Catholic colonization of the Baltic states

In 1030, Yaroslav the Wise, on the conquered lands of the people of Voru, founded the city of Yuriev (subsequently repeatedly destroyed).

By the end of the XII century, the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea remained the last corner of Europe, where Western-style Christianity did not manage to penetrate. The local Liv tribes and part of the Latgals at that time were tributaries of the Principality of Polotsk , and the Estonians and Latgalian principalities Talava and Adzel (called Ochela in Russian chronicles) - Novgorod Rus ^[1] . In conditions of dependence on Pskov, the rulers of Talava - Talivaldis and his sons - converted to Orthodoxy, which they refused to transfer to the bishop of Riga . In Gersik , according to the chronicler, before its conquest by the crusaders, there was an Orthodox church.

In 997, the Polish king Boleslav I sent the Czech bishop Adalbert of Prague with a mission to Prussia. The mission turned into a failure, and Adalbert was brutally murdered. His follower, Bruno of Querfurt , was also killed by the Prussians in 1009 .

In 1157, the first crusade of the Swedish king Eric to Finland took place and the first bishopric in these lands was established under the leadership of Heinrich ^[2] .

In May 1164, the Swedes besieged Ladoga , but were defeated by the Novgorodians on May 28.

Colonization of Livonia and first claims to Estonia

In 1184, the German missionary Maynard von Segeberg arrives at the mouth of the Daugava. He appeals to Prince of Polotsk Vladimir for permission to preach the Livs in the lands of his vassals and obtains consent.

In the summer of 1185, Maynard invited masons from Gotland to build the stone castles of Ikskül and Holm .

In 1186, the Catholic Ikskul diocese was established.

In 1193, Pope Celestine III declared a crusade against the Baltic pagans with the aim of converting them to Catholicism and removing them from the influence of Orthodoxy ^[3] .

In 1195, the construction of the Ikskül and Golm castles was completed, and local residents expelled Catholic preachers from Livonia. In 1196, Maynard dies.

In the spring of 1197, the second ikskul bishop Bertold Schulte arrived in Livonia with an armed detachment. On July 24, 1198, Livs kill him in a battle on the site of the future city of Riga.

In 1198, the Teutonic Order was created; on February 19, 1199, Pope Innocent III approved his charter with his bull.

In 1199, the Livs completely expelled Catholic preachers and Germans from their land.

In the spring of 1199, the Bremen Canon Albert von Buxgeven , the nephew of the Bremen Archbishop Hartwig II, was appointed Bishop of Iskul. He collects an impressive army in the North German lands of the Holy Roman Empire , which arrives in Livonia the next year.

In 1201, Bishop Albert moved his residence closer to the mouth of the Daugava, founding there the fortification of Riga , where the official center of the Riga bishopric was relocated, the head of which Albert appointed Pope Innocent III to be his bull in 1202.

In 1202, the Livonian Brotherhood of Christ's Warriors was formed (better known as the “Order of the Swordsmen” - a military force to fight pagans under the flag of their conversion to Christianity.

In 1203, Vladimir Polotsky , trying to regain control of the Livs, invaded Livonia , where he captured Ikskyl Castle, forcing him to pay tribute. However, he soon had to face the resistance of the crusaders. After an unsuccessful attempt to capture the castle, Holm Vladimir retreated. This was the first battle between the Russian princes and the crusaders on earth, which had previously paid tribute to the Russians.

In 1204, Pope Innocent III authorized the Lund archbishop to declare crusades in the Baltic states, creating a kind of counterbalance to the growing influence of the Riga diocese in this region.

In the spring of 1205, the Germans defeated Lithuania at Rodenpois. In the same year, the crusaders begin to move upstream of the Daugava and capture Ikskül , Lenevarden , Asheraden .

In 1206, the Germans march on Toreyda and capture it. The tribal leader Kaupo was the first of the Livs, about whom it is known that he was baptized. When German oppression began to intensify, the Livs rebelled against the crusaders and their spiritual leaders, but the rebellion was crushed. Kaupo remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in the battle of Viljandi in 1217. His descendants formed the Ostsee aristocratic clan von Lieven .

On June 4, 1206, the crusaders defeat the Livs at Holm . In the summer of the same year, Prince of Polotsk, Vladimir, undertook a second campaign in Livonia.

