The Sword Brothers
The crusades in the medieval period have always fascinated me, none more so than the campaigns of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia and Livonia. But the more I researched the exploits of these German warrior monks I became aware that before they began crusading in the Baltic there was another, smaller military order that has been largely overshadowed by the more famous Teutonic Brethren. This now almost forgotten military order was the Sword Brothers, established by the Bishop of Riga at the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Many of the battles and campaigns of the Sword Brothers were recorded in ‘The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia’, a tome written by a priest who served Bishop Albert, lived in Livonia in the thirteenth century and undoubtedly talked with members of the Sword Brothers about their crusading exploits. His vivid recollections inspired me to write this book that will hopefully help to shine a light on the exploits of the Sword Brothers in what is modern-day Latvia and Estonia.
The main character, Conrad Wolff, travels to Livonia in 1210 and thereafter becomes involved in the order’s battles and campaigns to spread the word of God to the indigenous pagan population. But as the power of the Sword Brothers grows the order comes into conflict with the Russians in the east, the Lithuanians in the south as well as the Estonian tribes in the north, who have united under the warlord Lembit.
This is the first volume of the story of Conrad Wolff, the Sword Brothers and the Northern Crusade in the first half of the thirteenth century.
For ease of reference there are a number of maps on this site that show the location of places referred to in the text as well as the location of the tribal kingdoms in Estonia and Lithuania.
