Coast of Kurland

The coast of Courland faces the open eastern Baltic, with the ports of Windau and Libau serving the lands behind it. Medieval Curonian seafarers were active along these shores before the German conquest. In the seventeenth century the duchy's harbour dues became a matter of rivalry: Sweden imposed customs on Courland's ports during its war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while the dukes sought lower duties to encourage their own trade.