Henry of Latvia

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (May 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Heinrich von Lettland]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|de|Heinrich von Lettland}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Latvian. (May 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Latvian Wikipedia article at [[:lv:Latviešu Indriķis]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|lv|Latviešu Indriķis}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Estonian. (May 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Estonian Wikipedia article at [[:et:Läti Henrik]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|et|Läti Henrik}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Henry of Latvia
A page from a copy of the Livonian Chronicle of Henry, the original of which was compiled ca. 1229
Born	1187 Magdeburg, Landgraviate of Thuringia
Died	after 1259 (aged at least 72) Papendorf, Livonia, (currently Rubene, Kocēni parish, Kocēni Municipality, Latvia)
Occupation(s)	priest, missionary, historian
Years active	1208-after 1259
Notable work	Livonian Chronicle of Henry

Henry of Latvia (Latin: Henricus de Lettis; German: Heinrich von Lettland; Latvian: Latviešu Indriķis; Estonian: Läti Henrik; 1187 – after 1259), also known in the English-speaking world as Henry of Livonia, was a priest, missionary and historian. He wrote the Livonian Chronicle of Henry which describes the evangelization of the regions which are now part of Estonia and Latvia during the Northern Crusades.

Biography[edit]

The chronicles say that Henry was a Roman Catholic priest who witnessed most of events described. Henry is thought to have been born in 1187 in Magdeburg. Henry was probably German, but many historians consider him a Latvian, brought up in a German family and consistently referring to Germans as "we", although it is also possible that he came from Livonia.^{[citation needed]} He had a thoroughly German and Catholic education and as a youth was attached to the household of the Prince-Bishop Albert of Buxhoeveden (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, 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, and the territorial claims of the Catholic bishops of Livonia.

He was mentioned in documents published in 1231 and 1259 as being a priest. Henry died after 1259 in Papendorf, Livonia, 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 Burtnieks and Salaca. During this time he was called Lord Indrica of the parish of Papendorf (dominus Hinricus plebanus de Papendorpe).

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Letonika.lv profile (in Latvian)