Henry of Latvia ( la, Henricus de Lettis, german: Heinrich von Lettland, lv, Latviešu Indriķis, et, Läti Henrik; 1187 – after 1259), also known in the English-speaking world as Henry of Livonia, was a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. He wrote the

Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' ( la, Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) offers a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's inland Estonia and the northern part of Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was ...

which describes the

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

of the regions which are now part of Estonia and Latvia during 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 ...

Biography

The chronicles say that Henry was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest who witnessed most of events described. Henry is thought to have been born in 1187 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

. Henry was probably German, bearing a German forename and consistently referring to Germans as "we", but it is also possible that he came from

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 ...

. He had a thoroughly German and Catholic education and as a youth was attached to the household of the Prince-Bishop

Albert of Buxhoeveden Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia or Albrecht (german: Albert von Buxthoeven, lv, Alberts fon Buksthēvdens; c.1165 – 17 January 1229) was the third Bishop of Riga in Livonia. In 1201 he allegedly founded Riga, the modern capital of Latvi ...

(c.1165 – 17 January 1229), was ordained a priest in 1208, founded a parish and lived out his life in peace. Henry's ''Chronicles'', compiled around 1229, are written from a clerical point of view, that the history of the Church was the essential history of Livonia. The ''Chronicles'' may have originated as a report to the papal legate,

William of Modena William of Modena ( – 31 March 1251), also known as ''William of Sabina'', ''Guglielmo de Chartreaux'', ''Guglielmo de Savoy'', ''Guillelmus'', was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat.

, to whom he was assigned as interpreter 1225 through 1227. The legate, one of the papacy's most able diplomats, was in Livonia to mediate an internal church dispute between 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 the territorial claims of the

Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

s of Livonia. He was mentioned in documents published in 1231 and 1259 as being a priest. Henry died after 1259 in Papendorf,

, aged at least 72. He lived in Rubene until at least 1259, when he was questioned as a witness in a dispute over the boundaries of the archdiocese and the order at Lake Burtnieki and Salaca. During this time he was called Lord Indrica of the parish of Papendorf (''dominus Hinricus plebanus de Papendorpe'').

References

External links

Letonika.lv profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Latvia 1180s births 1260s deaths Writers from Magdeburg German chroniclers 13th-century German Roman Catholic priests German Roman Catholic missionaries 13th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire Baltic-German people Christians of the Livonian Crusade German male non-fiction writers Roman Catholic missionaries in Estonia Roman Catholic missionaries in Latvia 13th-century German writers 13th-century Latin writers