ORDER OF THE SWORD

In 1186, Meingard, an Augustinian monk from Segeberg in Holstein, arrived with merchants at the mouth of the Daugava (Western Dvina) and received permission from the Russian Prince of Polotsk to found a church. At the same time, in 1186, at the confluence of the Ogry River into the Daugava River, the Ikskul Bishopric was formed on the site of the Liv village of Yuksiküla. When the Lithuanians raided that same winter, the local population fled to shelters without offering resistance. Later, Meingard proposed to the Liv elders to build two stone fortresses for protection from the Lithuanians, but on condition that the local population converted to Christianity. The elders seemed to agree, but when the fortresses were completed, the Livonians did not want to accept baptism or reimburse Meinhard for expenses and refused him permission to leave the country for fear that he would return with an army. Thus, Maingard's mission was not crowned with complete success, but his projects captivated the pope so much that he elevated him to the rank of bishop.

The next bishop, Berthold, was sent from the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen to receive a small Christian flock. In 1197, he received papal permission to call for a crusade in his sermons, raised troops of volunteers and landed in Livonia. His Saxon knights began to plunder the villages of the Livs with such enthusiasm that the local residents took up arms against the newcomers and killed Bishop Berthold.

The successor of the unlucky baptist was Albert von Buxhoeveden, nephew of the powerful Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. He visited the Danish king Valdemar II and Philip of Swabia, the main contender for the crown of Germany, and obtained their support for the campaign. In 1200, the new bishop, having recruited a large mercenary army, which could hardly accommodate 23 ships, landed at the mouth of the Dvina. The place was well known, very suitable for a port and trading city. The Germans captured the Liv settlement at the confluence of the Ridzine River with the Daugava, near the sea, and built a city, which today is called Riga. Later, the episcopal residence was moved to the new city from Uexkyl.

In 1202, in order to seize the remaining Baltic lands, with the blessing of the Pope and the charter of the military-monastic order of the Templars, another German knightly order of the Sword-Crusaders was created. Members of the order had a distinctive sign - a red cross and a sword on a white cloak. The image of the sword on the cloaks and coat of arms gave it its name - the Order of the Swordsmen. The Livonian Order became named after the Livonians conquered by the knights who lived in the Western Dvina basin.
The Livonian Order consisted of clergy - brother-priests, warriors - brother-knights and squires and artisans - servant-brothers. Those who entered the order, according to the charter, took four vows - a vow of unconditional obedience to the order's authorities, a vow of chastity, a vow of poverty and a vow of dedicating their lives to “the fight against infidels and pagans.” The order's brothers were obliged to attend divine services every day and had a common table and housing in the order's castles. The order's brothers dressed in simple black or brown clothes made of coarse fabric and were required to cut their hair short and wear a short beard. Any entertainment was prohibited, including hunting.
Only persons of clergy rank who had taken vows of the order could become brother-priests. They dressed in a narrow white caftan with a red cross on the chest and without a sewn sword. Only persons of a noble, knightly family could become brother-knights, who swore before admission that they were nobles or knights, as well as when, where and how they or their ancestors received these titles. Future brother knights had to be born in a legal marriage, unmarried, and not belong to any other order. The order itself did not knight anyone. A knight's cloak was placed on the entering knight, he was girded with a knight's sword and given full weapons - a shield, a spear and a club. The order assigned its knight a squire for his servants and gave him three horses. The brother knight dressed in a long white caftan and a white cloak on the left side of which, at chest level, was sewn a red cross and a red sword under it. The serving brothers (archers, crossbowmen, blacksmiths, cooks, servants) were from the common class.
The Order was headed by a Grand Master, endowed with almost unlimited powers. Only in some cases did he submit to the Council of the general meeting-chapter of the brother knights. The second in the hierarchy was the chaplain - the order's chancellor and keeper of the seal. A high position was occupied by the treasurer and the draper, who was in charge of the order's weapons and equipment. Administration and justice in the conquered lands of Estonia and Latvia were in charge of provincial order masters-commanders, Vogts and trustees-chiefs of castles. All the knights who lived in one order castle formed a convention headed by a trustee. The private and general meetings of the brothers of the convention were called chapters. The fief rulers of the Order of the Swordsmen were bishops, who gave the order possession of lands as episcopal vassals. The bishop took the oath of allegiance and obedience to the master of the order, both fief and canonical. The Order was subject to the episcopal court and was subject to its spiritual and temporal jurisdiction.

In 1207, Bishop Albert of Riga became a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, taking the oath of allegiance to Emperor Philip of Swabia, but Pope Innocent III made the Bishop of Riga independent of the emperor, subordinating him directly to himself, and later the next pope awarded Albert the rank of archbishop, which significantly promoted him political influence and opportunities.
Isolated from the Holy Roman Empire by stormy seas, surrounded by snow and ice, deprived of comfortable cities or castles, and without a stable and sufficient income, Albert's people in Riga were constantly in danger. Their protection depended on the annual spring influx of crusaders, many of whom combined commercial and religious activities, and on the attitude of the surrounding population, whose loyalty was difficult to rely on. Nevertheless, within a dozen years, Albert had strengthened his power over the Livonians and extended his influence over the Lettian tribes to the east and north - partly through conquest, partly by helping to defend against Estonian raids.

