Calendar Disturbances 1584-89

a movement of the burgher opposition of Riga against the patrician elite of the magistracy and against the threat of complete subordination of the city to the Rzecz Pospolita (the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania).

The Calendar Disturbances were sparked by the order of the Polish king Stephen Báthory introducing the new (Gregorian) calendar in Riga and restoring the Jesuits to their former position. Since these proposals were initiated by Pope Gregory XIII, they were interpreted by the Protestants of Riga as an encroachment on the rights of the city’s burghers and as interference in matters of faith. Merchants of the Great Guild and guild artisans of the Lesser Guild took part in the rebellion, which lasted from the end of 1584 to the summer of 1589. They demanded a restriction on the rights of the magistrate and the participation of both guilds in the administration of and control over the city treasury. They were supported by the plebeians, who were mostly Latvians. The movement was suppressed with the help of Polish-Lithuanian troops.