Primary Source Analysis: The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle

 

John Parker

SCAND/BALTIC 344

April 16, 2002

 

The Livlandische Reimchronik is a rare treat for historians.  It is one of only two known documents written about Livonia from the 1100’s to the close of the Thirteenth Century.  The other existing document, The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, is a necessary tool for judging the validity of the Rhymed Chronicle.

 

The author of the Rhymed Chronicle is unknown.  He did not leave any trace of his own name.  He does give clues about who he is socially.  The fact that he wrote in much detail about the the art of battle and weaponry leads us to believe that he was one of the conquering knights of the Teutonic Order.  He was most likely not a monk or priest because of the bias he showed against them.  The author expressed favor for the Knights over the Clergy during territorial disputes.  He also wrote in High German, not Latin, which a parishioner would have used.  There are some traces of Low German in the first half of the account which further supports the notion that he copied an earlier chronicle. 

 

The first half of the chronicle is admittedly barrowed by the author from the previous account of others.  It covers the time events from 1180 to 1290.  The author didn’t announce the time when his story becomes his eyewitness testimony, but in the text it becomes obvious by the increase of bias favoring the knights and their justified cause, and by the excess of detail about people and places.  In the latter half of the account, when he began to write about strange Estonia, the reader gets the impression that the author is really there.  And he probably was!

 

The purpose for writing this document was most likely to inspire the other knights and to legitimize the killing of the pagans.  The report tributes much glory and honor to the brave knights and their cause.  The translators of this piece imagined that the rhymed poem was read to the knights while they ate as a form of entertainment.

 

This work is so laced with bias in favor of the Teutonic Knights and whole-hearted disgust toward the indigenous inhabitants of the land that it is obviously not the total truth.  The chronicle does give a valuable picture of the conviction and attitude of the conquering knights.  The facts of the writing were sacrificed by the romanticism however.  This is proven when The Rhymed Chronicle’s events conflict with the facts of the Livonian Chronicle of Henry of Livonia.  According to Henry of Livonia, who actually lived during the Baltic Crusades, a certain Bishop Berthold, a warrior, had a confrontation with the Estonians.  During one such confrontation Berthold had lost control of his horse and recklessly driven towards the enemy.  He was jabbed in the back with a lance and torn limb from limb by savage Estonians who were even mentioned by name.  In The Rhymed Chronicle’s account, Berthold had bravely ridden before his men and fought valiantly, but during the battle and bloodshed fell dead.  The author also was in error when he mentioned that Berthold’s death concluded his 11th year of rule.  Berthold only ruled for 2 years.

 

After comparing our two existing documents, I have decided that The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia is a better primary source of what happened in Livonia during the Crusades.  His account is more factual and less of a dramatic prose meant for entertainment or propaganda.  The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle is an exaggerated story and only a secondary source from the 1100’s to the 1250’s. It is valued for what it shows about the bias that the conquering knights had against anyone who was not a part of their group.