Editing Northern Crusades (section)

==Livonian Crusade==
{{main article|Livonian Crusade}}
By the 12th century, the peoples inhabiting the lands now known as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed a pagan wedge between increasingly powerful rival Christian states – the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] to their east and the [[Catholic Church]] to their west. The difference in creeds was one of the reasons they were able to resist being forcibly converted to a different religion. During a period of more than 150 years leading up to the arrival of [[Germans|German]] crusaders in the region, Estonia was attacked thirteen times by Russian principalities, and by Denmark and Sweden as well. Estonians for their part made raids upon Denmark and Sweden. There were peaceful attempts by some Catholics to convert the Estonians, starting with missions dispatched by [[Adalbert of Hamburg|Adalbert]], Archbishop of [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Bremen]] in 1045–1072. However, these peaceful efforts seem to have had limited success.

===Campaign against the Livonians (1198–1212)===
Moving in the wake of German merchants who were now following the old trading routes of the [[Vikings]], a canon named [[Saint Meinhard|Meinhard]] landed at the mouth of the [[Daugava River|Daugava river]] in present-day Latvia in 1180 and was made bishop in 1186. Pope [[Celestine III]] proclaimed a crusade against the Baltic pagans in 1195, which was reiterated by Pope [[Innocent III]], and a crusading expedition led by Meinhard's successor, Bishop [[Berthold of Hanover]], landed in Livonia (part of present-day Latvia, surrounding the [[Gulf of Riga]]) in 1198. Although the crusaders won their first battle, Bishop Berthold was mortally wounded and the crusaders were repelled.

In 1199, [[Albert of Buxhoeveden]] was appointed by the Archbishop [[Hartwig of Uthlede|Hartwig II]] of Bremen to Christianise the Baltic countries. By the time Albert died 30 years later, the conquest and formal Christianisation of present-day Estonia and northern Latvia was complete. Albert began his task by touring the Empire, preaching a Crusade against the Baltic countries, and was assisted in this by a [[papal bull]] which declared that fighting against the Baltic heathens was of the same rank as participating in a crusade to the [[Holy Land]]. Although he landed in the mouth of the Daugava in 1200 with only 23 ships and 500 soldiers, the bishop's efforts ensured that a constant flow of recruits followed. The first crusaders usually arrived to fight during the spring and returned to their homes in the autumn. To ensure a permanent military presence, the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword]] were founded in 1202. The founding by Bishop Albert of the market at [[Riga]] in 1201 attracted citizens from the Empire and economic prosperity ensued. At Albert's request, Pope Innocent III dedicated the Baltic countries to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]] to popularize recruitment to his army and the name "Mary's Land" has survived up to modern times. This is noticeable in one of the names given to Livonia at the time, [[Terra Mariana]] (Land of Mary).

[[File:Sigulda, 2015 (33).jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of the castle in [[Sigulda]]]]

In 1206, the crusaders subdued the Livonian stronghold in [[Turaida]] on the right bank of [[Gauja]] River, the ancient trading route to the [[Northwestern Rus]]. In order to gain control over the left bank of Gauja, the stone castle was built in [[Sigulda]] before 1210. By 1211, the Livonian province of [[Metsepole]] (now [[Limbaži district]]) and the mixed Livonian–Latgallian inhabited county of Idumea (now [[Straupe]]) was converted to the Roman Catholic faith. The last battle against the Livonians was the siege of Satezele hillfort near to Sigulda in 1212. The Livonians, who had been paying tribute to the East Slavic Principality of [[Polotsk]], had at first considered the Germans useful allies. The first prominent Livonian to be christened was their leader [[Caupo of Turaida]]. As the German grip tightened, the Livonians rebelled against the crusaders and the christened chief but were put down. Caupo of Turaida remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in the [[Battle of St. Matthew's Day]] in 1217.<ref name="CHR">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmJnyTlis7oC |title=The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1961 |isbn=0-231-12889-4}}</ref>

The German crusaders enlisted newly baptised Livonian warriors to participate in their campaigns against [[Latgallians]] and [[Selonians]] (1208–1209), [[Estonians]] (1208–1227) and against [[Semigallians]], [[Samogitians]] and [[Curonians]] (1219–1290).

