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23-615: Swordbearer may refer to Livonian Brothers of the Sword , also called Christ Knights, Sword Brethren, and The Militia of Christ of Livonia The Swordbearer , a 1982 fantasy novel by Glen Cook The Sword Bearer , a 2006 Russian action film Swordbearer (ceremonial) , civic official Swordbearer (role-playing game) , published by Heritage Games in 1982 and Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1985 See also [ edit ] Swordsman The Sword Bearer , 2006 Russian action film Bearer of

46-477: A set of rules adopted from the Knights Templar , requiring them to be of noble birth and to take vows of obedience, poverty, and celibacy. The order also included soldiers, artisans, and clerics as members. The Knights made up a general assembly, which selected a grand master and other officials. The grandmaster served for life in the order. He chose a council and a military chief for each district castle, where

69-514: A siege, they took Fellin and negotiated a settlement with the condition that pagans accept baptism. The following year the order destroyed the Saccalian resistance in a battle where 2,000 Saccalians fell. Between 1211 and 1212, the Swordbrothers realised that winter was the best season for warfare due to frozen swamps, weak undergrowth, and difficulty of their enemies to cover their tracks. Also,

92-751: A standing army in Livonia would be more useful than crusaders staying a short time. As rewards for secular knights in the Baltic area were not enough to ensure their long-term stance, Albert founded the Brotherhood in 1202 to aid the Bishopric of Livonia in the conversion of the pagan Livonians , Latgalians and Selonians living across the ancient trade routes from the Gulf of Riga eastwards. The Brotherhood had its headquarters at Fellin (Viljandi) in present-day Estonia , where

115-675: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Livonian Brothers of the Sword Following their defeat by the Samogitians and Semigallians in the Battle of Saule in 1236, the surviving Brothers merged into the Teutonic Order as an autonomous branch and became known as the Livonian Order . The Baltic German Livonian Brothers had

138-670: The fortress of Treiden . In 1208, they founded the castle of Segewold in the Aa valley, and the castle of Wenden further upstream. The last one grew as a fortress and Master Wenno located the Headquarters of the Order there. Wickbert, a man loyal to Albert of Riga, was placed to manage the Wenden castle. Master Wenno removed him, but Wickbert fled to the protection of Albert of Riga and killed Wenno with an axe. In 1219, King Valdemar II of Denmark conquered

161-457: The north of Estonia with the help of Bishop Albert. In 1222, Estonia was partitioned between Valdemar II and Albert of Riga in an agreement unsatisfactory to the Swordbrothers. After that, they exploited the peasants until a revolt arose. The Pope rebuked the Order for the way they managed the conflict. Then, they tried to seize Danish land in Estonia until a papal legate made them give it back. When

184-577: The Livonian crusade. Most of the confrontations consisted of raids. The Order built a fortified line along the Daugava that created a peaceful time in the region. Livonian people began to consider the Swordbrothers as efficient protectors. Despite that, some native leaders felt that the Order represented a challenge to their authority, as the case of King Vetseke , the original owner of the fortress of Koknese . King Vetseke massacred German workers who were rebuilding

207-714: The Order defeated him and took him as a prisoner. Pope Gregory IX asked the Brothers to defend Finland from the Novgorodian attacks in his letter of November 24, 1232. However, no known information regarding the knights' possible activities in Finland has survived. ( Sweden eventually conquered Finland following the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249.) The Order was decimated in the Battle of Schaulen (Saule) in 1236 against Lithuanians and Semigallians . This disaster led

230-471: The Sword (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Swordbearer . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swordbearer&oldid=1031512031 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

253-513: The Swordbrothers to expand to the north of the Daugava river, along the Livonian Aa stream , brought the Order into a confrontation with Bishop Albert. Albert wanted to extend to the south of the river and did not have an interest in Estonia , previously promised to King Valdemar II of Denmark. Master Wenno advanced to the north without the permission of Bishop Albert. First, the Order took and occupied

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276-401: The fortress. He was punished after that. In 1211, several threats around Livonian prompted Albert of Riga to reinforce the defences. For safeguarding the northern flank, Albert organised an invasion of southern Estonia. The Swordbrothers were the core of the crusader army, allied with Russians, loyal Livs and Letts, and led by Engelbert von Thisenhusen , brother-in-law of Albert of Riga. After

