| Livonian Crusade | |||||||||
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 ATeutonic Knight on the left and aSwordbrother on the right. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Baltic andFinnic pagans (indigenous peoples) | ||||||||
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TheLivonian crusade[3][4] consists of the various militaryChristianisation campaigns inmedieval Livonia – modernLatvia andEstonia – during thePapal-sanctionedNorthern Crusades in the 12th–13th century.
The main source of information on the Livonian crusade is theLivonian Chronicle of Henry, written inc. 1229 byHenry of Latvia (Henricus de Lettis).[5] In his chronicle, the author notes that he penned it down at the urging of his lords and companions, including his former teacher bishopAlbert of Riga, who receives much praise throughout the text, that is internally divided according to the years of Albert's episcopate.[6]James A. Brundage (1972) posited that Albert commissioned Henry to write theLivonian Chronicle in the mid-1220s in order to glorify Albert's achievements, as well as to briefly summarise unresolved issues to the newly appointedpapal legate,William of Modena.[6]
Henry wrote that thepapacy's use of thecrusade as a foreign policy was extended to include military expeditions against theLivonians for the first time by papal proclamation inc. 1195, and then renewed in 1197 or 1198.[7] There are no independent sources to confirm this; the earliest surviving papal letter on the Livonian crusade dates from 5 October 1199, issued byPope Innocent III.[7] Most surviving documents relating to William of Modena's mission as legate deal with problems caused by rivalries and internal tensions within the Catholic Church in Livonia and neighbouring areas.[8] There are only scattered references to his interactions with converted populations in the Baltic, and no traces of William interacting with representatives ofNovgorod,Pskov,Jersika, or non-Christian powers in the region.[9] When he returned to Rome in 1226, theApostolic Chancery in Rome issued a series of letters and decrees on affairs in Livonia, far more detailed than any previous papal communications on the Baltic, that were very vague and showed little interest in the region.[10]
The 1199 letter of Innocent III provided that Christians who had vowed to go onpilgrimage to theHoly Land would receive anindulgence (orcommutation) ofpenance forsins if they chose to participate in the Livonian crusade instead, and that they would receive the right to papal protection if they did.[11] Participants would be wearing theinsignia of the cross, which came with specific legal obligations; unlike crusaders in the Holy Land, it meant that the wearer had to serve in the papally proclaimed crusade in Livonia for at least one year.[12]
Unlike previous crusading enterprises that were usually started by the pope,Albert of Buxhoeveden, bishop of Riga, appears to have been the primary initiator and recruiter for the Livonian crusade.[13] Moreover, it was initially not accompanied by apapal legate either until 1224, some three decades after the crusade's launch.[14] In previous crusades, papal legates would always represent the pope, frequently preach to the crusaders, take part in military action,[a] and serve a diplomatic role as the pope's spokesman on political and spiritual policies.[14] WhenWilliam of Modena was finally appointed legate in late 1224, it was at the request of Albert of Riga rather than by the pope's own initiative.[15] Overseeing the crusading operation might not even have been a (great) part of William's mission, as it is not mentioned explicitly in his mandate.[15] Brundage (1972) argued that from the mid-1220s, the papacy seemed to take a more active interest in the Livonian crusade, especially by combining the military objective of conquest with the religious objective of conversion of the subjected populations.[16] In previous examples, such as the 1147Wendish Crusade, conquest and proselytisation were more or less separate activities, without close cooperation between crusaders and missionaries.[16]
The Livonian crusade was conducted mostly by theHoly Roman Empire and theKingdom of Denmark.[citation needed] It ended with the creation ofTerra Mariana and the Danishduchy of Estonia.[citation needed] The lands on the eastern shores of theBaltic Sea were one of the last parts ofEurope to beChristianised.[citation needed]
On 2 February 1207,[17] in the territories conquered, an ecclesiastical state calledTerra Mariana was established as a principality of theHoly Roman Empire,[18] and proclaimed byPope Innocent III in 1215 as a subject of theHoly See.[19] After the success of the crusade, theTeutonic- and Danish-occupied territory was divided into six feudal principalities byWilliam of Modena.
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By the timeGerman traders began to arrive in the second half of the 12th century to trade along the ancienttrade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, some natives had already been baptized.
SaintMeinhard of Segeberg arrived inIkšķile in 1184 with the mission of converting the paganLivonians, and was consecrated asBishop of Üxküll in 1186. In those days the riverside town was the center of the missionary activities in the Livonian area.
The indigenousLivonians (Līvi), who had been paying tribute to theEast SlavicPrincipality of Polotsk,[20] and were often under attack by their southern neighbours theSemigallians, at first considered the Low Germans (Saxons) to be useful allies. The first prominent Livonian to be converted was their leaderCaupo of Turaida, who was baptized around 1189.
