From Narva to Danzig: charter of 1590 about the political crisis in Eastern Baltic

Abstract

The article is about political history of Eastern Baltic in 1589-1590 in the context of failed attempt to extend the Plussa truce (1583 and 1585) in late 1589 and rst weeks of renewed hostilities. The negotiations planned for the autumn of 1589 on Plussa were disrupted; both sides predictably blamed each other for this. The background for the Russian-Swedish negotiations of 1589 was the Reval Agreements that had just been signed between the Swedish King Johan III and his son, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund. In January 1590, the war resumed, during which the Moscow army with Tsar Feodor Ivanovich approached the walls of Ivangorod, creating a direct threat to Narva.The source on the theme is published: the letter of Narva inhabitants to Danzig inhabitants about the conversations in late 1589 and the starting of military operations between Russian State and Swedish Kingdom in January, 1590 outlining their vision of the political situation. The charter was discovered at the end of the 19th century by G. W. Forsten in the Danzig archive; today its location cannot be determined. The monument is published according to the edition of G. W. Forsten with Russian translation