Editing Livonia (section)

=== Internal conflicts in Livonia (1229–1236) ===
{{Further|Baldwin of Alna#In Livonia}}
[[File:LivoniaKnight.jpg|thumb|1870 drawing of a [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knight]] (left) and a [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword|Livonian Sword Brother]].]]
The January 1229 death of Albert of Riga caused a [[diocesan feud]] in the [[Archbishopric of Riga]], as two rival candidates were elected.{{sfn|Selart|2015|pp=129–130}} [[Pope Gregory IX]], through cardinal [[Otto of Tonengo]], tasked [[Baldwin of Alna]] as papal legate to resolve the dispute.{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=130}} After securing the submission of Courland, Baldwin soon found himself in conflict with various factions in Livonia, fleeing to [[Dünamünde]] and temporarily leaving Livonia in early 1232.{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=130}} The pope made him bishop of [[Semigallia]] and gave him papal legation throughout much of Livonia, and Baldwin returned by 1233.{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=130}} He tried to take the castle of Reval (modern [[Tallinn]]) from the Sword Brothers, but in {{circa}} August–September 1233 they defeated Baldwin, who [[excommunicated]] many Sword Brothers in retaliation.{{sfn|Selart|2015|pp=130–131}}

At that point, Livonia was divided into two camps: Baldwin's Bishopric of Semigallia, the Bishopric of Dorpat and the late Albert of Riga's Buxhöveden family plus several monasteries, most Estonians and Curonians, versus the Livonian Sword Brothers, Nicholas' Bishopric of Riga, and the city of Riga.{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=131}} Previous generations of historians have argued that Baldwin attempted to make the whole Baltic region an ecclesiastical state, but {{ill|Manfred Hellmann (historian)|de|Manfred Hellmann (Historiker)|lt=Manfred Hellmann}} (1993) refuted this idea as "fanciful speculation".{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=131}} Similarly, the traditional assertion that Baldwin had extensive plans to conquer and convert eastwards into parts of  Pskov and Novgorod do not stand up under scrutiny, showing that papal correspondence with Baldwin was primarily concerned with ending the internal conflict in Livonia on terms favourable to Rome.{{sfn|Selart|2015|pp=131–133}} Therefore, no Livonian faction was allowed to form an alliance with an external power, be they pagan or Novgorodian, to prevent the internal conflict from spilling over and threaten Livonia's external security.{{sfn|Selart|2015|pp=131–133}} 

In 1234, the pope recalled Baldwin, and replaced him with [[William of Modena]].{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=138}} The pope did not give a verdict until April 1236, when the Sword Brothers were tasked to return Reval to the Danish king.{{sfn|Selart|2015|p=138}} The terms of the agreement were not finalised until the [[Treaty of Stensby]] (7 June 1238), when the Livonian Sword Brothers, crushed at [[Battle of Saule|Saule]] and now submitted to the [[Teutonic Order]], relinquished their claims to Reval and much of northern Estonia to Denmark, and to share future territorial gains with two-thirds for the Danish king and one third for the Livonian Order.{{sfn|Selart|2015|pp=142–143}}