Circumstances forced Albert to share his acquisitions in a foreign land with the Order of the Sword. The pope in 1207 assigned a third of the lands they conquered to the new order. Albert reluctantly conceded, as he was initially desperately short of men, and this eventually led to discord. Over time, the situation only got worse. Some relatives of Bishop Albert settled as vassals near Riga and Dorpat (Tartu). Several fortified monasteries were built at strategically important points - the Cistercian monastery at Dünamünde at the mouth of the Daugava is especially indicative in this regard.
Militarily, the turning point was when the crusaders mastered the art of warfare in the long northern winter. During the cold months of the year, rivers and swamps no longer presented obstacles. In contrast, the frozen rivers, long ice routes for merchants' sleighs laden with goods, were now used as invasion routes by Western knights. Forests, devoid of foliage, no longer hid ambushes and fugitives. Footprints in the snow revealed both people and their hiding places. The crusaders' tents provided the best shelter during the campaign, their castles stored supplies, clothing and military equipment, their discipline kept the troops in the field.
The crusaders first defeated the weakest tribes, and their warriors filled the ranks of Christians. Bishop Albert's political organization, like that of the Brothers of the Sword, was very effective in raising resources: his officials collected taxes from conquered tribes, from visiting merchants, from residents of Riga and other newly founded cities. Thus, the financial base of operations was increasingly strengthened. The bishop invested nobles with fiefs as vassals and required the townspeople to serve as knights and foot soldiers. He also appointed Vogts, who trained and led local militia units. Sometimes these militias served as regular infantry, sometimes as cavalry, but almost always they were enthusiastic about the opportunity to take revenge on traditional enemies and enrich themselves from the spoils.
In addition, the crusaders initially owned more advanced military equipment. Their wooden castles were different from stone and brick fortresses Central Europe simplicity of design, but were almost impregnable to local siege methods, while the local fortifications usually could not resist the crusaders' skill in the use of siege technology and fire. It was almost impossible to stop the attack of a German knight in an open field, so the pagans preferred to fight in forests and swamps. The Germans soon adapted their weapons to these conditions: knights were usually armed with crossbows and short spears, and light cavalry was used for reconnaissance and forest combat.
The Crusaders were also more adept at waging war of attrition. Every spring, caravans of ships brought new crusaders, mostly Germans, but also Danes, Swedes, Slavs and Frisians. Most of the volunteers who came to serve Bishop Albert or the swordsmen were simple knights, but there were also aristocrats who brought a significant number of servants with them.

The invasion of the Estonian lands began almost immediately, as soon as the crusaders settled in the Livonian lands. In 1208, the crusaders captured Prince Vyacheslav Borisovich, who reigned in Kukeinos. However, Vyacheslav managed to escape to Novgorod later. Bishop Albert and his henchmen from the Order of the Swordsmen did not limit themselves to the land of the Estonians and periodically invaded the territory of the Principality of Polotsk and threatened Novgorod and Pskov. Of course, the Russians did not remain in debt. In 1217, the united Novgorod-Estonian army made a successful campaign in South Estonia. In 1218, the Novgorod-Pskov army reached Wenden Castle and besieged the residence of the master of the Livonian Order. The Estonians, naturally, also viewed the presence of the Crusaders as a potential danger, but were unable to expel the Western newcomers. Moreover, almost simultaneously with the German invasion, the Danes of King Valdemar II appeared on their lands. In 1219, King Valdemar, personally leading a large fleet and ground force, defeated the Estonians and built a castle in Reval (Tallinn). In order to finally gain a foothold in the conquered lands, the Danish king called for help from Bishop Albert and the Swordsmen.

In 1222, the Estonians, assisted by detachments from Novgorod and Pskov, destroyed the crusader garrisons in Ezel, Fellin and Odenpe. However, a year later the crusaders defeated the Estonian army on the Imer River and returned all the lost cities. Moved to help Estonia Russian army led by the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who reached Revel and “conquered the entire land of Chudskaya.” Russian garrisons were left in Yuryev and Odenpa. However, in 1224, the city of Yuryev-Dorpt, founded in 1030, was taken by the Livonian knights Yaroslav the Wise in the Chud land, and the Bishopric of Dorpat was formed as a separate state. The Estonians were completely defeated. The Russians were forced out of Estonia, and the Order-Pskov border began to pass just 30 kilometers from Pskov.
Within a few years, the crusaders subjugated the last free land of Estonia - Ezel (Saaremaa). But by this time Waldemar's empire in Germany had collapsed. After he was routed at the Battle of Bornhöfed in 1227, his kingdom began to slide into a state of political and military impotence from which it would not recover for a century. When Danish "protection" in the Baltic Sea disappeared, Lübeck and its allies, particularly Riga and other Livonian cities, assumed control of the Baltic Sea and protection of the merchants.

