Estonia's ancient fight for freedom

Livonian Crusade
Part of the Northern Crusades
Date 13th century Location Estonia, Latvia Result Crusader victory Creation of Terra Mariana and Duchy of Estonia
Belligerents
Crusaders Sword-Brothers Livonian Order Denmark Sweden	Indigenous peoples Livonians Latgalians Selonians Estonians Oeselians Curonians Semigallians
Commanders and leaders
Albert of Riga Anders Sunesen Berthold of Hanover † Caupo of Turaida † Theoderich von Treyden † Valdemar II of Denmark Volquin † Wenno Wilken von Endorp † Otto von Lutterberg † Tālivaldis of Tālava † John I of Sweden	Ako of Salaspils † Vesceka of Kukenois † Visvaldis of Jersika Lembitu of Lehola † Viestards of Tērvete Nameisis of Zemgale

Crusaders

Indigenous peoples

The Livonian Crusade refers to the conquest of the territory constituting modern Latvia and Estonia during the pope-sanctioned Northern Crusades, performed mostly by Germans from the Holy Roman Empire and Danes. It ended with the creation of the Terra Mariana and Duchy of Estonia. The lands on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea were the last corners of Europe to be Christianized.

On 2 February 1207, in the territories conquered, an ecclesiastical state called Terra Mariana was established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1215 as a subject of the Holy See. After the success of the crusade, the German- and Danish-occupied territory was divided into six feudal principalities by William of Modena.

Christianity had come to Latvia with the settlement of Grobiņa by Swedes in the 7th century and the Danes in the 11th. By the time German traders began to arrive in the second half of the 12th century to trade along the ancient trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, some natives had already been baptized.

Saint Meinhard of Segeberg arrived in Ikšķile in 1184 with the mission of converting the pagan Livonians, and was consecrated as Bishop of Üxküll in 1186. In those days the riverside town was the center of the upcoming missionary activities in the Livonian area.

...
Wikipedia