• Original Knights Templar Sword
• Masonic Knight Templar Sword

The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Latin: Fratres militiæ Christi Livoniae, German: Schwertbrüderorden, French: Ordre des Chevaliers Porte-Glaive) was a Catholicmilitary 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.

Sword brethren in 8th edition? - posted in + Black Templars +: Hello, new to black templar here, almost have enough point to start a first game. But I am looking at the codex (the space marine one) and I do not see any information about fielding a squad of sword brethren. Is there a entry in the codex that represent then in normal space marines that we could use to field them?

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.

History[edit]

Albert, Bishop of Riga (also called Prince-Bishop of Livonia) (or possibly Theoderich von Treyden),^[1] founded the Brotherhood in 1202 to aid the Bishopric of Livonia in the conversion of the paganLivonians, Latgalians and Selonians living across the ancient trade routes from the Gulf of Riga eastwards. From its foundation, the undisciplined Order tended to ignore its supposed vassalage to the bishops. In 1218, Albert asked King Valdemar II of Denmark for assistance, but Valdemar instead arranged a deal with the Brotherhood and conquered northern Estonia (now known as Danish Estonia) for Denmark.

Original Knights Templar Sword

The Brotherhood had its headquarters at Fellin (Viljandi) in present-day Estonia, where the walls of the Master's castle still stand. Other strongholds included Wenden (Cēsis), Segewold (Sigulda) and Ascheraden (Aizkraukle). The commanders of Fellin, Goldingen (Kuldīga), Marienburg (Alūksne), Reval (Tallinn), and the bailiff of Weißenstein (Paide) belonged to the five-member entourage of the Order's Master.

Masonic Knight Templar Sword

Pope Gregory IX asked the Brothers to defend Finland from the Novgorodian attacks in his letter of November 24, 1232.^[2] However, no known information regarding the knights' possible activities in Finland has survived. (Sweden eventually conquered Finland following the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249.)

The Order was decimated in the Battle of Schaulen (Saule) in 1236 against Lithuanians and Semigallians.^[3] This disaster led the surviving Brothers to become incorporated into the Order of Teutonic Knights in the following year, and from that point on they became known as the Livonian Order.^[3] They continued, however, to function in all respects (rule, clothing and policy) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by their own Master (himself de jure subject to the Teutonic Order's Grand Master).

Masters[edit]

• Wenno (von Rohrbach) 1204–1209
• Volkwin (Schenk von Winterstein) 1209–1236

See also[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• The Livonian Confederation in 1260.

• The Mecklenburgian swordbrother Helmold III. von Plesse.

References[edit]

1. ^The Discovery of the Baltic The Reception of a Catholic World-System in the European North (AD 1075-1225) Blomkvist, Nils. 2004 (p.539)
2. ^'Letter by Pope Gregory IX'. Archived from the original on 2007-08-14.. (In Latin) Hosted by the National Archive of Finland. See Diplomatarium FennicumArchived 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ ^abAndrejs Plakans, A Concise History of the Baltic States, (Cambridge University Press, 2011), 44.