The conquest of the Baltic states, the lands of the Slavs and Balts, became a continuation of the notorious Drang nach Osten. The first stage of the Drang nach Osten, the onslaught to the east, ended by the 12th century with the conquest of the lands of the Polabian Slavs. But later, the same reasons forced the Germans to continue their predatory movement to the east - relative overpopulation, an excess of mouths and hands that had no use in their homeland. The Crusades and the idea of ​​baptizing pagans turned out to be a plausible excuse for continuing the “drang.”
The German knights were easily attacked by scum from all over Europe. The crusaders, of course, included both fanatics and third sons of large-family knights and barons who had no share in their homeland. The same contingent that went on the crusades to Palestine. But even people who did not get along in society because of dangerous, harmful, simply pathological character traits easily found themselves in the crusader army.
The orders were terrible not only for their weapons, discipline and training of soldiers. Not even because the religious idea made it possible to make a soldier-conqueror out of him at least to some extent, but also a soldier-fanatic, indifferent to wounds and death itself in the name of the shining Truth. The worst thing was that the whole of Romano-Germanic Europe stood behind the crusader knights.

The conquest of Estonia led to a new conflict between Bishop Albert and the Order of the Sword. The Order, having seized dominance in Estonia, now began to plot against Albert. In 1225, the pope sent his Italian vice-chancellor, Bishop William of Modena, to arbitrate the dispute in Livonia. William soon earned the trust of both parties and worked out possible compromises regarding borders, jurisdiction, taxes, coinage and other issues, but he could not resolve the main dispute - who should be master in Livonia. William of Modena tried to save Estonia from discord by placing it under direct papal control and appointing a vice-legate as ruler and turning the German knights into vassals. But this did not help the matter - the vice-legate later returned the lands to the swordsmen.

When Albert died in 1229, two candidates who appeared in Rome immediately proclaimed themselves his successors. One was appointed by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen; the other was chosen by the canons of Riga. Although the pope ordered his legate in Germany to take up this problem, this cleric was too absorbed in creating opposition to Emperor Frederick II to travel to Livonia or conduct meetings. Therefore, he entrusted his task to a monk of the Alnes monastery in Belgium.
Baldwin of Alna quickly became an enemy of the Swordsmen. He came to an agreement with the local residents and removed them from the jurisdiction of the Order of the Sword, essentially taking over Danish Estonia on behalf of the papal throne. This was a serious threat to the finances of the order, since taxes and tributes were its only source of funds for equipping troops and recruiting mercenaries. Instead of humbly submitting to the legate's orders, as their charter required and Master Volkwin desired, the sword brothers decided to resist. The confrontation between Baldwin and the Swordsmen escalated to such an extent that the original goal of his mission - the election of a new bishop of Riga - actually faded into the background. Finally, Baldwin approved the candidacy of Nicholas, proposed by the Riga canons and the Archbishop of Magdeburg, and hurried to Rome to complain about the criminal behavior of the sword-bearing brothers.
It was not difficult for Baldwin to turn the papal curia against the Swordsmen: the similarities between their uprising and the actions of Frederick II were too obvious. Pope Gregory IX gave Baldwin considerable power and sent him back to Livonia. Baldwin, however, did not immediately return to Riga, believing that he should first recruit an army that would support him if the Swordsmen decided to resist.
When Baldwin arrived in Riga in the summer of 1233, he occupied Courland and sent a garrison to Estonia. Despite the fact that Master Volkvin was against armed resistance to the papal legate, the brothers themselves suffered insults from him only until Baldwin ordered the swordsmen to surrender the castle in Reval in the summer of 1234. Then the brothers placed Volkvin under house arrest, and then attacked and converted the papal army fled. This victory was followed by arrests of Baldwin's supporters throughout Livonia. Baldwin himself took refuge in Dunamünde.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that in the same 1234, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich with his fourteen-year-old son Alexander, at the head of an army from Pereyaslavl, Novgorod and Pskov regiments, defeated the knights near Yuryev in the battle on the Emajõgi (Embach) River. The Russian squads that approached Yuriev were met by the order's army, which was immediately overturned and driven onto the river ice. The master of the order, Volkwin von Winterstenn, made peace with Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, which was respected for four years. Yuriev began to pay tribute to Novgorod - this was the same famous tribute that later served as the reason for Ivan the Terrible to start the Livonian War.

Mutual accusations convinced the pope that Baldwin's mission had failed. Gregory IX instructed William of Modena to restore peace. William of Modena divided Livonia between three bishops - Riga, Dorpat (Tartu) and Ezel-Vik (Saaremaa-Läanemaa) - and the Order of the Brothers of the Sword. This was an expedient measure, but even he failed to solve the most pressing problem - the financial difficulties of the Swordsmen. Nor could he propose a division of lands that would be entirely acceptable to the brothers, who saw only two ways out of a difficult situation: either to join a richer military order, or to obtain lands abundant enough to support troops. The first hope was not realized when Teutonic Knights refused to accept the swordsmen into their ranks. The second almost died out when William of Modena decreed that Estonia should be returned to Valdemar II. In desperation, the brothers looked for new lands to conquer. Since Semigallia (south of the Daugava) and Courland (in the peninsular part and on the western coast) had quite easily converted to Christianity several years earlier, during the famine, the brothers hoped that similar success could be achieved in relation to Lithuania, located further south. But the Lithuanians were excellent warriors, and their lands were too vast to be quickly conquered. Nevertheless, the ambitious plans for new campaigns of conquest grew stronger.
The crisis came in 1236, when a significant crusader army arrived from Holstein and demanded to be led against the pagans. Master Volkvin wanted to wait until winter and only then move against Lithuania, but the newly arrived crusaders insisted on war that same summer in order to return home before the sea froze. The master's expedition set out through Semigallia to attack the Samogitians (Lithuanians who lived in Samogitia, that is, the “lower lands”, north of the Neman River). The crusaders took them by surprise, but on their way back to the north they discovered that the crossing of the Saule River was blocked by a Samogitian army. The decisive battle was devastating for the Order of the Swordsmen: most of the crusaders, including Volkvin, were killed at the ford, while local troops escaped through the forests.
In March 1237, the army of Livonian knights was defeated near Dorogichin by the squads of Daniil Romanovich Galitsky.

