Seminarium Global History im. Mariana Małowista

Abstract:

‘During the seventeenth century, the dukes of the Duchy of Courland, a vassal of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, sought to increase their wealth, prestige and autonomy by thinking beyond their seat at the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea. The effort incorporated extended diplomatic and trade networks as well as an ill-fated attempt to maintain outposts in both Western Africa and the Caribbean. The talk explores the strategies employed by the dukes to transform a peripheral vassal into an actor on an oceanic stage. It will also consider the entanglements and encounters which took place beyond the ducal palace, highlighting the range of cross-cultural and translocal influences and interactions which informed Courland’s brief colonial endeavour.’