Livonia (redirected from Livonians)

Livonia, region and former Russian province

Livonia (lĭvō`nēə), region and former Russian province, comprising present Estonia and parts of Latvia (Vidzeme and Latgale). It borders on the Baltic Sea and its arms, the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland, in the west and the north and extends E to Lake Peipus (Chudskoye) and the Narva. Livonia, also known as Livland, was named after the Livs, a Finno-Ugric tribe that inhabited the coast when, in the 13th cent., the Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquered the entire region. The knights formed a strong state and threatened Lithuania and Novgorod in the 13th and 14th cent. The chief cities—notably Riga, Tartu, and Tallinn—were Germanic in culture and were members of the Hanseatic League. After the dissolution (1561) of the Livonian Order, Livonia was contested by Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Courland, in the southwest, became a duchy under Polish suzerainty, and Latgale, in the southeast, became part of Poland. Vidzeme, in the center, passed first to Poland, then (1629) to Sweden, which also held the northern part (Estonia). The Swedish share was conquered (1710) in the Northern War by Peter I of Russia, who kept it at the Peace of Nystad (1721). Latgale passed to Russia in 1772. In 1783, Livonia was constituted a Russian province, and in 1918 it was divided between Estonia and Latvia.

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Livonia, city, United States

Livonia (lĭvōn`yə), city (1990 pop. 100,850), Wayne co., SE Mich., a suburb of Detroit; founded 1835, inc. 1950. Among its manufactures are transportation equipment, plastic and steel products, textiles, and food products. The city is the seat of Madonna College. The Wolverine Harness Raceway is there.

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Livonia

Region, eastern coast of Baltic Sea, north of Lithuania. Originally inhabited by the Livs, a Finno-Ugric people, it eventually expanded to include nearly all of modern Latvia and Estonia. In the 13th century it was conquered and Christianized by the Order of the Brothers of the Sword and organized into the Livonian confederation. A Russian invasion set off the Livonian War (1558–82), in which Russia, Poland, and Sweden seized portions of it. Sweden eventually gained control of most of it but ceded the region to Russia in 1721. In 1918 the northern portion became part of independent Estonia and the southern portion joined independent Latvia.

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Livonia

1. a former Russian province on the Baltic, north of Lithuania: became Russian in 1721; divided between Estonia and Latvia in 1918

2. a city in SE Michigan, west of Detroit. Pop.: 99 487 (2003 est.)

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Livonia 

originally the name of the region inhabited by the Livs in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, lying along the lower reaches of the Daugava and Gauja rivers. From the second quarter of the 13th century to 1561, Livonia was the name given to the entire territory of Latvia and Estonia, which was controlled by the German Knights.

Livonia was a confederation of five feudal states: the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, and the Bishoprics of Courland, Dorpat (Tartu), and Ösel. It was nominally ruled by the pope and the German emperor. After the creation of the Duchy of Courland in 1561, the name Livonia was applied to northern Latvia and southern Estonia—territories that in the course of the Livonian War came under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the Truce of Altmark in 1629, these territories passed to Sweden. With this restricted meaning, the name “Livonia” was replaced by “Livland” in the 17th century.

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Livonia 

a city in the northern part of the USA, in Michigan. An industrial suburb of Detroit, it had a population of 110,000 in 1970. The chief industry is machine building, including motor vehicles.