Gotthard Kettler
| Gotthard Kettler | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Courland and Semigallia | |
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|
| Reign | 1561–1587 |
| Successor | Friedrich Kettler |
| Born |
February 2, 1517 Anröchte, Kreis Soest, Duchy of Cleves |
| Died | May 17, 1587 (aged 70) Mitau, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia |
| Burial | Ducal crypt in the Jelgava Palace |
| Spouse | Anna, Duchess of Mecklenburg |
| Issue |
Friedrich Kettler Wilhelm Kettler |
| House | Kettler |
| Father | Gotthard Kettler zu Melrich |
| Mother | Sophie of Nesselrode |
| Religion | Lutheranism |
Gotthard von Kettler (also Ketteler, German: Gotthard Kettler, Herzog von Kurland; 2 February 1517 – 17 May 1587) was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia.
Kettler was born near Anröchte, Kreis Soest, of an old Westphalian noble family and the ninth child of the German knight Gotthard Kettler zu Melrich (mentioned 1527–1556) and his wife Sophie of Nesselrode. Gotthard's older brother Wilhelm Kettler was bishop of Münster from 1553 to 1557.
In 1554 Gotthard Kettler became Komtur of Dünaburg, and in 1557 Komtur of Fellin. In 1559, during the Livonian War (1558–1582) he succeed to Wilhelm von Fürstenberg as a Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. When the Livonian Confederation came under increasing pressure from Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Kettler converted to Lutheranism and secularised Semigallia and Courland. On the basis of the Treaty of Vilnius (28 November 1561), he created the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia as a vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was soon merged into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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