Editing Latvia (section)

=== Reformation period and Polish and Swedish rule ===
[[File:Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at its maximum extent.svg|thumb|The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] at its largest extent; modern-day boundaries are also shown.]]
[[File:Swedish Empire.svg|thumb|The [[Swedish Empire]] (1560–1815).]]
{{Main|Swedish Livonia|Duchy of Courland and Semigallia|Duchy of Livonia|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}

After the [[Livonian War]] (1558–1583), Livonia (Northern Latvia & Southern Estonia) fell under the hegemony of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name="Lonely" /> The southern part of Estonia and the northern part of Latvia were ceded to the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and formed into the [[Duchy of Livonia]] (''Ducatus Livoniae Ultradunensis''). [[Gotthard Kettler]], the last Master of the [[Livonian Order|Order of Livonia]], formed the [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ceaser|first1=Ray A.|url=http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/duchy.html|title=Duchy of Courland|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030302122941/http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/duchy.html|archive-date=2 March 2003|date=June 2001}}</ref> Though the duchy was a vassal state to the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and later of Poland–Lithuania, it retained a considerable degree of autonomy and experienced a golden age in the 16th century. [[Latgalia]], the easternmost region of Latvia, became a part of the [[Inflanty Voivodeship]] of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&q=Inflanty+Latgale&pg=PA14|title=Culture and Customs of the Baltic States|first=Kevin|last=O'Connor|date=3 October 2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-313-33125-1|access-date=14 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119144020/https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&q=Inflanty+Latgale&pg=PA14|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] struggled for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. After the [[Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)|Polish–Swedish War]], northern Livonia (including Vidzeme) came under Swedish rule. Riga became the capital of [[Swedish Livonia]] and the largest city in the entire Swedish Empire.<ref>Kasekamp, p. 47</ref> Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the [[Truce of Altmark]] in 1629.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sweden, the nation's history {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/17676837 |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208020309/https://search.worldcat.org/title/17676837 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rickard |first1=J |title=Truce of Altmark, 12 September 1629 |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/truce_altmark.html |website=www.historyofwar.org |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722160109/http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/truce_altmark.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Latvia, the Swedish period is generally remembered as positive; [[serfdom]] was eased, a network of schools was established for the peasantry, and the power of the regional [[baltic Germans|barons]] was diminished.<ref>H. Strods, "'Dobrye Shvedskie Vremena' v Istoriografii Latvii (Konets XVIII V.&nbsp;– 70-E Gg. XX V.). ["'The good Swedish times' in Latvian historiography: from the late 18th century to the 1970s"] ''Skandinavskiy Sbornik'', 1985, Vol. 29, pp. 188–199</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=J. T. Kotilaine|title=Riga's Trade With its Muscovite Hinterland in the Seventeenth Century|journal=Journal of Baltic Studies|year=1999|volume= 30|issue =2|pages=129–161|doi=10.1080/01629779900000031 | issn=0162-9778}}</ref>

Several important cultural changes occurred during this time. Under Swedish and largely German rule, western Latvia adopted [[Lutheranism]] as its main religion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Žemaitis |first1=Augustinas |title=Lutherans |url=https://www.onlatvia.com/lutherans-143 |website=OnLatvia.com |access-date=27 August 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925101326/https://www.onlatvia.com/lutherans-143 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ancient tribes of the Couronians, Semigallians, Selonians, Livs, and northern Latgallians assimilated to form the [[Latvian people]], speaking one [[Latvian language]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ereminas |first1=Gintautas |title=Latviai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/latviai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=27 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Latvian language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latvian-language |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=27 August 2022 |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008003509/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latvian-language |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout all the centuries, however, an actual Latvian state had not been established, so the borders and definitions of who exactly fell within that group are largely subjective. Meanwhile, largely isolated from the rest of Latvia, southern Latgallians adopted [[Catholicism]] under Polish/[[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] influence. The native dialect remained distinct, although it acquired many Polish and Russian loanwords.<ref>{{cite journal|author= V. Stanley Vardys|title=The Role of the Churches in the Maintenance of Regional and National Identity in the Baltic Republics|journal=Journal of Baltic Studies|year=1987|volume=18 |issue =3|pages= 287–300|doi=10.1080/01629778700000141}}</ref>