The ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle''The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle Published 1977, Indiana University
/ref> (german: Livländische Reimchronik) is a

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and ...

written in

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

by an anonymous author. It covers the period 1180 – 1343 and contains a wealth of detail about

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

— modern South

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

and

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

The old Chronicle

The ''Rhymed Chronicle'' was composed to be read to the crusading knights of the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after th ...

during their meals. Its primary function was to inspire the knights and legitimise the

northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around th ...

. As such, it is infused with elements of romance and exaggerated for the purpose of drama. However, this is debated by A. Murray. He suggests that during mealtimes the knights were read sections of the Bible or the word of God, so that they could 'receive spiritual as well as corporal nourishment'. There was little of this in the ''Chronicle''. There is also the fact that the ''Chronicle'' is written in high German, and the majority of the knights who were in Livonia at that time would have spoken low German. This would mean that they would have struggled to have understood what was being read to them anyway. Murray argues that due to its imagery used to describe the battles and its focus on military expeditions it is more likely to have served a purpose to appeal to the mentality of those who may have volunteered for service with the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword ( la, Fratres militiæ Christi Livoniae, german: Schwertbrüderorden) was a Catholic military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theoderi ...

and

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

to encourage them to join the orders.

The Younger Chronicle

A second rhyme chronicle, known as the ''Younger Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'', was written in Low German by Bartholomäus Hoeneke, chaplain of the Master of the Livonian Order, around the end of the 1340s. It is this chronicle that narrates how Estonians slaughtered their own nobility and called the

to Estonia, which, in turn, butchered them, on 1343. The original is lost but prose paraphrases survive.

References

Editions

* ''Fragment einer Urkunde der ältesten livländischen Geschichte in Versen''. Ed. Lib. Bergmann. Riga 1817 * ''Livländische Reimchronik''. Ed. Franz Pfeiffer. Stuttgart 1844

Reprint: Amsterdam 1969) * ''Livländische Reimchronik''. Mit Anmerkungen, Namenverzeichnis und Glossar. Ed. Leo Meyer. Paderborn 1876 (Reprint: Hildesheim 1963) * ''Atskaņu hronika''. Transl. Valdis Bisenieks, ed. Ēvalds Mugurēvičs. Riga 1998 * ''Liivimaa vanem riimkroonika''. Transl. Urmas Eelmäe. Tallinn 2003 * ''Cronaca Rimata della Livonia (Livländische Reimchronik)''. Original parallel Text. Transl. Piero Bugiani, Viterbo 2016.

The old Chronicle

The Younger Chronicle

See also

References

Editions

Further reading