Treiden

Who holds it

Name

Anno of Treiden and Caupo among the elders (see Anno of Treiden, Caupo)

Title

the elders of Treiden

Since

not applicable

Born

not applicable

Family

Anno of Treiden is named in Meinhard's time and in 1200; Caupo first in 1200, after Albert's arrival, and as 'a kind of king and elder' in 1203.

Confidence

medium

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

Overlord

None shown. Whether the Treiden Livs paid tribute to Polotsk like the Daugava Livs is not pinned.

What it holds

• Turaida hillfort (town record Turaida)
• Liv villages of the lower Gauja's right bank to the sea

How things stand that morning

Free under its elders; Anno and Caupo the known leading men; Theodoric, who worked among them, presumably left with the other clergy in 1199 (in 1200 he petitions the pope against the Semigallian port).

Wealth

Farming, fishing and the Gauja; the Gauja mouth gives a harbour.

Military

Hillfort at Turaida; village levies. No numbers.

Threats

• Bishop Albert's crusade (sails during 1200)
• Estonian raids from the north
• Rivalry among its elders

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 (Henry IV.4)Albert seizes Anno, Caupo and the elders at a feast and takes boys of Treiden among the hostages.Depends on: Albert's expedition. Stopped by: The elders refusing the summons.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1203-1204 (later)Theodoric takes Caupo to Rome to Pope Innocent III (Henry VII.5-6).Depends on: Caupo's conversion and alliance with the Germans.

Places of note

• Turaida: hillfort of the Treiden Livs

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Henry I.10-14, IV.4; bounds not recorded.

On the map: Right bank of the lower Gauja to the sea; the northern limit toward Metsepole 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