Editing Latvia (section)

=== Medieval period ===
Although the local people had contact with the outside world for centuries, they became more fully integrated into the European socio-political system in the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/EasternLatvia.htm|title= Data: Latvia|work= Kingdoms of Northern Europe&nbsp;– Latvia|publisher= The History Files|access-date= 25 April 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100202020032/http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/EasternLatvia.htm|archive-date= 2 February 2010}}</ref> The first missionaries, sent by the Pope, sailed up the [[Daugava River]] in the late 12th century, seeking converts.<ref name="Lonely">{{cite web |url= http://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history |title= Latvian History, Lonely Planet |publisher= Lonelyplanet.com |access-date= 16 October 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100401090330/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history |archive-date= 1 April 2010 |url-status= live }}</ref> The local people, however, did not convert to Christianity as readily as the Church had hoped.<ref name="Lonely" />

[[File:Burg Turaida04.jpg|thumb|[[Turaida Castle]] near [[Sigulda]], built in 1214 under [[Albert of Riga]]]]
[[Teutonic Knights|German crusaders]] were sent, or more likely decided to go of their own accord as they were known to do. [[Saint Meinhard]] of Segeberg arrived in [[Ikšķile]], in 1184, traveling with merchants to [[Livonia]], on a Catholic mission to convert the population from their original [[pagan]] beliefs. Pope Celestine III had called for [[Livonian Crusade#Wars against Estonians (1208–27)|a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe]] in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians by force of arms.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.balticsworldwide.com/the-crusaders/|title= The Crusaders|newspaper= City Paper|access-date= 28 July 2007|date= 22 March 2006|url-status= usurped|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101222014019/http://www.balticsworldwide.com/the-crusaders/|archive-date= 22 December 2010}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 13th century, Germans ruled large parts of what is currently Latvia.<ref name="Lonely" /> The influx of German crusaders in the present-day Latvian territory especially increased in the second half of the 13th century following the [[Crusades#Crusades and the Holy Land, 1095–1291|decline and fall of the Crusader States]] in the [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Žemaitis |first1=Augustinas |title=German crusader states (until 1561) |url=https://www.onlatvia.com/german-crusader-states-until-1561-68 |website=OnLatvia.com |access-date=26 August 2022 |archive-date=26 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826224424/https://www.onlatvia.com/german-crusader-states-until-1561-68 |url-status=live }}</ref> Together with southern Estonia, these conquered areas formed the [[crusader state]] that became known as [[Terra Mariana]] ([[Medieval Latin]] for "Land of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]]") or Livonia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Terra Mariana. 1186 – 1888 (2015) |url=https://www.manabiblioteka.lv/en/projekti/terra-mariana-1186-1888-2015/ |website=Manabiblioteka.lv |access-date=26 August 2022 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510142925/https://www.manabiblioteka.lv/en/projekti/terra-mariana-1186-1888-2015/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1282, Riga, and later the cities of [[Cēsis]], [[Limbaži]], [[Koknese]] and [[Valmiera]], became part of the [[Hanseatic League]].<ref name="Lonely" /> Riga became an important point of east–west trading<ref name="Lonely" /> and formed close cultural links with [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history|title=History of Latvia - Lonely Planet Travel Information|website=www.lonelyplanet.com|access-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326135852/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history|archive-date=26 March 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The first German settlers were knights from northern Germany and citizens of northern German towns who brought their [[Low German]] language to the region, which shaped many loanwords in the Latvian language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Die deutschen Lehnwörter im Lettischen: Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der hohen philosophischen Fakultät I der Universität Zürich|author=Johann Sehwers|publisher=Berichthaus|date= 1918|language=de}}</ref>