Vidzeme
Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...
and northern
Latgale
Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While ...
region of today's
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 ...
. It was bordered by the Latgalian Principality of
Jersika
The principality of Jersika ( la, Gerzika, terra Lettia, german: Gerzika, Zargrad, russian: Ерсика, Герцике; also known as ''Лотыголa'') was an early medieval Latgalian principality in eastern modern-day Latvia and one of th ...
to the south, the
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 ...
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 ...
Ugandi
Ugandi (Latin: ''Ungannia'' or ''Ugaunia''; lv, Ugaunija; Low German: ''Uggn'') was an independent county between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Tālava, and ...
to the north and the Russian
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...
to the east.
Tālava was first mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia in 1207 as the Christian County of ''Tholowa''. Russian chronicles refer to the county of ''Atzele'' (''Очела'', first mentioned in 1111) which was probably the eastern part of Tālava. The county existed from the 10th century until 1224 when it was divided between
Bishopric of Riga
The Archbishopric of Riga ( la, Archiepiscopatus Rigensis, nds, Erzbisdom Riga) was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia, a subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Ikšķile, then after moving to Ri ...
Mstislav Rostislavich
Mstislav Rostislavich (? – 1180), known as "The Brave" (russian: Мстислав Ростиславич Храбрый), was Prince of Smolensk and Prince of Novgorod.
Mstislav was the fourth of five sons (and the eighth of nine children) of R ...
Chud
Chud or Chude ( orv, чудь, in Finnic languages: tšuudi, čuđit) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia.
Arguably, th ...
during the winter of 1179-1180, Tālava was forced to pay tribute to Novgorod. The leader of Tālava,
Tālivaldis
Tālivaldis or Tālibalds ( la, Thalibaldus de Tolowa; d. 1215) was a Latgalian elder, the ruler of Tālava, whose support for Albert of Riga and the German crusaders brought about his death at the hands of the native Baltic peoples.
Biography ...
and his sons were baptized in the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
faith.
In 1208 Tālivaldis, together with the Latgalian leaders
Rūsiņš
Rūsiņš of Satekle ( la, Russinus de Sotekele) was a Latgalian duke during early 13th century who is several times mentioned in ancient sources due to his activities in Livonian Crusade.
Rūsiņš date of birth is unknown and it's presumed th ...
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 ...
. The Sword Brothers promised their help against the Novgorodians. In the same year, the Tālavians invited their northern enemies, presumably
Ugandians
Ugaunians or Ugannians ( et, ugalased) ( lv, ugauņi), referred to as Chudes by the earliest Russian chronicles were historical Finnic people inhabiting the ancient southern Estonian Ugandi County (Latin: Ungannia) (also Ugania, Ugaunia) that i ...
(or Ugaunians), for peace talks which however ended unsuccessfully. The Tālavians together with the Sword Brothers then fought a four years war with the Estonian tribes, concluded by a peace treaty in
Turaida
Turaida () is a part of Sigulda in the Vidzeme Region of Latvia. Its most famous site is the Brick Gothic Turaida Castle.
In 1212, a peace treaty was signed in Turaida between the Estonian tribes and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the Arch ...
in 1212.
In 1214 two sons of Tālivaldis, Rameks and Varibuls signed a new treaty with Bishop Albert of Riga, giving the northern part of Talava to the
Bishopric of Riga
The Archbishopric of Riga ( la, Archiepiscopatus Rigensis, nds, Erzbisdom Riga) was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia, a subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Ikšķile, then after moving to Ri ...
. They converted from Eastern Orthodoxy to
Roman Catholicism
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 ...
and became vassals of the bishop. In 1215 the Tālavians together with the bishop's forces continued their war against the Estonians. In response, the Estonians raided Tālava and captured Tālivaldis in Trikāta, and later burnt him to death. After the death of Tālivaldis, the war continued. His sons took revenge and plundered the Estonian lands, burning alive all Ugandian men they could catch.
In the winter of 1216, Tālava was in turn invaded by Novgorodian troops from
Pskov
Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...
.
After the capture of
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
and the Christianisation of the Ugandians in 1224 Tālava was divided between the Bishopric of Riga and the Brothers of the Sword, the bishop receiving 2/3 and the Sword Brothers 1/3 of Tālava. Tālava thus became part of
Terra Mariana
Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for "Land of Mary") was the official name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia ( nds, Oolt-Livland, liv, Jemā-Līvõmō, et, Vana-Liivimaa, lv, Livonija). It was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade ...
.Švābe, A. Tālava. Sējējs. 1936. 2, 135.-141.lpp.; 4, 363.-374.lpp.