Livonia and depiction of Russians at Imperial diets before the Livonian War

Abstract

The paper observes depictions of the Russians and the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the Imperial Diets from the beginning of the 15th century to the 1550s. The Russians could be presented as schismatics or even infidels that threaten (Western) Christendom just like Ottoman Turks; or as fellow Christians with whom church union or at least a political alliance might be possible. Russian-related topics were usually presented by central branch of the Teutonic Order, the King of Poland or Livonian territories, who used negative depiction as a rhetorical tool to achieve certain political goals. Both the Order and Poland used the Russians in Teutonic-Polish conflict over Prussia, in which case they were described and compared with non-Christian enemies: the Tatars and the Turks. Additionally, the Order often claimed that in order to help Livonia, it should be exempted from taxes, or that possessions and lands should be reinstated to it. The Livonians used Russian threat rhetoric also to get exempted of some Imperial obligations, especially taxes, and with a clear success. Sometimes, the Livonians asked direct help against Moscow, but without success even during the war times. Partially, it might be connected with the competing narrative: since the 1490s, Moscow was then and again proposed as possible ally against Turks. Then, interest towards Moscow also rose in the Empire due to contacts between King Maximilian I with Ivan III and Vasiliy III. In the end, neither of these two narratives became dominant at the Imperial Diets before the Livonian War, and even during the war, when Anti-Russian propaganda was intensified, the positive narrative persisted; perhaps because it already had quite long roots.