Abstract
The Peace Treaties of the Northern Wars 1570-1814 At the start of the early modern period, the medieval political order in the Baltic ceased to function. In the three centuries following 1500, several systems alternated, each aiming to resolve conflicts as well as to respond to the changing power-political constellations. These upheavals left their mark on the peace treaties which ended the Baltic wars. This chapter will discuss the treaties of the Northern Wars from the Treaty of Stettin in 1570 to the Treaties of Fredrikshamn in 1809 and Kiel in 1814. The Northern Seven Years’ War (1563-1570) marked a watershed since it involved all stakeholders in the Baltic simultaneously for the first time. The Treaties of Fredrikshamn and Kiel caused great territorial shifts in the region, which marked the dissolution of the last elements of the territorial arrangements that had survived the late Middle Ages.
