Livonians

The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to the Livonian Coast, in northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. It was believed that the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013. In 2020, however, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language. As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.

Historical, social and economic factors, together with an ethnically dispersed population, have resulted in the decline of Livonian identity, with only a small group surviving in the 21st century. In 2011, there were 250 people who claimed Livonian ethnicity in Latvia.

The exact date of migration of Livonians to the region has been disputed. "The Livonians claim to have inhabited their present homeland for over 5,000 years." "The Finnic tribes were pushed into the coastal regions by the Slav migrations of the sixth and seventh centuries AD."

Historically, the Livonians lived in two separate areas of Latvia, one group in Livonia and another on the northern coast of Courland. The latter were referred as Curonians, together with the Balts living there. The Livonians referred to themselves as rāndalist 'coast dwellers' and supported themselves mainly by fishing, but also by agriculture and animal husbandry. Since they controlled an important trade route, the Daugava River (Livonian: Vēna), their culture was highly developed through trade with the Gotlanders, Russians and Finns, and, from the end of the first millennium AD onwards, with the Germans, Swedes and Danes.

However, with the traders came missionaries from Western Europe who wanted to convert the pagan Livonians to Christianity. One of the first people to convert some Livonians to Christianity was the Danish archbishop Absalon, who supposedly built a church in the Livonian village today known as Kolka. In the 12th century, Germans invaded Livonia and established a base in Uexküll, known today as Ikšķile. Archbishop Hartwig II converted some Livonians in the surrounding area, including the local chieftain Caupo of Turaida, who later allied himself with the Germans.

After Meinhard, a German who was the first Bishop of Livonia, died in 1196, his place was taken by Berthold of Hanover. Berthold tried to convert the Livonians by force, launching two raids on Livonia. The first took place in 1196, but he was forced to retreat to Germany after being ambushed near Salaspils. He tried again in 1198, but this time he was killed by the Livonian soldier Ymaut.

Berthold was followed by Albert von Buxhövden, who forced the Livonian leaders at the mouth of the Daugava River to give him land to build a Christian settlement.^{[citation needed]} Building started in 1201. From this settlement, the city of Riga grew.

When this did not immediately induce the Livonians, Estonians, and Baltic peoples in the hinterland to convert, a knightly order was formed, the Knights of the Sword, primarily consisting of Germans, to bring salvation to the pagans by force. In a campaign that was part of the wars known as the Livonian Crusade, these knights defeated, subdued and converted the Livonians. In 1208, Pope Innocent III declared that all Livonians had been converted to Christianity. Afterwards, they were obliged to join the Knights of the Sword as infantry during the wars against the Estonians and the Latvian tribes, which continued until 1217.