In essence, this was the end of the Order of the Swordsmen. The knights, stationed in the castles and therefore surviving, were incorporated into the Teutonic Order in May 1237. Much-needed reinforcements were sent from Prussia to Livonia, but Riga was no longer of main interest to the crusaders. Attention was to be given to Prussia and the Holy Land, and in Livonia the future strategy was to be defensive or at best auxiliary. Offensive operations would receive support there only if they contributed to the achievement of the military goals of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Nevertheless, the Livonian knights had their own interests, which sometimes conflicted with the interests of the rest of the Teutonic Order.
Many Swordsmen who survived the Battle of Saul did not want to admit that Livonia was now assigned a secondary role. In particular, they protested against the Treaty of Stenby in 1238, which returned Estonia to Valdemar II and which the Teutonic Knights considered a necessary step to ensure an alliance with the monarch for eastern expansion in Prussia.

At the same time, William of Modena, in the hope that this would lead to church unification, promoted a joint German-Danish-Swedish attack on Novgorod, the only major Russian city to escape the Mongol invasion. Despite the fact that this crusade did not find supporters among the Teutonic knights, it was launched in 1239–1240. supported by the former swordsmen in alliance with the secular knights of Estonia and several crusaders recruited by the papal legate.
The Swedish crusader army crossed Finland towards the mouth of the Neva, and the Germans entered Karelia and also occupied Pskov. After initial successes, the whole adventure ended in disaster - the Swedes were defeated on the Neva River in 1240, and the Germans on winter ice Lake Ladoga in 1242.

The Teutonic knights no longer tried to conquer Russian lands east of Livonia. Now the crusaders preferred to limit their activities to Semigallia and Courland, building castles and strengthening Christian power. The semi-autonomous Livonian Order, as this offshoot of the Teutonic Order is commonly called, was involved in a conflict with Mindaugas, an ambitious ruler who united all the Lithuanian tribes and extended his control to the Russian cities ravaged and devastated by the Mongols in recent years. Fortunately, Mindaugas's interests extended to the south and east, and the crusaders were able to enter into alliances with local leaders who feared and hated the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Brotherhood of Warriors of Christ(lat. Christi de Livonia), better known as Order of the Sword or Order of the Brothers of the Sword(German: Schwertbrüderorden) - a German Catholic spiritual-knightly order, founded in 1202 in Riga by Theodoric of Turaida, who was replacing the Bishop of Riga Albert of Buxhoeveden at that time, to protect property and missionary activity in Livonia, which was mainly carried out at that time with fire and sword . The existence of the order was confirmed by a papal bull in 1210, but as early as 1204 the formation of the “Brotherhood of the Warriors of Christ” was approved by Pope Innocent III. The common name of the Order comes from the image on the cloaks of the knights of a red sword with a Templar cross. Unlike the large spiritual-knightly orders, the Swordsmen retained a nominal dependence on the bishop.

Political significance

Story

The Order was guided by the statutes of the Templar Order. Members of the order were divided into knights, priests and ministers. Knights most often came from families of small feudal lords (most often from Saxony). Their uniform was a white cloak with a red cross and sword. Servants (squires, artisans, servants, messengers) were recruited from free farmers and townspeople. The head of the order was the master, the most important affairs of the order were decided by the chapter.

The first master of the order was Winno von Rohrbach (1202-1209), the second and last was Volkwin von Naumburg (1209-1236).

The Swordsmen built castles in the occupied territories. The castle was the center of an administrative unit, the castelatura. According to the agreement of 1207, 2/3 of the captured lands remained under the rule of the order, the rest was transferred to the bishops of Riga, Ezel, Dorpat and Courland. This was approved by a bull of Pope Innocent III on October 20, 1210.