Pope Celestine III had called for a crusade againstpagans inNorthern Europe in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, the impatient Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians forcibly but was thwarted. He died in 1196, having failed in his mission. His appointed replacement, bishopBerthold of Hanover, aCistercianabbot of Loccum arrived with a large contingent of crusaders in 1198. Shortly afterwards, while riding ahead of his troops in battle, Berthold was surrounded and killed, and his forces were defeated by Livonians.
To avenge Berthold's defeat,Pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians.Albert von Buxthoeven, consecrated as a bishop in 1199, arrived the following year with a large force, and establishedRiga as the seat of hisBishopric of Riga in 1201. In 1202, he formed theLivonian Brothers of the Sword to aid in the conversion of the pagans to Christianity and, more importantly, to protect German trade and secure German control over commerce.
As the German grip tightened, the Livonians and their christened chief rebelled against the crusaders. Caupo's forces were defeated at Turaida in 1206, and the Livonians were declared to be converted. Caupo subsequently remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in theBattle of St. Matthew's Day in 1217.
By 1208 the important Daugava trading posts ofSalaspils (Holme),Koknese (Kokenhusen) andSēlpils Castle (Selburg) had been taken over as a result of Albert's energetic campaigning. In the same year, the rulers of theLatgalian countiesTālava,Satekle, andAutine established military alliances with the Order, and construction began on bothCēsis Castle and a stoneKoknese Castle, where theDaugava andPērse rivers meet, replacing the wooden castle of Latgalians.
In 1209 Albert, leading the forces of the Order, captured the capital of the LatgalianPrincipality of Jersika, and took the wife of the rulerVisvaldis captive. Visvaldis was forced to submit his kingdom to Albert as a grant to theArchbishopric of Riga, and received back a portion of it as a fief. Tālava, weakened in wars with Estonians and Russians, became avassal state of the Archbishopric of Riga in 1214, and in 1224 was finally divided between the Archbishopric and the Order.
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By 1208 the Crusaders were strong enough to begin operations against theEstonians, who were at that time divided into eight major and seven smallerCounties, led by elders, with limited co-operation between them. With the help of the newly converted local tribes of Livs andLatgalians, the crusaders initiated raids intoSakala andUgaunia in Southern Estonia. The Estonian tribes fiercely resisted the attacks from Riga and occasionally sacked territories controlled by the crusaders.
In 1208–27, war parties of the different sides rampaged throughLivonia, Latgalia, and other Estonian counties, with the Livs, Latgalians andRussians of theRepublic of Novgorod serving variously as allies of both crusaders and Estonians.Hill forts, which were the key centers of Estonian counties, were besieged, captured, and re-captured a number of times. A truce between the war-weary sides was established for three years (1213–1215). It proved generally more favourable to the Germans, who consolidated their political position, while the Estonians were unable to develop their system of loose alliances into a centralised state. They were led byLembitu of Lehola, the elder ofSackalia, who by 1211 had come to the attention of German chroniclers as the central figure of the Estonian resistance. The Livonian leader Caupo was killed in theBattle of St. Matthew's Day nearViljandi (Fellin) on 21 September 1217,[21] but Lembitu was also killed, and the battle was a crushing defeat for the Estonians.
The Christian kingdoms ofDenmark andSweden were also eager for expansion on the eastern shores of the Baltic. In 1218 Albert asked KingValdemar II of Denmark for assistance, but Valdemar instead arranged a deal with the Order. The king was victorious in theBattle of Lindanise inRevelia in 1219, to which the origin of theFlag of Denmark is attributed. He subsequently founded the fortressCastrum Danorum, which was unsuccessfully besieged by the Estonians in 1220 and 1223. KingJohn I of Sweden tried to establish a Swedish presence in the province ofWiek, but his troops were defeated by theOeselians in theBattle of Lihula in 1220. Revelia,Harrien, andVironia, the whole of northern Estonia, fell to Danish control.
During the uprising of 1223, all Christian strongholds in Estonia saveTallinn fell into Estonian hands, with their defenders killed. By 1224 all of the larger fortresses were reconquered by the crusaders, except forTharbata, which was defended by a determined Estonian garrison and 200 Russian mercenaries. The leader of the Russian troops wasVyachko, to whom theNovgorod Republic had promised the fortress and its surrounding lands "if he could conquer them for himself".[22] Tharbata was finally captured by the crusaders in August 1224 and all its defenders were killed.