===Campaign against the Latgallians and Selonians (1208–1224)===
[[File:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg|thumb|Baltic Tribes c 1200]]
After the subjugation of the Livonians, the crusaders turned their attention to the [[Latgallians|Latgallian]] principalities to the east, along the Gauja and [[Daugava River|Daugava]] rivers. The military alliance in 1208 and later conversion from [[Greek Orthodoxy]] to [[Roman Catholicism]] of the Principality of [[Tālava]] was the only peaceful subjugation of the Baltic tribes during the Nordic crusades. The ruler of Tālava, [[Tālivaldis]] ({{lang|la|Talibaldus de Tolowa}}), became the most loyal ally of German crusaders against the Estonians, and he died a Catholic martyr in 1215. The war against the Latgallian and Selonian countries along the Daugava waterway started in 1208 by the occupation of the Orthodox Principality of [[Koknese]] and the Selonian [[Sēlpils hillfort]]. The campaign continued in 1209 with an attack on the Orthodox Principality of [[Jersika]] (known as {{lang|la|Lettia}}), accused by crusaders of being in alliance with Lithuanian pagans. After the defeat, the king of Jersika, [[Visvaldis]], became the vassal of the Bishop of Livonia and received part of his country (southern [[Latgale]]) as a fiefdom. The Selonian stronghold of Sēlpils was briefly the seat of a [[Selonian diocese]] (1218–1226), and then came under the rule of the Livonian Order (and eventually the stone castle of [[Selburg]] was built in its place). Only in 1224, with the division of Tālava and [[Adzele]] counties between the Bishop of Riga and the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword|Order of the Swordbearers]], did Latgallian countries finally become the possession of German conquerors. The territory of the former Principality of Jersika was divided between the Bishop of Riga and the Livonian Order in 1239.

===Campaign against the Estonians (1208–1224)===
[[File:Kuressaare linnus (vaade hoovist).jpg|thumb|right|[[Kuressaare Castle]], Estonia, constructed by the Teutonic Order]]
By 1208, the Germans were strong enough to begin operations against the Estonians, who were at that time divided into eight major and several smaller counties led by elders with limited cooperation between them. In 1208–1227, war parties of the different sides rampaged through the Livonian, Northern Latgallian, and Estonian counties, with Livonians and Latgallians normally as allies of the Crusaders, and the Principalities of [[Polotsk]] and [[Pskov]] appearing as allies of different sides at different times. Hillforts, which were the key centres of Estonian counties, were besieged and captured a number of times. A truce between the war-weary sides was established for three years (1213–1215) and proved generally more favourable to the Germans, who consolidated their political position, while the Estonians were unable to develop their system of loose alliances into a centralised state. The Livonian leader [[Caupo of Turaida|Kaupo]] was killed in battle near [[Viljandi]] (Fellin) on 21 September 1217, but the battle was a crushing defeat for the Estonians, whose leader [[Lembitu]] was also killed. Since 1211, his name had come to the attention of the German chroniclers as a notable Estonian elder, and he had become the central figure of the Estonian resistance.

The Christian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were also greedy for conquests on the Eastern shores of the Baltic. While the Swedes made only [[Battle of Lihula|one failed foray]] into western Estonia in 1220, the Danish Fleet headed by King [[Valdemar II]] of Denmark had landed at the Estonian town of Lindanisse<ref>{{cite web |url=https://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/7/0518.html |title=Estland |work=Salmonsens konversationsleksikon|language=da}}</ref> (present-day [[Tallinn]]) in 1219. After the [[Battle of Lyndanisse|Battle of Lindanise]] the Danes established a fortress, which was besieged by Estonians in 1220 and 1223 but held out. Eventually, the whole of northern Estonia came under [[Danish Estonia|Danish control]].

===Wars against Saaremaa (1206–1261)===
The last Estonian county to hold out against the invaders was the island county of [[Saaremaa]] (Ösel), whose war fleets had raided Denmark and Sweden during the years of fighting against the German crusaders.

In 1206, a Danish army led by the king [[Valdemar II]] and [[Anders Sunesen|Andreas, the Bishop of Lund]] landed on Saaremaa and attempted to establish a stronghold without success. In 1216 the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword]] and the bishop Theodorich joined forces and invaded Saaremaa over the frozen sea. In return, the [[Oeselians]] raided the territories in Latvia that were under German rule the following spring. In 1220, the Swedish army led by king [[John I of Sweden]] and the bishop [[Karl Magnusson (Bjälboätten)|Karl of Linköping]] conquered [[Lihula]] in [[Lääne County|Rotalia]] in Western Estonia. Oeselians attacked the Swedish stronghold the same year, conquered it and killed the entire Swedish garrison including the Bishop of Linköping.

In 1222, the Danish king [[Valdemar II]] attempted the second conquest of Saaremaa, this time establishing a stone fortress housing a strong garrison. The Danish stronghold was besieged and surrendered within five days, the Danish garrison returned to [[Tallinn|Revel]], leaving bishop [[Albert of Riga]]'s brother Theodoric, and few others, behind as hostages for peace. The castle was razed to the ground by the Oeselians.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNBNHgAACAAJ |title=The Baltic Crusade |first=William L. |last=Urban |publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center |year=1994 |pages=113–114 |isbn=0-929700-10-4}}</ref>

A 20,000 strong army under Papal legate [[William of Modena]] crossed the frozen sea while the Saaremaa fleet was icebound, in January 1227. After the surrender of two major Oeselian strongholds, [[Muhu]] and [[Valjala]], the Oeselians formally accepted Christianity.