Chronology

• 1202: Bishop Albert builds the Cistercian monastery of St. Nicholas at the mouth of the Western Dvina, called Dynamünde (literally “the mouth of the Dvina”). Albert's associate, Theodoric of Turaida, was appointed abbot of this monastery.
• 1203, 1206: campaigns of Prince Vladimir of Polotsk against the Swordsmen.
• 1207: the capture of the Kukeinos fortress in the middle reaches of the Western Dvina by the troops of the Order. The defense of the fortress was led by Prince Vyacheslav Borisovich (Vyachko). In the same year, the order received, not without the intervention of the Pope, from the bishop the right to own a third of all conquered lands.
• 1207: Segewold Castle (Sigwald) is founded by the Swordsmen - German. Sieg Wald "Forest of Victory" (now Sigulda).
• 1208: an unsuccessful campaign against Lithuania is organized.
• 1209: Bishop Albert conquers Jersika. In the same year, Master Winno von Rohrbach was beheaded and Volkwin von Winterstatten took his place.
• October 20, 1210: Bishop Albert and Master Volquin receive from Pope Innocent III the privilege to partition Livonia ( Livonia) and Semigallia ( Semigallia), as well as a new permission for absolution. It is in this bull that the actual confirmation of the order by the Pope takes place.
• In the winter of 1212, Mstislav Udatny, with a 15,000-strong army, led a campaign to Estonia against the Germans.
• January 6, 1217: the order makes a raid into the Novgorod land. Around March 1, after a three-day siege, the order surrendered the Odempe castle (Odenpe, Bear's Head, modern Otepa) to the Pskov prince Vladimir, the son of Mstislav Rostislavich the Brave.
• 1219: together with Danish troops who came to the aid of the knights of the order, the Swordsmen founded the Revel fortress (now Tallinn). In the same year, 16 thousand Novgorodians led by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich won the battle and besieged Wenden for two weeks.
• 1221: 12 thousand Novgorodians, led by Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich, make a campaign against Wenden.
• 1223: 20 thousand Novgorodians, led by Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, march on Revel. On 15 August, after a two-week assault, the Swordsmen take Fellin. According to Henry of Latvia, "the remaining Russians were hanged in front of the castle for fear of other Russians."
• 1224: after a long siege, Yuryev (Dorpt) was captured by the order’s troops, and Prince Vyachko died while defending the city. There was no help from Novgorod due to a conflict with Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich. Until the end of the third decade of the 13th century, the order captured part of the lands of Semigallians, Selo and Curonians, but most of the pagan lands remained under Lithuanian rule. The Order, having violated the peace treaty with Lithuania in 1225, organized a campaign in Lithuania in 1229. After this, the Lithuanians began to support the Semigallians even more.

• May 1226: Emperor Frederick II approved their possessions for the Sword Bearers as a holding from the bishops of Riga and Dorpat.
• 1233: A new Northern Crusade is organized (1233-1236). In 1234, in the battle of Omovzha near Yuryev (now the Emajõgi River and the city of Yuryev), the troops of the Order of the Swordsmen were defeated by the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (the knights fell under the river ice). The advance of the order to the east was suspended.
• Until 1236, the order did not attack Lithuania. At this time, Lithuania itself organized campaigns against the Order and bishops or participated in them together with the Livonians, Semigallians and Russian princes. In order to conquer Lithuania or at least weaken it, as well as to stop the Lithuanians from helping the defeated Balt tribes, on February 9, 1236, Pope Gregory IX declared a Crusade against Lithuania. On September 22 of the same year, the Battle of Saul took place, ending in the complete defeat of the Swordsmen. The master of the order Volguin von Namburg (Volquin von Winterstatten) was killed there.
• On May 12, 1237, in Viterbo, Gregory IX and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Hermann von Salza, performed the rite of joining the remnants of the Order of the Swordsmen to the Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Order sent its knights there, a branch of the Teutonic Order on the lands of the former Order of the Swordsmen (that is, on the current Latvian and Estonian lands) began to be called Livonian Landmaster of the Teutonic Order(see Livonian Order).
• The final formation of the Livonian Order on the site of the Order of the Sword and the delimitation of the spheres of influence of the Livonian Order and the Danish Kingdom in the Eastern Baltic was secured by the Treaty of Stensby, concluded on June 7, 1238 on the island of Zealand in Denmark between the Danish king Valdemar II and the master of the Livonian Order Hermann von Balck through the mediation of the papal legate William of Modena.

Notes

Literature

• Map. Novgorod land in the 12th - early 13th centuries and the Order of the Swords // website of Natalia Gavrilova
• Friedrich Benninghoven: Der Orden der Schwertbrüder: Fratres milicie Christi de Livonia; Böhlau, Köln, 1965
• Alain Demurger: Die Ritter des Herrn. Geschichte der geistlichen Ritterorden; Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50282-2
• Wolfgang Sonthofen: Der Deutsche Orden; Weltbild, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-713-2
• Dieter Zimmerling: Der Deutsche Ritterorden; Econ, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-430-19959-X
• Selart, A. Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century. - Leiden: Brill, 2015. - ISBN 978-9-004-28474-6.(English)

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Konoplenko A.A. Order of the Sword in the political history of Livonia (undefined) . Website DEUSVULT.RU. - Abstract of the dissertation for the degree of candidate of historical sciences. Retrieved July 14, 2012. Archived August 4, 2012.

Albert von Bekeshowede, the third Bishop of Livonia, secured strong support from the Crusaders throughout his thirty-year reign and founded the Order of the Sword in 1202. By 1229, Livonia, Estonia and part of Courland were conquered. These lands, as the possession of the Order, united under the name Livonia.

The first master of the Order of the Sword, created in Riga, knight Vinno von Rohrbach did not fall in battle with the pagans. Brother-knight Vikbert skillfully cut off his head with one blow with a huge axe. After which he coldly killed the order’s priest, John. The first political murder in Livonia was committed by an ideological idealist.

Riga was not always made of stone: its founder, Bishop Albert, lived in a wooden city. The houses of the first merchants and artisans were built from wood, and the first church of St. Peter was made of wood. A few years after the resettlement of German colonists to the banks of the Daugava in Riga there was only one stone building - the castle of the city defenders of the Knights of the Order of the Sword. Riga merchants and artisans treated the warriors in white cloaks with pity and irony. And not at all because in winter the walls in the poorly heated castle literally breathed cold.