Early in 1224 EmperorFrederick II had announced atCatania that Livonia,Prussia,Sambia and a number of neighboring provinces would henceforth be consideredreichsfrei, that is, subordinate directly to theRoman Catholic Church and theHoly Roman Empire only, as opposed to being under the jurisdiction of local rulers. At the end of the yearPope Honorius III announced the appointment of BishopWilliam of Modena aspapal legate for Livonia, Prussia, and other countries.
In 1224 the Livonian Brothers of the Sword established their headquarters atFellin (Viljandi) in Sackalia, where the walls of the Master's castle are still standing. Other strongholds includedWenden (Cēsis),Segewold (Sigulda), andAscheraden (Aizkraukle).
TheChronicle of Henry of Livonia, one of the greatest medieval narratives, was written probably as a report for William of Modena, giving him the history of the Church in Livonia up to his time. It relates how in 1226, in the strongholdTarwanpe, William of Modena successfully mediated a peace between the Germans, the Danes and theVironians.
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The last Estonian county to hold out against the invaders was the island country ofSaaremaa (Ösel), whose war fleets had continued to raid Denmark and Sweden during the years of fighting against the German crusaders.
In 1206, a Danish army led by the kingValdemar II andAndreas, the Bishop of Lund, landed on Saaremaa and attempted to establish a stronghold, without success. In 1216, theLivonian Brothers of the Sword and the bishop Theodorich joined forces and invaded Saaremaa over the frozen sea. The Oeselians retaliated by raiding German-held territories in Latvia the following spring. In 1220, a Swedish army led by the kingJohn I of Sweden and the bishopKarl of Linköping capturedLihula inRotalia in Western Estonia. The Oeselians attacked the Swedish stronghold later the same year and killed the entire garrison, including the Bishop of Linköping.
In 1222, the Danish kingValdemar II attempted the second conquest of Saaremaa, this time establishing a stone fortress housing a strong garrison. The stronghold was besieged and surrendered within five days, the Danish garrison returning toRevel while leaving BishopAlbert of Riga's brother Theodoric and others behind as hostages for peace. The castle was leveled by the Oeselians.[23]
In 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the town of Riga, and theBishop of Riga organized a combined attack against Saaremaa. After the destruction ofMuhu Stronghold and the surrender ofValjala Stronghold, the Oeselians formally accepted Christianity.
After the defeat of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in theBattle of Saule in 1236 fighting again broke out on Saaremaa. In 1241 the Oeselians once again acceptedChristianity by signing treaties with theLivonian Order's Master Andreas de Velven and theBishopric of Ösel-Wiek. This was followed by a treaty signed in 1255 by the Master of the Order, Anno Sangerhausenn, and, on behalf of the Oeselians, elders whose names were phonetically transcribed by Latin scribes as Ylle, Culle, Enu, Muntelene, Tappete, Yalde, Melete, and Cake.[24] The treaty granted the Oeselians several distinctive rights regarding the ownership and inheritance of land, the social order, and the practice of religion.
Warfare erupted in 1261 as the Oeselians once more renounced Christianity and killed all the Germans on the island. A peace treaty was signed after the united forces of theLivonian Order, theBishopric of Ösel-Wiek, andDanish Estonia, including mainland Estonians and Latvians, defeated the Oeselians by capturing their stronghold at Kaarma. Soon thereafter, theLivonian Order established a stone fort atPöide.
On 24 July 1343 the Oeselians arose yet again, killing all the Germans on the island, drowning all the clerics, and besieging theLivonian Order's castle at Pöide. After the garrison surrendered the Oeselians massacred the defenders and destroyed the castle. In February 1344Burchard von Dreileben led a campaign over the frozen sea to Saaremaa. The Oeselians' stronghold was conquered and their leader Vesse was hanged. In the early spring of 1345, the next campaign of theLivonian Order ended with a treaty mentioned in the Chronicle ofHermann von Wartberge and theNovgorod First Chronicle.
Saaremaa remained the vassal of the master of theLivonian Order and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek until 1559.
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Following the defeat of the Estonians, the crusade moved againstCuronians andSemigallians,Baltic tribes living to the south and west of theDaugava river and closely allied withSamogitians.
In July 1210Curonians attackedRiga.[25] After a day of fighting, the Curonians were unable to break through the city walls. They crossed to the other bank of the Daugava to burn their dead and mourn for three days.[26] In 1228 Curonians together withSemigallians again attacked Riga. Although they were again unsuccessful in storming the city, they destroyed a monastery inDaugavgriva and killed all the monks.
