 To protect the integrity of their country, the Livonians now sought a union with the Polish–Lithuanian state.Gotthard Kettler, the new Grand Master, met in Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno) with Sigismund Augustus in 1561 and declared Livonia a vassal state under the Polish king.The Union of Vilnius called for secularization of the Brothers of the Sword Order and incorporation of the newly established Duchy of Livonia into the "Rzeczpospolita" ("Republic") as an autonomous entity.