Even the poorest city dweller at that time could sit in the evening by the stove, where the wood was crackling comfortably, drink a few glasses of beer, chat with a neighbor, make love with his lawful wife. The brother knights were deprived of such everyday joys. Anyone entering the order was required to make a number of vows. He had no right not only to sleep with a lady, but even to look at her face. After evening prayer, none of the brothers had the right to utter a word until matins unless absolutely necessary. Fishing and hunting were strictly punished. And in order to easily check how the knight kept his vow of poverty, not a single chest in the Riga Castle should have had a lock. In general, the knight was obliged to remain silent, lead a monastic lifestyle and risk himself, protecting the interests of Riga merchants and artisans. Who agreed to serve under such enslaving conditions? Mostly those who today are called... homeless people!

From the depths of centuries the concept of “knight errant” has come down to us. But few people know: many nobles traveled 800 years ago not out of love for travel, but due to the lack of a “permanent place of residence.” The fact is that Western land law, in order not to split noble estates into small plots, introduced the concept of primogeniture. This means that the eldest son inherited the castle and estate in the family. And the rest put on armor, mounted a horse and set off to wander. In the city, no one needed such a wanderer, because he knew only one craft - hitting the head with a sword. He was distinguished from a peasant not only good manners, but also the inability (and most importantly, unwillingness) to plow and milk cows. The Wanderer was glad to have the opportunity to become a member of the knightly order even under the most difficult conditions - which you cannot do for the sake of a roof over your head. To sleep in a castle, and not under a bush, you make any vow.

But even if the knight was at first ready to keep his oaths, after observing local morals, he began to doubt. Polygamy was practiced among the Livonian pagans; the Estonians, Livonians, and Latgalians invaded neighboring villages, robbed, and forcibly took away other people's women. In the chronicle of Henry of Latvia??? Many facts have been recorded such as: the Estonians invaded the land of the Livs, tied one of the local leaders to a pole and began to rotate the pole around the fire, demanding money. Liv told where his silver was hidden, but the treacherous Estonians still roasted him over the fire, like a pig on a spit. The Knights of the Sword were children of their time.

In such a situation, formal observance of God’s commandments would simply not be understood. The crusaders gradually fell into the normal medieval rhythm - they took hostages, considered other people's property as their spoils of war, and often even indulged in the sin of drinking strong beer. It was to such a country that the knight Wickbert arrived from the small German town of Suzata, who wanted to faithfully serve the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was sent to Wenden Castle.

The brother knights “worked” tirelessly: together with the baptized Livs, they invaded the land of the Estonians and killed everyone in order to take revenge on the foolish pagans for the fields and villages and the violent raid. At the same time, one of the crusaders, who was entrusted with judging the prisoners, took bribes from them in such amounts that he outraged even the other brothers (usually looking at the misdeeds of their colleagues with Christian mercy): several kilograms of silver were found in his chest!

History does not know what outraged Wickbert more: corruption, murder, or the desire of some brothers for alcohol. It is only known that the knight fled from Wenden to Judumea and begged the local priest to contact Bishop Albert so that he would transfer him to Riga and Wicbert could serve directly the founder of the city. But knights from Wenden rushed to Judumea on well-fed horses, seized the apostate, returned him to the castle, put him in chains and threw him into prison. By the way, the dungeon in the Wenden (Cesis) castle has been preserved to this day - and the temperature there, even in summer, does not exceed 8 degrees. You can’t survive even three months on bread and water in such conditions. The volunteer would have come to an inglorious end, but the bishop unexpectedly stood up for him. The fugitive was sent to Riga.

It is unknown what Master Vinno von Rohrbach talked about with the young idealist. The chronicle of Henry of Latvia only says: the master dropped the charge of desertion, but he did not know what to do next with Vikbert. It would be pointless to launch an investigation into his complaints - the entire order would have to be imprisoned. The knight considered that by indulging the oathbreakers, Vinno was thereby defaming the Blessed Virgin and destroying the immaculate souls of Christians. Soon a bloody drama broke out in Riga. One day, when almost all the brothers went to the cathedral for worship, Vikbert told the priest of the Riga Castle John and the Master of the Order that he wanted to reveal to them a secret that he accidentally learned at the Wenden Castle. Tormented by curiosity, the master and the priest headed to the knight’s cell. There, Vikbert grabbed the ax that he never parted with, and skillfully decapitated the master. With the next blow he finished off the inquisitive John.

Having fulfilled the sentence he himself had pronounced, the knight left his cell and ran to the castle church. Apparently, he hoped that no one would dare to use violence in the temple. The brothers, however, swooped in, dragged the murderer out of the church and threw him into prison. The court sentenced him to a terrible death - walking on the wheel. Before Wickbert died, the executioner broke all his bones.

