Terra Mariana | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1207–1561 | |||||||||||||
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| Status | Principality of theHoly Roman Empire (1207–1215, 1526–1561) Vassal state of theHoly See (1215–1526) | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Riga (de facto) Walk (from 1435) | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Latin[a] Low German Livonian Estonian Latvian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Theocraticelective monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Legislature | Landtag | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1207 | ||||||||||||
| 1343–1344 | |||||||||||||
• Landtag formed | 1419 | ||||||||||||
| 4 December 1435 | |||||||||||||
| 1561 | |||||||||||||
| Currency | Artig, Denier,Schilling,Thaler | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Estonia Latvia | ||||||||||||
Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for 'Land ofMary') was the formal name[1] forMedieval Livonia orOld Livonia.[b][4] It was formed in the aftermath of theLivonian Crusade, and its territories were composed of present-dayEstonia andLatvia. It was established on 2 February 1207,[5] as a principality of theHoly Roman Empire,[6] and lost this status in 1215 whenPope Innocent III proclaimed it as directly subject to theHoly See.[7]
Thepapal legateWilliam of Modena divided Terra Mariana into feudal principalities: theDuchy of Estonia (dominum directum to theking of Denmark);[8][9] theArchbishopric of Riga; theBishopric of Courland; theBishopric of Dorpat; theBishopric of Ösel–Wiek; and territories under the military administration of theLivonian Brothers of the Sword. After the 1236Battle of Saule, the surviving members of the Brothers merged in 1237 with theTeutonic Order of Prussia and became known as theLivonian Order. In 1346 the Livonian Order bought the Duchy of Estonia from Denmark.
Throughout the existence of medieval Livonia there was a constant struggle over supremacy, between the lands ruled by the Church, the Order, the secular German nobility, and the citizens of theHanseatic towns ofRiga andReval. Following its defeat in theBattle of Grunwald in 1410, the Teutonic Order and theState of the Teutonic Order fell into decline, but the Livonian Order managed to maintain its independent existence.
In 1561, during theLivonian War, Terra Mariana ceased to exist.[1] Its northern parts were ceded to theKing of Sweden and formed into theDuchy of Estonia, its southern territories became part of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania – and thus eventually of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – as theDuchy of Livonia and theDuchy of Courland and Semigallia. The island ofSaaremaa became part ofDenmark. Since the beginning of the 20th centuryTerra Mariana (Estonian:Maarjamaa) has been used as a poetic name orsobriquet for Estonia. In 1995 theOrder of the Cross of Terra Mariana, astate decoration, was instituted to honor the independence of Estonia.[10] Terra Mariana (Latvian: Māras zeme) is also used as a poetic name forLatgale region.[11]
The lands on the eastern shores of theBaltic Sea were the last part ofEurope to beChristianized by theRoman Catholic Church.[12] In 1193Pope Celestine III called for acrusade against thepagans inNorthern Europe. This crusade is often compared to the crusade of the Franks and Charlemagne.[13] However, this crusade was not officially announced until 1197 or 1198, but the first account of this crusade is in a letter byPope Innocent III.[13] At the start of the 13th century, German crusaders fromGotland and the northernHoly Roman Empire conquered theLivonian andLatgallian lands along theDaugava andGauja rivers. The stronghold of Riga (capital of modern Latvia) was established in 1201, and in 1202 theLivonian Brothers of the Sword was formed. In 1218Pope Honorius III gaveValdemar II of Denmark free rein to annex as much land as he could conquer in Estonia. AdditionallyAlbert of Riga, leader of the crusaders fighting the Estonians from the south, paid a visit to the German KingPhilip of Swabia and asked permission to attack the Estonians from the North.[8] The last to be subjugated and Christianised wereOeselians,Curonians andSemigallians.[citation needed]
This crusade differed from many other crusades because, in this case, the Pope allowed people intending to go on a crusade to the Holy Land to go instead to crusade in Livonia. Members of this crusade were made to wear the insignia of the cross as well, which showed that they were legally bound to the crusade.[13]
After the success of the crusade, the German- and Danish-occupied territory was divided into feudal principalities by William of Modena.[14]
This division of medieval Livonia was created byPapal LegateWilliam of Modena in 1228[14] as a compromise between the church and theLivonian Brothers of the Sword, both factions led by Germans, after the German knights had conquered and subdued the territories of severalindigenoustribes:Finnic-speakingEstonians andLivs, andBaltic-speakingLatgalians,Selonians,Semigallians andCuronians.[citation needed]
Medieval Livonia was intermittently ruled first by the Brothers of the Sword, since 1237 by the semi-autonomous branch ofTeutonic knights calledLivonian Order and theRoman Catholic Church. By the mid 14th century, after buying theDuchy of Estonia fromChristopher II, the Livonian Order controlled about 67,000 square kilometers of the Old Livonia and the Church about 41,000 km2 (16,000 sq mi). The lands of the Order were divided into about 40 districts governed by aVogt. The largest ecclesiastical state was theArchbishopric of Riga (18,000 km2, 6,900 sq mi) followed by theBishopric of Courland (4,500 km2, 1,700 sq mi),Bishopric of Dorpat, andBishopric of Ösel-Wiek. The nominal head of Terra Mariana as well as the city of Riga was the Archbishop of Riga as the apex of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.[15]
