- Albert of Riga
Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia ( _lv. bīskaps Alberts; _de. Albrecht von Buxthoeven; c. 1165 –
17 January 1229 ) was the thirdBishop of Riga inLivonia . In 1201 he foundedRiga , the modern capital ofLatvia , and built the city's cathedral in 1221.Albert headed the armed forces that forcibly converted the eastern
Baltic region toChristianity , in the nature of a crusade that was undertaken while theFourth Crusade was sackingConstantinople .Albert and his brother Hermann were members of the powerful Buxhoeveden family from
Bexhövede , nearLoxstedt ,Germany . Because of this he has also been known as Albert of Buxhoeveden (or "Bexhövede", "Buxhövden", "Buxhöwde", "Buxthoeven", "Appeldern").Biography
Albert was a canon in
Bremen when his uncle Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen andHamburg , named him Bishop ofLivonia (todayLatvia and southernEstonia ), provided that he could conquer and hold it, and convince the pagan inhabitants to become Christians. The patent was grantedMarch 28 ,1199 , and by the beginning of spring 1200 he embarked with a Baltic fleet of 23 vessels and more than 1,500 armed crusaders. He had the support of theHohenstaufen German King,Philip of Swabia , and the more distant blessing ofPope Innocent III .Together with merchants from the Baltic island of
Gotland , Albert foundedRiga in 1201, where a small community of Hanseatic traders fromLübeck held a tentative trading encampment. He successfully converted manyLivs under their leaderCaupo , offering them protection against neighboring Lithuanian and Estonian tribes; Albert also converted someLatvians later on. The conquest of Livonia in full occupied almost three decades of his life.Albert created a
military order , theLivonian Brothers of the Sword , and began to build his cathedral in 1215. King Philip made him a Prince of theHoly Roman Empire , with Livonia for afief , and thus Albert became a "Prince-Bishop ". In 1225 KingHenry VII of Germany confirmed the title of Prince for Albert and his brother, Hermann. Albert declared his diocese independent of Bremen, and later Riga was raised to anarchbishopric .A first-hand account of Albert is in the contemporary "
Chronicle of Henry of Livonia " ("Henricus Lettus').Albert died in Riga in 1229, but, as a Catholic Bishop, left no descendants. He was venerated as a Catholic saint until the
Protestant Reformation . The present-day "von Buxhoeveden" are descendants of his cousin Johannes von Buxhoeveden. Albert's brother Theodoricus is theprogenitor of the family "de Raupena" ("de Ropa", known today as "von der Ropp") that founded manors inLivonia andCourland .Alberta iela
A street in Riga, Alberta iela "("Albert Street")", is named after Bishop Albert. It is known for its "
Art Nouveau " apartment buildings, many of them designed by the architectMikhail Eisenstein .External links
* [http://www.buxhoeveden.net/index.php?link=2 Albert von Buxhoeveden] de icon
* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023112/0231128886.HTM James A. Brundage, "The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia"] : edited and translated, 2003
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01260b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article]
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