History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 198 the Baltic Crusades, the Livonian Crusade

part four the Sword Brothers. Hello again.

Last week we saw a continuing lack of success in the task set by the German Christians

to convert the pagans of Livonia. Now by this time everyone is pretty much

on the same page when it comes to the question of how to convert the pagans. Converting them by preaching to them or via

missionary work just hasn't succeeded. So everyone is pretty clear that the only way the Levonians are going to be brought into the Christian church is by force at the point of a sword.

Trouble is that hasn't really been working either.

Bishop Bert holds crusade went awry when his horse took fright and galloped him into enemy lines whereupon he was killed. And his successor, Bishop Albert, although managing not to get killed or saved by any horses, has also failed to oversee the mass conversion of

Lovonia despite his best efforts. Bishop Albert has been going back and forth from Latin Christendom to Livonia, doing the well-sailed

route from Livonia to Gotland to Lubeck, ducking and weaving around the violence in Saxony caused by the civil

war and the invading Danes before gathering together some Saxon crusaders and heading back to Livonia.

However, following their season of crusading, these Saxons have been heading home after failing to achieve the wholesale

conversion of the pagans. When we left off last week the century had just ticked over and Bishop Albert had started the new 13th

century by moving his base from Ixhule to a place the pagans called Riga, a handy sight near the mouth of the Dalgava River.

Now the indefatigable Bishop Albert will head back to Saxony from Riga every single year from now until 1224 to seek

out support for his tiny bishopric. The establishment of a Christian base at Riga seems to have prompted a wave of white flag waving

from the locals. Our chronicler, Henry of Livonia, reports that in the year 1201, the Curonians sent messages

to Riga to make peace with the Christians.

As did, perhaps to everyone's surprise, the war-loving Lithuanians.

However, the Lithuanians soon blotted their copybook as they heard

that invaders were headed towards Lithuania, so they left Riga in haste to join the fighting.

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