Dorpat's bishops struck coins under perpetual tension with the Livonian Order, which contested episcopal monetary authority throughout the sixteenth century. Jodokus von der Recke, appointed Bishop of Dorpat in 1543, governed during the last coherent phase of the Livonian Confederation before the catastrophic Northern Seven Years' War dismantled the entire regional order. The flat-topped shield variety distinguished by Haljak separates this from contemporaneous issues and suggests a die transition within what was likely a very short production window.
Dorpat's bishops struck coins under perpetual tension with the Livonian Order, which contested episcopal monetary authority throughout the sixteenth century. Jodokus von der Recke, appointed Bishop of Dorpat in 1543, governed during the last coherent phase of the Livonian Confederation before the catastrophic Northern Seven Years' War dismantled the entire regional order. The flat-topped shield variety distinguished by Haljak separates this from contemporaneous issues and suggests a die transition within what was likely a very short production window.