cities of the state, enjoyed voting rights. Attempts were made to introduce Protestantism to the city in the second half of the 16th century, but this involved mainly the nobility, the bulk of the population remaining Roman Catholic. The largest Protestant congregation, the German-speaking Lutherans, numbered 2,300 to 2,400 at the end of the century, of whom only about 600 lived within the city walls. The Catholic Church's Counter-Reformation efforts included the founding of a Jesuits' College in the city in 1571, under the rectorship of Jakub Wujek. This institution gained the right to award academic degrees in 1611, and existed until the abolition of the order and merger with the Lubrański Academy in 1780. From the second half of the 17th century Poznań, like Poland as a whole, suffered from a series of invasions and other disasters. The city was occupied by a Swedish army in 1655 during the Second Northern War, replaced by Brandenburgians in 1656 (the Swedes burned the suburbs when they left). The Brandenburgian garrison surrendered after a two-month siege in 1657, which left the city devastated. There were also many deaths from plague during this time. In the Third Northern War Poznań was again occupied by a Swedish army, from 1703–1709, and became the main centre of the pro-Swedish movement in the country. After 1709 the city was occupied by Saxon forces, who looted much property; there were also further outbreaks of plague until 1711. The city was captured by forces of the Tarnogród Confederation in 1716, which led to further plundering. Russian forces arrived in the region in the same year (remaining until 1719), but accepted payment not to enter the city. A fire of 16 March 1717 spread from the Jewish quarter to the whole of the city; alleged failure of the Jews to allow fire-fighting efforts led to anti-Semitic sentiment. King August II was unwilling to assist the rebuilding of the city after these disasters; in 1728 30% of houses remained in disrepair. In 1733–1735 the city again suffered from the frequent presence of military forces during the War of the Polish Succession. This was followed by a flood of 1736, which destroyed almost all of the suburban buildings. In 1719–1753 Poznań absorbed several waves of rural settlers from Bamberg (Bambrzy), invited by the city authorities to rebuild the devastated suburbs. There were also significant groups of Dutch settlers (Olędrzy). In spite