In 1206, the Danes, led by King Waldemar II, made their first attempt to capture Ezel .

In 1208, the Order of the Swordsmen and the Bishop of Riga seized the Principality of Kukenois . Prince Vyachko goes to Russia.

Colonization of Estonia and Russian abandonment of Livonia and Estonia

In 1209, the Livonian missionaries entered the Estonian lands. In the same year, the German crusaders, together with Latgals, undertook a campaign against the Estonians.

In 1209, the Principality of Hercycy was subordinated to the Livonian knights. Prince Vsevolod recognizes himself as a vassal of the Riga Bishop Albert Buksgevdena .

In 1210, Novgorod prince Mstislav Udatny, after a victorious campaign on the Bear Head ( Odenpe ), made peace with the Livonians, who were interested in peace on their northern borders, as they were attacked by the Curonians in the south and tried not to get involved in the inter-ethnic massacre of Estonians and Latgals, which continued since 1208. Mstislav shared with Riga Bishop Albert the spheres of influence: Novgorod secured rights to the northern regions of Latgale ( Talava and Ochela ) and to Estonian lands along Lake Peipsi: Vironia , Waiga, Ugandi . The rights of the Riga bishop were recognized in Livonia , Lower Dvina and Latgale (without Talava and Ochela). At the same time, a peace treaty was signed with Polotsk with the promise of Bishop Albert to pay the "Livonian" tribute that Polotsk had previously received. Recognizing the rights of Riga to land in the Dvina (possibly also Kukenojs and Herzike), Mstislav aggravated the position of Prince of Polotsk Vladimir , who lost the support of his compatriots in Novgorod and Pskov. However, to elevate the role of Novgorod and Pskov in trade, this was beneficial. According to the peace treaty with Novgorod, most of Estonia (Sakala, Gerven, Garia, Ryavala and Primorye (German: Maritima or Wiek , Vic; est. Läänemaa , Läänemaa), Rotalia ( Rotalia , est. Ridala ) and Sontagana ( Sontagana ; est. Soontagana ) remained unconquered by either the Russians or the Germans.

1210 - the conclusion of the first Russian-German matrimonial alliance - the marriage of the niece of Mstislav, the daughter of Pskov Prince Vladimir Mstislavich , and the younger brother of Bishop Albert, Theodorich Buksgevden . This marriage enshrined the peace treaty of Novgorodians and Livonians and stipulated Pskov’s special policy in relations with the Order of the Sword-Bearers and the Riga Bishop for the next 40 years. Already in December 1210, the Pskov squad took part in the campaign of knights in the Estonian region of Sontagana.

In February-March 1211, the Germans captured Viljandi. The Estonians respond with a great campaign to Riga, where they suffer a crushing defeat in the Battle of Koiv , after which the Germans become the main contenders for power in the Baltic states. The first Catholic bishop Lealsky, an associate of the Ikskul and Riga bishop Theodorich , was appointed to Estonia, but he never entered into his rights. In the same year, the Germans, together with Latgals, march on the Estonians, devastating Ugandi .

In January 1212, the Germans, together with the Livs and Latgals, invaded the lands of the Estonians up to St. George and Herven .

In 1212, Bishop Albert and Prince of Polotsk Vladimir met in Herzik , after which a new peace treaty was signed between the parties, according to which the Riga bishop would no longer be obligated to pay the “Libyan” tribute. At the conclusion of the agreement, Prince Vladimir Mstislavich , who was expelled by the Pskov people, mediated and received Volmar’s castle and Idumey as a reward from Bishop Albert.

In 1213 , Pope Innocent III authorized the Lund archbishop to appoint bishops for the lands of Sakal and Uganda in southern Estonia, which both Albert and the swordsmen were dissatisfied with.

At the end of 1214, the Germans began the great war for Estonia (1214-1224) with a campaign in Vic (Rotalia, Läänemaa ).

In 1215, the Germans made a trip to Sakalu , to which Estonians respond with campaigns to Livonia from Ezel and Vic, from Sakal and Uganda. Then the Germans undertake three devastating campaigns in Uganda.

In the winter of 1215-1216 , the Germans conducted crusades on the Estonian lands of Rotalia and Ezel. The Principality of Polotsk begins preparations for the great counterattack in Livonia, which did not take place due to the death of Prince Vladimir in the spring of 1216.

