Daugava mouth

Who holds it

Name

None named for 1200

Title

the elders of the Livs of the lower Daugava

Since

not applicable

Born

not applicable

Family

The only Liv Henry names here is Asso, baptized at Riga in 1200 after Albert's arrival (IV.3); not a known elder.

Confidence

low

Henry of Livonia (Brundage tr.); see sources.

Overlord

Tribute to the prince of Polotsk, paid by the Daugava Livs in Meinhard's time (Henry I.3) and demanded by force in 1203 (VII.7); whether it was paid in 1199 is not pinned.

What it holds

• Liv villages on both banks of the lower Daugava
• The Riga harbour on the Rīdzene (town record Riga landing)

How things stand that morning

Free Liv villages, apostate since 1198, no German settlement and no priest. The site where Riga will stand is Liv ground.

Wealth

Fishing, farming and the river traffic; the harbour where the summer ships lie.

Military

Village levies; the 1198 battlefield lies here. No numbers.

Threats

• Bishop Albert's crusade (sails during 1200)
• Lithuanian winter raids
• Semigallian attacks across the river
• Polotsk's tribute demands

Law and courts

Elders of the land and its fort, with the assembled free men, decide war, peace and disputes by custom; oaths and peace are sealed by pagan rite. No written law.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200, after Albert's arrival (Henry IV.3-5)Livs including Asso take baptism at Riga; before Albert sails home the Livs show him the site of the future town.Depends on: Albert's expedition and the peace after it. Stopped by: A Liv victory or a renewed war.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 (later)Albert builds Riga 'in a spacious field' beside the harbour (Henry V).Depends on: The 1200 peace holding.

Places of note

• The Riga landing: Liv harbour on the Rīdzene; no town yet

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Henry gives the events (II.4-6, IV.3-5); the bounds of the river-mouth Livs' land are not recorded.

On the map: Drawn on both banks from Ķekava and Stopiņi to the sea; the western limit toward the Lielupe mouth is a guess.

Primary sources for The Livs

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
• Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
• Charter books of Lübeck and of Hamburg (documents to 1226 (Lübeck vol. 1) and to 1300 (Hamburg vol. 1)). The charters of the two north German towns and of the archbishops of Bremen and Hamburg. Read online
• The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online