Henry of Livonia and the Christianisation of the Eastern Baltic Lands (12th-13th Centuries)

The Chronicon Livoniae written by the priest now generally known as Henry of Livonia has long been recognised by historians as the most important written source for the history of the early Catholic mission and crusades in the lands along the eastern Baltic coast in the years between c. 1185 and 1227, when the territories known as Livonia and Estonia were incorporated within Latin Christendom. After setting out the geographical and ethnographic background to the Danish and German missions in the Baltic regions, this essay discusses Henry’s theological understanding of Livonian history, and highlights the importance of the chronicle as a source for the establishment of the Church of Livonia as an ecclesiastical and secular power, for military aspects of the early Baltic Crusades, and for knowledge of the society and customs of the native peoples of the region.