299-643: The help of the Swordbrothers after a local Semigallian tribe was devastated by the Lithuanians . The brotherhood was reluctant to go to war due to the absence of bishop Albert. However, Viesthard successfully persuaded the Swordbrothers. They prepared an ambush against the Lithuanians that were returning with the booty, where the Lithuanian leader was beheaded. In 1206, the Duke Vladimir of Polozk demanded tribute from

322-467: The inhabitants of the Daugava when the terms of service of the crusaders expired. The Swordbrothers, with the help of the remaining crusaders, beat the Russian troops that arrived suddenly to Daugava. In 1207, the Swordbrothers faced an attack from Lithuania launched during the winter. The Swordbrothers and allies stayed at the castle of Lennewarden on the north of the Daugava. The Lithuanian army challenged

345-412: The knights could use frozen rivers as high-speed paths. The Order used these advantages in their campaigns until 1218, when they conquered southern Estonia, meanwhile they beat off counter-attacks from Russians and Lithuanians. In 1230, Kurland was conquered and converted by the order. From its foundation, the indisciplined Order tended to ignore its supposed vassalage to the bishops. The desires of

368-407: The order to battle and was defeated by the Order. This victory served to show the value of the castle line along the river. The chain of castles allowed successful communication. Meanwhile, the local militia could assemble at the nearest fort to the raiders' return route and attack them. The Swordbrothers had superiority in heavy cavalry. For that reason, natives tried to avoid pitched battles during

391-709: The order's knights were living. Wenno von Rohrbach was the first master of the order (1204–1209), followed by Volkwin Schenk von Winterstein, who died in the Battle of Schaulen in 1236. In the beginning, the main duty of the Livonian Brothers was to protect priests and missionaries. The characteristics of the territory brought a moral challenge for the crusaders because the land of the Livs and Letts had not previously been Christian. Therefore, they did not have any justification to attack them. The division of conquered territory also

414-526: The papal legate left, the Swordbrothers took the Danish land again. They also invaded the territory of Bishop Albert and levied tolls on traffic on the Daugava. After the death of Albert of Riga in 1229, ecclesiastical authorities considered that the Order was no longer useful. The papal legate Bernard of Aulne decided that they should be suppressed, and he tried to recapture the Danish Castle at Reval . However,

437-576: The surviving Brothers to become incorporated into the Order of Teutonic Knights in the following year, and from that point on they became known as the Livonian Order . They continued to function in all respects ( rule , clothing and policy) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by their own Master (himself de jure subject to the Teutonic Order's Grand Master ). Bishopric of Riga The Archbishopric of Riga ( Latin : Archiepiscopatus Rigensis , Low German : Erzbisdom Riga )

460-511: The walls of the Master's castle still stand. Other strongholds included Wenden (Cēsis) , Segewold (Sigulda) and Ascheraden (Aizkraukle) . The commanders of Fellin, Goldingen (Kuldīga) , Marienburg (Alūksne) , Reval (Tallinn) , and the bailiff of Weißenstein (Paide) belonged to the five-member entourage of the Order's Master. In 1205, the first battle of the Livonian brothers occurred. The Semigallian duke Viesthard visited Riga to request

483-510: Was a problem faced by the order. Swordbrothers were to garrison the built castles to maintain control along the Daugava . However, garrison duties did not imply ownership. Albert of Riga established that one-third of any new territory could be retained by the order. Meanwhile, the rest of the territory was handed over to the bishop. Albert , Bishop of Riga (also called Prince-Bishop of Livonia ) (or possibly Theoderich von Treyden) realised that

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506-640: Was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia , a subject to the Holy See . It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Ikšķile , then after moving to Riga it became the bishopric of Riga in 1202 and was elevated to an archbishopric in 1255. The archbishops of Riga were also the secular rulers of Riga until 1561 when during the Reformation the territory converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and all church territories were secularized. The see

529-680: Was restored as a diocese of the Catholic Church in 1918 and raised into an archdiocese in 1923. A new Bishopric of Livonia was established in Latgalia in 1621 during the Inflanty Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The Archbishops of Riga were innovators in the field of minting currency, reviving techniques abandoned since the collapse of Rome. The names of individual archbishops after 1418, as well as

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