The order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword or Sword Brethren (), formally known as The Militia of Christ of Livonia () was a Catholic military order of German crusading knights established in 1202 in Livonia by Albert, the third bishop of Riga. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204 for the second time.
The membership of the crusading order comprised warrior monks mostly from northern Germany, who fought Baltic and Finnic pagans in the area of modern-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Following their defeat by the Samogitians and Semigallians in the Battle of Saule in 1236, the remnants of the order were disbanded by the Pope in 1237 when some of the surviving sword brethren were allowed to return to Germany and those who opted to stay in "Terra Mariana" (Livonia) were accepted into the local branch of the Teutonic Order.
Organization
The Sword Brethren had a set of rules adapted from the Knights Templar, requiring them to be of noble birth and to take vows of obedience, poverty, and celibacy. The order also included soldiers, artisans, and clerics as members. The Knights made up a general assembly, which selected a grand master and other officials. followed by Volkwin Schenk von Winterstein, who died in the Battle of Saule in 1236.
In the beginning, the main duty of the Sword Brothers was to protect priests and missionaries. The characteristics of the territory brought a moral challenge for the crusaders because the land of the Livs and Letts had not previously been Christian. Therefore, they did not have any justification to attack them. The division of conquered territory also was a problem faced by the order. Swordbrothers were to garrison the built castles to maintain control along the Daugava. However, garrison duties did not imply ownership. Albert of Riga established that one-third of any new territory could be retained by the order. Meanwhile, the rest of the territory was handed over to the bishop. realised that a standing army in Livonia would be more useful than crusaders staying a short time. As rewards for secular knights in the Baltic area were not enough to ensure their long-term stance, Albert founded the Brotherhood in 1202 to aid the Bishopric of Livonia in the conversion of the pagan Livonians, Latgalians and Selonians living across the ancient trade routes from the Gulf of Riga eastwards. However, no known information regarding the knights' possible activities in Finland has survived. (Sweden eventually conquered Finland following the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249.)
Incorporation into the Teutonic Knights
The Order was decimated in the Battle of Saule in 1236 against Samogitians and Semigallians. 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.