The bloody lesson, however, was of no use. Over time, the Order of the Swordsmen turned from God-fearing warriors of the Lord into anarchic freemen. The revelry reached such proportions that the Archbishop of Riga himself blessed the people of Riga to deal with the order. The townspeople stormed the castle, captured it, and the commander, before finishing him off, dragged him by the beard, like a boy who had misbehaved. And the monastery of the crusaders was destroyed to the ground. Only in the next century a new castle was built in Riga. But it belonged not to the order, but to the Archbishop of Riga; the crusaders no longer had castles within the city

Symbols of the Order

The symbolism of the early Swordbearers is poorly studied. It is firmly known that on the white cloaks of the order brothers there was a small red cross with widening ends, and under it a vertical red sword. Sometimes artists of our time depict golden six-pointed stars instead of a cross or two crossed swords.

Modern scientists have practically proven that the yellow star with a sword was a symbol of the Polish knightly order of the Dobrzynski Brothers, created by Konrad of Mazowiecki and who fought in the Baltic states mainly with the Lithuanians and the Samogitians even before the Teutons appeared there. And the image of two swords by some scientists dates back to the late period of the Livonian Order of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, allegedly after formally leaving the jurisdiction of the Teutons, the Order introduced modified early symbols.

It is also known that in addition to the white clothes of the brothers, the bollards wore black, including quilted armor. The presence of truncated crosses, as depicted by Dzys, is not confirmed anywhere. More likely just an image of a cross without a sword. On the shields they depicted a red cross, the size of the entire shield (as if it crossed out the entire shield). Banners could carry images of simply red crosses, but banners with full order symbols are not excluded.

Brief chronology of the Order of the Sword

• In 1202, the Catholic spiritual-knightly Order of the Swordsmen was established. The name of the Order comes from the image on their cloaks of a red sword with a cross.
• In 1207, the unsuccessful defense of the Kukonas fortress in the middle reaches of the Western Dvina was led by Prince Vyacheslav Borisovich (“Vyachko”), the grandson of the Smolensk prince Davyd Rostislavich.
• In 1216, the Estonians asked Prince Vladimir of Polotsk to help in the fight against the Western knights, the Russian army went on a campaign, joined by the 16,000-strong Novgorod-Pskov army. At the request of the Estonians, garrisons of Novgorodians were stationed in Yuryev (founded in 1030, Dorpat, now Tartu) and other fortresses.
• In 1219, Danish troops, who came to the aid of the Germans, founded the Revel fortress (now Tallinn).
• In 1221 Vladimir Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich undertakes a campaign and besieges Riga, but to no avail. In 1223, Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich launched a new campaign against the German knights.
• In 1224, after a long siege, the city of Yuryev (Dorpat) fell to the crusaders, and Prince Vyachko died during the defense.
• In the 2nd quarter of the 13th century. on the territory conquered by the crusaders (Livonia), a confederation of 5 states was formed (Livonian Order, Riga Archbishopric (bishopric since the end of the 12th century - archbishopric from 1251), Courland (since 1234), Dorpat (since 1224) and Ezel bishoprics).
• In 1233, a new Northern Crusade was organized (1233-1236). The knights are advancing to the borders of the Pskov-Novgorod, Lithuanian and Galician-Volyn lands. The Knights of the Order of the Sword made an unsuccessful attempt to take the Izborsk fortress
• In 1234 on the river. Emajõge, near the city of Yuryev, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich defeated the troops of the Order of the Sword. The advance of the knights to the east was stopped.
• In 1236, the Lithuanian prince Mindovg defeated the army of the Order of the Swordsmen at the Battle of Siauliai. The Master of the Order, Volkvin, was killed.
• In 1237, the remnants of the Order of the Sword merged with the Teutonic Order of the Crusaders.

Source – www.skola.ogreland.lv
Posted by - Melfice K.

The idea of ​​the Crusades, supposedly directed against the Muslims who captured the Holy Sepulcher, was perfect for almost any conquest carried out by Western European feudal lords, any event in which the papal curia saw its benefit. This is how the Crusades began in Europe. They were directed both against heretics, like the Albigensians, and against pagans in Eastern Europe. The Germans were interested in the Eastern Baltic lands. Rome was also interested in Christianizing these territories. While the crusaders in Asia were fighting against the Saracens, their colleagues were already fighting with might and main in the Baltic states. Here the knights received from the pope the same privileges as the “soldiers of Christ” in Palestine.

In 1200, Canon Albert landed with the German crusaders at the mouth of the Dvina. Having defeated the Liv detachments, the Germans built their fortress here - Riga. Albert became the local bishop. In 1202, he established the spiritual knightly order of the Swordsmen. In 1207, the Swordsmen achieved the right to a third of all captured lands. (The rest was ruled by the bishops of Riga, Ezel, Dorpat and Courland.)

The orders were needed by the church in order to have a disciplined (as opposed to the usual feudal army), morally stable army under its direct subordination. Members of the order took vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. Their main task was to spread Christianity and fight the “pagans”. The order was headed by the Grand Master (Grandmaster), and individual provinces were governed by Landmasters. A clear hierarchy and discipline, religious zeal, financial and legal support from the pope, and the transfer of the property of the incoming brothers into the possession of the orders allowed them to seize significant territories and accumulate enormous wealth.

