Metsepole

"Metsapoole" redirects here. For the village in Häädemeeste Parish, Pärnu County, see Metsapoole village.

Livonian county of Metsepole Mõtsa Pūol
1206 →
Capital	Not specified
Language(s)	Livonian
Religion	Livonian paganism
Government	Eldership
History
- Established	Enter start year
- Disestablished	1206

Mõtsa Pūol, Metsepole ^[1], was an ancient Livonian county inhabited by a Finnic people Livonians, on the east coast of the Gulf of Riga, at the northwest of what is now the Vidzeme region of Latvia. Metsepole was bordered by the ancient Estonian Sakala County to the north, Latgalian Tālava to the east and Livonian county of Turaida to the south.

During the Livonian Crusade in the beginning of the 13th century the crusading Livonian Brothers of the Sword led by Albert of Riga began to occupy the shores of the Gulf of Riga. By 1206 Metsepole had been taken over by the crusaders and incorporated into Bishopric of Riga in 1255.

In 1201, the Bishop Albert von Buxhövden founded the City of Riga as a Christian settlement at the mouth of the river Daugava. When this did not immediately induce the Livonians, Estonians, and Baltic peoples in its hinterland to convert, a knightly order was formed, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, primarily consisting of Low Germans, to bring salvation to the pagans by force. In a campaign which was a part of the wars known as the Northern Crusades, these knights defeated, subdued and converted the Livonians in 1206 and 1207. During the Livonian Crusade, once prosperous Metsepole was devastated, and the whole country was almost completely depopulated. This vacuum was filled by Latgallians, and Semigallians - which started to move into the area around 1220.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Archbishopric of Riga
• Eldership of Samogitia
• Lembitu
• Livonian Crusade
• Principality of Kukenois
• Sackalia

References

1. ^ The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia ISBN 0231128886

External links

• Indriķa hronika. IX. (Latvian)
• Генрих Латвийский Хроника Ливонии (Russian)
• Генрих Латвийский Хроника Ливонии (Russian)
• Teritorijas vēsturiskā attīstība (Latvian)
• Limbažu Rajons (Latvian)
• Mūsu arheoloģiskie novadi (Latvian)