An Account of LIVONIABaron Karl Johann von Blomberg, 1701

Title page

Or titled, in full: An Account OF LIVONIA; WITH A RELATION OF THE Rise, Progress, and Decay OF THE Marian Teutonick Order. The several Revolutions that have happen’d there to theſe preſent Times, with the Wars of Poland, Sweden and Muſcovy, contending for that Province. A particular Account of the Dukedoms of Courland, Semigallia, and the Province of Pilten. To which is added The Author’s Journey from Livonia to Holland, in 1698. with his Observations upon Pruſſia, Brandenburgh, Hannover, Hesse, and ſeveral other German Courts. Sent in Letters to his Friend in London. — printed for Peter Buck (publisher) by Sign of the Temple, London (printer).

This collection of letters offers a rare contemporaneous view of Latvia, covering Livonian history from ruminations on northern European settlement following the Noah's Biblical flood up to and through the upheavals of the tumultuous 17th century:

• Polish–Swedish War (1600–1629)↗ — commencing nearly two centuries of bloodshed among regional powers to dominate Baltic territory; the war was marked by several intervening truces
• Truce of Altmark↗ (1629) — the final truce between Poland and Sweden, ceding Livonian control to Sweden
• Swedish rule↗ over Livonia — regarded by Latvians as a golden age, at least where foreign overlords are concerned, lasting until the Great Northern War↗ (1700–1721)
• The Deluge↗ (1648–1666, 1655–1660 marked by the Second Northern War↗ — conflict primarily between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth↗; as much as a third of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth perished
• Treaty of Oliva↗ (1660) — whereby Sweden solidified its control of the region, for the time being

While thorough, von Blomberg's account of the evolution of the Baltic region may not be the most reliable. Still, it is as valuable for its historical information as it is in providing a window to how the educated and elite of the 17th century viewed the world, albeit through the eyes of one individual.

The lineage, the author

von Blomberg Baltic branch family crest

The von Blombergs were originally from Westphalia, Germany. Their Courland branch's presence in today's Latvia can be traced as far back as Pawel Blomberg in 1300's, though the family is believed to have established itself there in 1231, 30 years after the Germans' so-called "founding" of Rīga↗. The family estate, Groß-Sernaten, was located 12 km south of today's Užava↗ in the Ventspils↗ district — today, the hamlet of Sārnate,1 is mentioned in the 16th century.

Von Blomberg was deeply involved in the diplomatic machinations of the latter half of the 17th century as an envoy of the Duchy of Courland, particularly in representing the colonial interests of the duchy with regard to Tobago in the Caribbean.2 Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any additional readily available biographical information.

Read more

• the baronial von Blomberg family↗
• the von Blomberg line genealogy↗↗de (German Wikipedia)

The book was also published in French, in 1705.

Our transcription — formatted to closely evoke the original — is a work in progress. In the interest of readability and for the web page to be searchable, we have replaced the long s, "ſ" with "s". You can also access the facsimile or download the Google Books copy (black and white) here .