukedomes of Mecklenburg strictly so call'd and Vandalia the Earldom of Swerin the Baronies of Rostock and Stargard and the Bishopric of Butzow In the Dukedom of Mecklenburg are reckon'd the Cities of Wismar to which is the neighbouring Island Poel Tempsin Gades Rhena and Bucow In the Dukedom of Vandalia Gustrow Sterneberg Malchin Stavenhagen Ivenack Neu-Calven Warin Pentzlin Rebell Wredenhagen Malchau Tetrou Goltberg Parchum Plage Lupsian Grabou Domitz Neu-Statt Eldenau and Gorlosen In the Barony of Rostock the City of Rostock Ribnitz Gnoien Tessin Laga Schwan Salines and Morlou In the Barony of Stargard Brandeburg Stargard Furstenburg Strelitz Mirow Fredland and Wesenberg And lastly in the Bishopric of Butzow the City of Butzow and the Peninsula of Swerin The most considerable Cities in the Dukedom of MECKLENBURG I. LUBEC Lubec This City is indeed situate in Wagerland and for that reason we have already given the Reader some short account of it in the Description of Denmark but because it is of it self an Imperial City wholly independant upon the Crown of Denmark and immediately subject to the Emperor of Germany we have reserv'd a more particular survey of it for this place And it cannot so properly be referr'd to any particular Province of the Empire as the Dukedom of Mecklenburg For altho the Citizens of Lubec do not pay any manner of tribute or homage to the Princes of Mecklenburg yet it may perhaps as justly be reckon'd part of that Dukedom as Bremen which never yet acknowledg'd any subjection to the Kings of Sweden may be esteem'd part of that Principality which now bears
and Charles IX whom the Swedes had set up King in his place These Gustavus Adolphus continued and in them overrun almost all Liefland till in the year 1629 a truce was made for six years upon these terms That in the mean time the King of Sweden should enjoy all he had won This truce was again renewed for 26 years more A.D. 1635. by the mediation of Ambassadours from the Kings of England and France and the States of the Vnited Provinces In the year 1654 whilst a great part of Lithvania was laid wast by the Moscovite Charles Gustavus King of Sweden before the 26 years were expir'd proclaimed war against the King of Poland alledging among other things as a reason for his proceedings That the Polish Ambassadour at Stockholm had protested against his succession to the Crown of Sweden At the beginning the fortune of the war went much on his side but within a short while the Danes making incursions into Sweden forced him to quit Poland and be more concern'd to defend what he had at home then to seek for new conquests abroad However the war still continued till A.D. 1660. when upon the death of Charles Gustavus peace was established between the two Kingdoms at Oliva a Monastery near Dantzic of which these are some of the Articles That John Casimir King of Poland should for ever renounce all pretensions to the Kingdom of Sweden and Principality of Finland That he should only challenge the title of King of Sweden for his life but not make use of it in any of his letters to the Swedish King That he should deliver up to the Swedes all that part of Liefland which lyes beyond the river Duna and disclaim all right and title to Esten and Oesel and whatever on this side the Duna was in the hands of the Swedes during the truce That the King of Poland should still keep the southern Liefland in which are reckoned Duneburg Rositen Luzen Marienhusen c. This country was long subject to Paganism and Idolatry until about the year 1158 it begun to be frequented by Merchants from Lubeck who got leave of the inhabitants to build a small Chappel in an Island upon the Duna thence called Kircholm for the exercise of Christian worship Afterwards Menard a Monk of Segeberg was consecrated Bishop of Liefland by the Archbishop of Bremen and sent over by the Merchants to propagate Christianity in these parts His seat was at Vxkel a small village upon the Duna not far from Riga Bertholdus a Monk of Bremen of the order of St. Paul succeeded him in his Bishoprick He was the first founder of Riga whither he removed his See but lived not long to enjoy it there For endeavouring to promote Christianity more by the sword then spirit he was overcome and slain by the Pagans Albertus Bertholdus's immediate successour fortifyed Riga and made it a City That done he joyned himself to the order of the sword bearers an order of Knighthood confirmed by Pope Innocent the third about the year 1204 hoping thereby to be better able then his predecessor had been to oppose the rage of the Heathen Not long after when this order was changed into the Teutonic order the Bishop of Riga and the rest of his society subjected themselves to the Teutonic Order of Prussia The master of which had power given him to appoint a Provincial of Liefland On the other hand the Prussian Bishops of Culm Pomesen and Sambland did though not at the same time as some would have it advance the power of the Bishop of Riga making him an Archbishop and themselves his Suffragans Only the Bishop of Warme as having never been subject to the Teutonic Order would not yield to be reckoned a member of the Province of Riga In this state the Church of Liefland continued for a long time till in the year 1513 William Plettenberg the XLI Provincial of Liefland bought off all homage to the Teutonic Order in Prussia and was himself made absolute Prince of Liefland His successors lived and injoyed their dominions in peace till the days of Sigismund Augustus King of Poland but afterwards what with foreign and domestic wars and the continual incursions of the Moscovite Polander Swede and Dane the Country was brought to be a meer medly of men and religions At this day those parts that are subject to the Danes and Swedes do generally profess the Lutheran religion Most of the subjects of the King of Poland adhere to the Church of Rome though some are Lutherans In some parts of Esten the poor ignorant Rusticks are half Pagans Liefland was formerly divided into two parts only Letten and Esten to which the order of the sword bearers added Curland Some have divided the whole Country into six parts Curland Semigal Esten Letten Harland and Virland but Semigal is no more then a Province of Curland and Harland and Virland parts of Esten Of these Curland is immediately subject to its own Duke who nevertheless pays homage to the King of Poland Some parts also of Letten which go under the name of South Liefland are since the treaty at Oliva in that Kings possession The Curoni antient inhabitants of Curland and Semigal are thought by some to be the same with the Caryones mentioned by Ptolomey There is not far from Windaw a small village which still bears their memory in its name being by the inhabitants to this day called Curon The most notable places in it are 1. Mitaw the seat of the Dukes of Curland upon the bank of the river Mauss taken by Gustavus Adolphus in the year 1621 but restored A.D. 1629. The Town is but mean and inconsiderable but the Castle magnificently rebuilt by some of the late Dukes 2. Windaw or Winden as the Germans write it though the inhabitants call it Kies seated on the mouth of the river Windaw whence it has its name Here formerly was the residence of the Provincials of Liefland afterwards the general Parliament or great Council of Curland had their sessions in this City which made it exceeding populous At this day there is little appearance of its antient splendor nor is it frequented by any but a few Dutch Merchants who are here laden with Tar Pitch and Wax 'T is a mistake very ordinary among the historians that write of this Country to confound this City with Wenden in Letten telling us that this too is called by the Polanders Kies And the old Dutch sea-carts mention a kind of Castle with three towers upon the mouth of the Windaw but never take notice of of any sea-port-Town in this place 3. Pilten or Piltyn the seat of the Bishop of Curland built by Waldemar King of Denmark A.D. 1219. The southern or Polish Liefland contains only a few small Towns or villages among which there is nothing worth taking notice of but Duneburg a Castle as its name intimates seated on the river Duna Volhinia Podolia c. THough the Polish dominion reached formerly a considerable