The Swordsmen, unlike the Templars or Hospitallers, also obeyed the local bishop, although they constantly fought for independence from him. They wore white cloaks with a red sword and cross on them. The residence of the master of the order was Wenden Castle (present-day Cesis in Latvia). The knights fought for the lands of the Livs, Estonians, Latgalians, Semigallians, etc. In 1229, Bishop Albert of Riga died. Even then, the Master of the Order of the Swordsmen, Folkvin, decided to get rid of his dependence on the Riga bishops and invited Hermann von Salze to unite the orders. The reason for this was not only the struggle with the bishop. The Teutonic Order enjoyed much greater popularity and, being closer to Germany, with which it bordered by land, received constant reinforcements. The Knights of the Order of the Sword had great difficulty involving new compatriots in their actions, suffered heavy losses in battles with the local population and felt that the fate of German Livonia was constantly in the balance. However, Salze refused to accept Folkwyn’s offer, in particular due to the fact that the swordsmen did not have proper discipline.

The Teutonic Order, which began operating in the southern Baltic a little later than the Swordsmen appeared to the north, was established during the Third Crusade. Then merchants from Lübeck created a hospital brotherhood that cared primarily for wounded Germans. In 1198, this organization turned into the spiritual-knightly Teutonic Order of the Virgin Mary. The Teutons wore white cloaks with black crosses. The Order did not disintegrate with the end of the Crusade, but transferred its activities to Europe. At the request of the Hungarians, the Teutons settled in Semigrad in 1211 to defend the borders of the kingdom from the Cumans. But in the 1220s, King Andrew II, convinced that the Teutons were more interested in Hungary itself, expelled them from the country.

In 1226, the Polish prince Konrad of Mazowiecki turned to Grand Master Herman Salze, inviting his order to settle on the Vistula in the Chelmin and Dobrin regions and fight against the Prussians and Lithuanians who were bothering Konrad, on the condition that the order would receive all the captured lands. This was a fatal step on the part of the prince. The Poles themselves invited people with whom they would have to wage an irreconcilable struggle until the middle of the 20th century. In 1230, Salze sent a detachment of knights to the Chelmin region - the bloody conquest of the Prussian land began. In 1231, the Teutons crossed to the right bank of the Vistula and built the castles of Thorn (Toruń) and Kulm (Chelmno) here.

In 1234, the Teutonic Order received from the Pope the right to own all Prussian and Kulm land for the obligation to pay tribute personally to the pope, who thus became the overlord of the order. The order regularly paid tribute, but the pope's power over it remained nominal. Soon the pontiff declared a Crusade against the Prussians. They were completely conquered in 1283. A significant contribution to strengthening the position of the Teutons was made by the talented politician and diplomat, Grand Master of the Order of Salze. He sought appropriate letters and privileges from both the German Emperor Frederick II and the Pope. They regularly invited the Teutonic as a mediator in resolving certain disputes. Salze participated in the imperial council as a prince.

By the beginning of the 40s of the 13th century. The Teutons firmly established themselves in the lands of Pomesania, Pogesania, Warmia and along the coast of Western Prussia. They also owned lands and castles in Slovenia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Romania and Greece. The mouths of the Vistula, Dvina and Neman rivers were in the hands of the Germans, and therefore a significant part of all Baltic trade was under their control.

However, the knights met fierce resistance from the Russians and Lithuanians. The latter united and strengthened their state under the leadership of Prince Mindaugas. On September 22, 1236, in the Battle of Saul (Šiauliai), the Lithuanians completely defeated the Swordsmen. The success of the battle was facilitated by the timely transition of Zemgale troops to the Lithuanian side. Under Saul, the Master of the Swordsmen, Folkwin Winterstatten, died, and in general the losses of the order were significant. The Germans were driven west of the Dvina, losing almost everything they had acquired over the past 30 years. This defeat was the reason for the unification of the two orders. A delegation of swordsmen went to the pope in Rome with a corresponding request. As a result of lengthy negotiations with the active participation of the papal curia, an agreement was reached on the union of the Order of the Sword and the Teutonic Order. The treaty was signed on May 14, 1237 at the residence of Pope Gregory IX in Viterbo near Rome. The Order of the Swordsmen became a semi-autonomous part of the Teutonic Order - the Livonian Order, its master became the Landmaster of the Teutonic Order (he became the Teutonic Hermann Balcke). The Livonian Order controlled previously captured lands in Latvia and Estonia. At the same time, the Livonian landmaster was also subordinate to the Riga archbishop.

German Catholic spiritual-knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host" was founded in 1202 with the assistance of Bishop Albert of Riga and Pope Innocent III to capture the Eastern Baltic states. The traditional name Sword Bearers comes from the image of a red sword with a cross on their white cloaks. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan of Christianization: “Whoever does not want to be Christian must die. At the beginning of the 13th century. The Swordsmen undertook crusades against the Livs, Estonians, Semigallians and other Baltic peoples, capturing many lands in the Eastern Baltic, a third of which, with the sanction of the Pope (1207), was assigned to the order. Soon the Sword Bearers invaded the Principality of Polotsk and began to threaten Novgorod and Pskov. In 1234, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich inflicted a heavy defeat on the Sword Bearers near Dorpat (modern Tartu), and in 1236 the combined forces of Lithuanians and Semigallians completely defeated the Sword Bearers near Saule (modern Šiauliai in Lithuania). The remnants of the Order of the Sword in 1237 merged with the Teutonic Order and formed the Livonian Order in the Eastern Baltic. (See historical map “Baltic states in the 13th century.”)