Tālivaldis or Tālibalds ( la, Thalibaldus de Tolowa; d. 1215) was a Latgalian elder, the ruler of

Tālava Tālava was a Latgalian country in the northern Vidzeme and northern Latgale region of today's Latvia. It was bordered by the Latgalian Principality of Jersika to the south, the Livonian counties of Metsepole and Idumeja to the west, the Estonian ...

, whose support for

Albert of Riga 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 Lat ...

and the German crusaders brought about his death at the hands of the native Baltic peoples.

Biography

Tālivaldis's date of birth is unknown. He is first noted in 1208 when he fought against the Saccalians and

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 ...

as an ally of the Latgalian dukes

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 ...

and Varidots. Tālivaldis became a vassal of

and was thus involved in the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianity and colonialism, Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily ...

against the Estonian tribes as an ally of the German crusaders. In 1211 the Estonians raided Tālava as revenge for the Latgalian support of the crusaders and pillaged the area round Trikāta, Tālivaldis's native region. In 1212 Tālivaldis, as a vassal of Albert of Riga, did not support the Autīne revolt, a joint Latgalian and Livonian revolt against the crusaders. In 1213 the

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

invaded Tālava. They captured Tālivaldis in his castle at Trikāta and were taking him back to Lithuania as a prisoner, but he managed to escape. Tālivaldis was killed in 1215 by invading Ugandians, who, according to the

Chronicle of Henry of Livonia 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 ...

, burnt Tālivaldis alive. Soon afterwards, Tālivaldis's sons Rameka and Drivinalds raided Ugandia in revenge and plundered it severely. Tālivaldis was baptised 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 sometime before 1208 when he was a vassal of the

Principality of Pskov The Pskov Land (russian: Псковская земля, Pskovskaya zemlya) was a historical region in the north-west of the medieval Russia centred around the city of Pskov. It was a vassal state of various Rus' states and had a measure of independe ...

. When the Northern Crusades began, Tālava fell into the spheres of influence of both Bishop Albert of Riga and the Principality of Pskov. At this point Tālivaldis chose to support Albert, in the hope that the Germans would help the Tālavians to resist the pressure on them from the Russians. Bishop Albert and the German crusaders had no interest however in maintaining an independent Latgalian state. Once the Tālavians and the Estonians were involved in a

war of attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

Albert seized the opportunity for the benefit of the German occupiers. After Tālivaldis's death, his lands were divided between the crusaders and Albert of Riga. Talivaldis's sons changed from Orthodoxy to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and became vassals of Albert of Riga.

References

Sources and external links

* "Tālava", in ''Latviešu konversācijas vārdnīca'' (21st edn), 42104 - 42110 * "Tālivaldis", in ''Latvijas padomju enciklopēdija'' (9th edn), p. 486
Švābe, A., "Tālava" in ''Straumes un avoti'' (3rd edn), pp. 179-210. Sakārtojusi Švābe, L. Lincoln (Nebraska): Pilskalns, 1965

Hypothetical portrait of Tālivaldis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talivaldis Medieval Latgalian people Christians of the Livonian Crusade 1215 deaths 13th-century rulers in Europe Year of birth unknown