In Poland, Sigismund Augustus has been maneuvering for some time to support his cousin, William of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Riga, in his efforts to turn the domains of the Livonian Order into a secular Duchy--thus duplicating the act which turned Prussia into a Polish vassal. However, this is proving difficult--the Livonian Order may be dwindling, but much of it is opposed to such a move. Further, Ivan of Russia has his own ambitions in the area, and thus Sigismund must be cautious. And so, when William asks Sigismund for troops to allow him to suppress his enemies, the King of Poland hesitates. This proves to be disasterous for William, whose enemy, William von Furstenburg, attacks and captures him. And so, Sigismund finds himself HAVING to do something.

This is from Space Oddity's TL, Now Blooms The Tudor Rose. And what I was wondering, since the footnotes say that this event was pretty much all OTL, is if it were possible for a Hohenzollern duchy of Livonia to be established a la Prussia? Or even if Magnus of Denmark's attempts at being king of Livonia were more successful. Sure, this state probably wouldn't be much of a player on the world stage - unless, like Prussia or Courland, it gets itself inherited (read: annexed) by a larger power - but how would events in the Baltic play out with one more player?

Could Wilhelm succeed? Or Magnus of Denmark?
 
This is from Space Oddity's TL, Now Blooms The Tudor Rose. And what I was wondering, since the footnotes say that this event was pretty much all OTL, is if it were possible for a Hohenzollern duchy of Livonia to be established a la Prussia? Or even if Magnus of Denmark's attempts at being king of Livonia were more successful. Sure, this state probably wouldn't be much of a player on the world stage - unless, like Prussia or Courland, it gets itself inherited (read: annexed) by a larger power - but how would events in the Baltic play out with one more player?

Could Wilhelm succeed? Or Magnus of Denmark?

Magnus of Denmark was backed by Ivan the Terrible if he wins out Livonia would be under the influence of the Tsardom. In order for that to happen Sweden and Denmark would not have to intervene over the dissolution of the Livonian Confederation, and Stephen Bathory would have to not lead a counter-offensive against Ivan. There was a prior thread that looked at Denmark and Russia between Virginia the daughter of Eric XIV of Denmark Ivan Ivanovich, Ivan's second surviving son at the time, maybe that could work to keep Livonia under Magnus who swore allegiance to Ivan.

Now a Hohenzollern Livonia could lead to some problems if it's even possible, as it's a battleground between 5 powers. I don't know if whoever is ruling Poland-Lithuania would be happy with more Hohenzollern's consider the shenanigans with Prussia.
 
Virginia, daughter of Erik XIV of Sweden, you mean?

If I am not mistaken, I had a brief discussion about a similar scenario and posted a thread on it. Definitely an interesting subject.
 
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