In the summer of 1216, the Germans go to Sakalu and Garia .

In January 1217, Germans and Estonians attacked the Pskov lands along Sheloni . In February, Vladimir Mstislavich Pskovsky defeats the Crusaders at Odenpe .

In March 1217, Pope Honorius III issued a bull calling for a crusade against the Prussians .

On September 21, 1217, the Crusaders battle with the Estonians near Viljandi .

In August 1217, Prince of Novgorod Vsevolod Mstislavich made his first trip to Livonia (the first ruin of Livonia).

In February 1219, the Germans march to northern Estonia. In June of that year, the Danes landed on the Estonian coast, establishing the Revel fortress. The open rivalry of the Order of the Swordsmen and the Riga Bishop on the one hand and the Danes on the other for the conquest of Estonia begins.

In the summer and autumn of 1219, the Germans developed the initiative in Estonia by campaigns in Herven and Garia.

At the beginning of 1220, a peace treaty was concluded between Riga and Novgorod. In the same year, the brother of the Riga bishop Albert German Buksgevden became the second bishop of Leals, and from 1224 - Derpt (died about 1248, having survived his brother for almost 20 years).

In 1220, the Swedes joined in attempts to capture Estonia, having made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony in Rotalia .

In 1221, the Russian army besieged the capital of the Order of the Swordsmen Kes .

In the winter of 1221–1222, the crusaders attack the Novgorod lands.

In the summer of 1222, the Danes landed on Ezel.

At the beginning of 1223, a large anti-German uprising erupted in Estonia, the Ests captured Viljandi and Derpt and turned to Novgorod for military support, receiving it according to the agreement concluded at that time.

In the spring of the same year, the Germans went on a large campaign against the Estonians, ruining Ugandi . Estonians respond with a campaign to Livonia and Latgale . In summer, the Germans defeated them on the Imere River.

On August 1-15, 1223, the Germans besieged the Estonian-Russian garrison in Viljandi . Having taken the fortress, they spared the Estonians, but hanged the Russian soldiers as a warning to the “other Russians” ^[4] . After that, the Germans besieged the castle in Pale, which surrenders without a fight. “And the Christians gave them life and freedom and let them go through the villages, taking all the huge booty, horses, sheep, bulls and everything that was in the castle; they praised God for the possession of two castles and for the subjugation of this lying people again, and then with great joy returned to Livonia, ”says Heinrich of Latvia. After that, the elders from Sakala go to Novgorod “with money and many gifts to try to call on the Russian kings to help against the Teutons and all Latins. And the king of Suzdal (Susdalia) sent his brother, and with him a lot of troops to help the Novgorodians; and Novgorod and the king of Pskov (Plescekowe) with their townspeople came with him, but there were only about twenty thousand people in the army. ” ^[four]

In September 1223, an army led by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich besieged Dorpat (present-day Tartu ) and founded there the Principality of Yuryev headed by Prince Vyachko, who until 1208 was the ruler of the principality of Kukenois . Then Yaroslav captures Odenpe and heads to Livonia. “There the Ezelians met him and asked him to send an army against the Revel Danes, so that after defeating the Danes it would be easier to invade Livonia, while in Riga, they said, there are many pilgrims who are ready to fight back,” says Henry . - And their king obeyed, and returned with the army the other road to Sakkala, and saw that the whole area was already subjugated by the Teutons, two castles were taken, and his Russians were hanged in Viliyand. He was very angry and, tearing off his anger at the residents of Sakkala, hit the region with a heavy blow, decided to exterminate all who survived from the Teutons and from the great mora in the country; some however escaped into the woods. Passing with his large army to Guerven, he summoned the Hervens, the Vironians, and the Warbolts with the Ezelians. With all of them, he besieged the Danish castle of Lindanis , fought with the Danes for four weeks, but could neither defeat them nor take their castle, because there were many Balistarians in the castle who killed many Russians and Estonians. Therefore, in the end, the king of Suzdal returned with all his army to Russia. "

In the fall of 1223, the Germans unsuccessfully besieged Yuryev for the first time. In the spring of 1224 they repeat this attempt, and finally, in August-September 1224 they capture Yuryev and kill Prince Vyachko. After this, Novgorod enters into a peace treaty with Riga, renouncing claims on Estonia.