Jacob Kettler

Jacob Kettler
Portrait of Jacob Kettler, from the Stockholm National Museum
Duke of Courland and Semigallia
Reign17 August 1642 – 1 January 1682
PredecessorFrederick Kettler
SuccessorFrederick Casimir Kettler
Born(1610-10-28)28 October 1610
Goldingen (Kuldīga)
Died1 January 1682(1682-01-01) (aged 71)
Mitau (Jelgava)
Burial
Ducal crypt in the Jelgava Palace
Spouse
(m. 1645; died 1676)
Issue
HouseKettler
FatherWilhelm Kettler
MotherDuchess Sophie of Prussia
ReligionLutheranism

Jacob Kettler (German: Jakob von Kettler; Latvian: Hercogs Jēkabs Ketlers; 28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1642 to 1682. Under his rule, Courland and Semigallia became more independent of its Polish suzerain, reached its peak in wealth, and even engaged in its own overseas colonization, making it one of the smallest, but fastest growing states in the world at that time.

Yet, in the end the results of his rule failed in the confrontation with much stronger powers both directly in the Baltic (Sweden) and overseas (Dutch Republic). A ruler "too rich and powerful to be a duke but too small and poor to be a king"[1] could not, with his small ancestral territory and very limited resources, play the powerful role he sought in European politics of that time.

  1. ^ "The ambitious journey of Duke Jacob Kettler". History & Culture Academy of Latgale. Retrieved 25 July 2019.