In 1236, after the defeat of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the [[Battle of Saule]], military action on Saaremaa broke out again. In 1261, warfare continued as the Oeselians had once more renounced Christianity and killed all the Germans on the island. A peace treaty was signed after the united forces of the [[Livonian Order]], the [[Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek]], and [[Danish Estonia]], including mainland Estonians and Latvians, defeated the Oeselians by conquering their stronghold at Kaarma. Soon thereafter, the [[Livonian Order]] established a stone fort at [[Pöide Parish|Pöide]].

===Wars against the Curonians and Semigallians (1201–1290)===
Although the [[Curonians]] had attacked Riga in 1201 and 1210, [[Albert of Riga|Albert of Buxhoeveden]], considering Courland a tributary of [[Valdemar II of Denmark]], had been reluctant to conduct a large scale campaign against them. After Albert's death in 1229, the crusaders secured the peaceful submission of Vanemane (a county with a mixed Livonian, [[Oselia]]n, and Curonian population in the northeastern part of Courland) by treaty in 1230. In the same year, the papal vice-legate Baldouin of Alnea annulled this agreement and concluded an agreement with the ruler ({{lang|la|rex}}) of [[Bandava]] in the central Courland [[Lammekinus]], delivering his kingdom into the hands of the papacy. Baldouin became the popes's delegate in Courland and bishop of Semigallia; however, the Germans complained about him to the [[Roman Curia]], and in 1234 Pope [[Gregory IX]] removed Baldouin as his delegate.

After their decisive defeat in the [[Battle of Saule]] by the Samogitians and Semigallians, the remnants of the Sword Brothers were reorganized in 1237 as a subdivision of the [[Teutonic Order]], and became known as the [[Livonian Order]]. In 1242, under the leadership of the master of the Livonian Order [[Andrew of Groningen]], the crusaders began the military conquest of Courland. They defeated the Curonians as far south as [[Embūte]], near the contemporary border with Lithuania, and founded their main fortress at [[Kuldīga]]. In 1245 Pope Innocent IV allotted two-thirds of conquered Courland to the Livonian Order, and one third to the [[Bishopric of Courland]].

At the [[Battle of Durbe]] in 1260 a force of Samogitians and Curonians overpowered the united forces of the Livonian and Teutonic Orders; over the following years, however, the Crusaders gradually subjugated the Curonians, and in 1267 concluded the peace treaty stipulating the obligations and the rights of their defeated rivals. The unconquered southern parts of their territories (Ceklis and Megava) were united under the rule of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]].

[[File:2010 09 04 7Tervete37.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Tērvete castle hill in 2010.]]

The conquest of Semigallian counties started in 1219 when crusaders from Riga occupied [[Mežotne]], the major port on the [[Lielupe]] waterway, and founded the [[Bishopric of Semigallia]]. After several unsuccessful campaigns against the pagan Semigallian duke [[Viestards]] and his Samogitian kinsfolk, the [[Roman Curia]] decided in 1251 to abolish the Bishopric of Semigallia, and divided its territories between the Bishopric of Riga and the Order of Livonia. In 1265 a stone castle was built at [[Jelgava]], on the Lielupe, and became the main military base for crusader attacks against the Semigallians. In 1271 the capital hillfort of [[Tērvete]] was conquered, but Semigallians under the Duke [[Nameisis]] rebelled in 1279, and the Lithuanians under [[Traidenis]] defeated Livonian Order forces in the [[Battle of Aizkraukle]]. Duke Nameisis' warriors unsuccessfully attacked Riga in 1280, in response to which around 14,000 crusaders besieged Turaida castle in 1281. To conquer the remaining Semigallian hillforts the Order's master [[Villekin of Endorpe]] built a castle called {{lang|de|Heiligenberg}} ({{literal translation|Saints' Hill}}) right next to the Tērvete castle in 1287. The same year the Semigallians made another attempt to conquer Riga, but again failed to take it. On their return home, Livonian knights attacked them, but were defeated at the [[Battle of Garoza]], in which the Orders' master Villekin and at least 35 knights lost their lives. The new master of the Order [[Konrad von Hattstein]] organised the last campaigns against the Semigallians in 1289 and 1290; the hillforts of [[Dobele]], [[Rakte]] and [[Sidabre]] were conquered and most of the Semigallian warriors joined the Samogitian and Lithuanian forces.