After the defeat of Estonians and Oeselians in 1227, the Curonians were confronted by Lithuanian enemies in the east and south, and harassed by theLivonian Brothers of the Sword from the north; in the west, on the sea-shore, their arch-enemies, the Danes and Swedes, were lurking, waiting for an opportunity. In this hopeless situation, further aggravated by famine, the Curonians preferred to try to make peace with the Christian conquerors, inviting the monks into their country thereby escaping attacks by the Scandinavian nations.[27] In 1230 the Curonians in the northern part of Courland, under their ruler (rex)Lammekinus [lv;lt], signed a peace treaty with the Germans, and the lands they inhabited thus became known asVredecuronia orPeace Courland. The southern Curonians, however, continued to resist the invaders.
In 1260, the Curonians were involved in theBattle of Durbe, one of the biggest battles in Livonia in the 13th century. They were forced to fight on the crusader side. When the battle started, the Curonians abandoned the knights.Peter von Dusburg alleged that the Curonians even attacked the Knights from the rear. TheEstonians and other local people soon followed the Curonians and abandoned the Knights and that allowed theSamogitians to gain victory over theLivonian Order. It was a heavy defeat for the Order and uprisings against the crusaders soon afterwards broke out in the Curonian andPrussian lands.
Curonian resistance was finally subdued in 1266 when the whole of Courland was partitioned between the Livonian Order and theArchbishop of Riga. The Curonian nobles, among them 40 clans of the descendants of theCuronian Kings, who lived in the town ofKuldīga, preserved personal freedom and some of their privileges.[27][28]
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According to theLivonian Chronicle of Henry, Semigallians formed an alliance with bishopAlbert of Riga against rebelliousLivonians before 1203, and received military support to hold backLithuanian attacks in 1205. In 1207, the Semigallian dukeViestards (Latin:dux Semigallorum) helped the christened Livonian chiefCaupo conquer back hisTuraida Castle from pagan rebels.
In 1219, the Semigallian–German alliance was cancelled after a crusader invasion in Semigallia. Duke Viestards promptly formed an alliance with Lithuanians and Curonians. In 1228, Semigallians andCuronians attacked theDaugavgrīva monastery, the main crusader stronghold at the Daugava river delta. The crusaders took revenge and invaded Semigallia. The Semigallians in turn pillaged land around theAizkraukle hillfort.
In 1236, Semigallians attacked crusaders retreating to Riga after theBattle of Saule, killing many of them. After regular attacks, theLivonian Order partly subdued the Semigallians in 1254.
In 1270, the Lithuanian Grand DukeTraidenis, together with Semigallians, attacked Livonia andSaaremaa. During theBattle of Karuse on the frozenGulf of Riga, the Livonian Order was defeated, and its masterOtto von Lutterberg was killed.
In 1287, around 1400 Semigallians attacked a crusader stronghold inIkšķile and plundered nearby lands. As they returned to Semigallia they were caught by the Order's forces, and the greatBattle of Garoza began near the Garoza river. The crusader forces were besieged and badly defeated. More than 40 knights were killed, including the master of the Livonian OrderWillekin von Endorp, and an unknown number of crusader allies. It was the last Semigallian victory over the growing forces of the Livonian Order.
In 1279, after theBattle of Aizkraukle, Grand Duke Traidenis of Lithuania supported a Semigallian revolt against the Livonian Order led by DukeNameisis.
In the 1280s, the Livonian Order started a massive campaign against the Semigallians, which included burning their fields and thus causing famine. Semigallians continued their resistance until 1290, when they burned their last castle inSidabrė [lt;lv] and moved southwards. TheRhymed Chronicle claims that 100,000 migrated to Lithuania and once there continued to fight against the Germans.
The unconquered southern parts of Curonian and Semigallian territories (Sidabrė,Raktė,Ceklis,Mėguva etc.) were united under the rule of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1227 theLivonian Brothers of the Sword conquered all Danish territories in Northern Estonia. After theBattle of Saule the surviving members of the Brothers of the Sword merged into theTeutonic Order of Prussia in 1237 and became known asLivonian Order. On 7 June 1238, by the Treaty of Stensby, the Teutonic knights returned the Duchy of Estonia to Valdemar II, until in 1346, afterSt. George's Night Uprising, the lands were sold back to the order and became part of theOrdensstaat.
After the conquest, all of the remaining local population were ostensiblyChristianized. In 1535, the first extant native language book was printed, aLutherancatechism.[29] The conquerors upheld military control through their network of castles throughoutEstonia andLatvia.[30]
The land was divided into six feudal principalities byPapal LegateWilliam of Modena:Archbishopric of Riga,Bishopric of Courland,Bishopric of Dorpat,Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, the lands ruled by theLivonian Brothers of the Sword andDominum directum ofKing of Denmark, theDuchy of Estonia.[31][32]
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1215 proclaimed it the Terra Mariana, subject directly.
