11 May 2020

Word of the Day: Livonian Brothers of the Sword

LIVONIAN BROTHERS OF THE SWORD: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword was a Catholic military order established by Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theoderich von Treyden), in 1202. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204 for the second time. The membership of the order comprised German "warrior monks" who fought Baltic and Finnic pagans in the area of modern-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Alternative names of the Order include Christ Knights, Swordbrothers, Sword Brethren, and The Militia of Christ of Livonia. The seal reads: +MAGISTRI ETFRM (et fratrum) MILICIE CRI (Christi) DE LIVONIA.
Following their defeat by the Samogitians and Semigallians in the Battle of Schaulen (Saule) in 1236, the surviving Brothers merged into the Teutonic Order as an autonomous branch and became known as the Livonian Order.

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