Livonian Order

Latvia, 1237–1561. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561, it was a member of the "Livonian Confederation". Between 1237 and 1290, the Livonian Order conquered all of Courland, Livonia and Semigallia. During the Livonian War, however, the order suffered a decisive defeat by troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560.

Seat of power: Riga

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order was formed from the remnants of the crusading order of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (a.k.a. the Swordbrothers) after their defeat by Samogitians in 1236 at the Battle of Saule.
• In 1346, the order bought the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark.
• In 1298, Lithuanians took Karkus Castle north of Riga, and defeated the order in the Battle of Turaida, killing Livonian Land Master Bruno and 22 knights.
• The castle served as the residence of the Master of the Livonian Order, but due to continuous conflicts with Rigans the residence was moved to the Castle of Cēsis sometime before the castle was destroyed by Rigans in 1484.

Picture

Riga Castle is a castle on the banks of River Daugava in Riga, the capital of Latvia, founded in 1330.

Image: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

• Livonian Order (Wikipedia)
• Livonian Order (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.