In 1240,Valdemar II created theBishopric of Reval in theDuchy of Estonia by reserving (contrary to canon law) the right to appoint the bishops of Reval to himself and his successor kings of Denmark. The decision to simply nominate to the See of Reval was unique in the whole Catholic Church at the time and was disputed by bishops and the Pope. During this era, the election of bishops was never established in Reval, and the royal rights to the bishopric and to nominate the bishops were even included in the treaty when the territories were sold to the Teutonic Order in 1346.[16]
Throughout the existence of medieval Livonia there was a constant struggle for superiority in the rule over the lands by the Church, the order, the secular nobles of German descent who ruled the fiefs and the citizens of the Hanseatic town of Riga. Two major civil wars were fought in 1296–1330, 1313–1330, and in 1343–1345 theEstonian revolt resulted in the annexation of the Danish Duchy of Estonia within the Teutonic Ordensstaat.[17]
The most important ally of the Livonian Order was the German nobility in the Danish Duchy of Estonia.[17] In the beginning of the 14th century Denmark was no longer a powerful state and the local German nobility had effectively become the rulers of the territory. After the Estonians of Harju started a rebellion in 1343 (St. George's Night Uprising) theTeutonic order occupied the territories. The overthrow of Danish rule came two days after the Order had defeated the Estonian revolt. The Danish viceroy was imprisoned in cooperation with the pro-German vassals. The castles inReval andWesenberg were handed over to the Order by the German nobility party on 16 May 1343 and the castle atNarva in 1345. In 1346, the Estonian territories (Harria and Vironia) were sold by the king of Denmark for 19,000 Kölnmarks to theTeutonic Order. The shift of sovereignty from Denmark to the Teutonic Order took place on 1 November 1346.[18]
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The Teutonic Order fell into decline after Poland and Lithuania defeated it in theBattle of Grunwald in 1410. The Livonian Order managed to maintain an independent existence, as it did not participate in the battle and suffered no casualties, having obtained a truce with Grand DukeVytautas.[19]
In 1418,Pope Martin V nominatedJohannes Ambundii to the position ofArchbishop of Riga.[20] He became known as the organizer of the Livonian confederation.[21][22]
Conflict commonly occurred between the Order, the bishops, and the powerfulHanseatic cities throughout the existence of medieval Livonia. To solve internal disputes, the Livonian Diet orLandtag gathered in 1419[23][24] at the initiative of Archbishop Ambundii. The city ofWalk was chosen as the site of the Diet. The Diet comprised members of the Livonian Order, Livonian Bishops,vassals and city representatives.[23]
On 1 September 1435 the Livonian Order's defeat in theBattle of Wiłkomierz, claiming the lives of the Master and several high-ranking knights, brought the order closer to its Livonian neighbours. The Livonian confederation agreement (eiine fruntliche eyntracht) was signed inWalk on 4 December 1435, by the archbishop of Riga, the bishops of Courland, Dorpat, Ösel-Wiek and Reval; the representatives of the Livonian Order and vassals, and the deputies of Riga, Reval and Dorpat city municipal councils.[25]
The states of the Livonian Confederation ceased to exist during theLivonian War of 1558–1582. In 1559, theBishop of Ösel-Wiek andCourlandJohannes V von Münchhausen (1542–1560) sold his lands to KingFrederick II of Denmark for 30,000thalers. The Danish king gave the territory to his younger brotherDuke Magnus of Holstein who in 1560 landed with an army onÖsel.[26]
In 1561, a Swedish army landed inReval and gained control over the northern part of Old Livonia. The Livonian Order was dissolved by theTreaty of Vilnius in 1561. The following year, the Livonian Diet decided to ask protection fromSigismund II Augustus. With the end of government by the last Archbishop of Riga,William of Brandenburg,Riga became afree imperial city[27] and the rest of the territory was split between two Polish-Lithuanianvassal states: theDuchy of Courland and Semigallia (Polish vassal) and theDuchy of Livonia (Lithuanian vassal).[28][29]
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According toHenry of Livonia, BishopAlbert of Riga emphasized toPope Innocent III the importance of his see as acrusading venue and itsassociation with Mary,the Mother of Jesus when reporting to theFourth Lateran Council in 1215:
"Sicut", inquit, "pater sancte, terram sanctam Ierosolimitanum, que est terra filii, sanctitatis tue studio fovere non desinis, sic Lyvoniam, que est terra matris, [...] derelinquere non debes." "Holy Father", he said, "as you have not ceased to cherish the Holy Land of Jerusalem, the country of the Son, [...] so also you ought not to abandon Livonia, the land of the Mother [...][30]
"Terra Mariana" appears as an achievement in the historicalstrategyvideo gameEuropa Universalis IV.[31]
1215 proclaimed it the Terra Mariana, subject directly.
'Holy Father', he said, 'as you have not ceased to cherish the Holy Land of Jerusalem, the country of the Son, [...] so also you ought not to abandon Livonia, the land of the Mother [...]' [...]Sicut, inquit, 'pater sancte, terram sanctam Ierosolimitanum, que est terra filii, sanctitatis tue studio fovere non desinis, sic Lyvoniam, que est terra matris, [...] derelinquere non debes. [...]'
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| Prussia andLivonia | ||
