Livonia, the largest of the Baltic provinces of Russia ; area, 17,801 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 980,784. The Oermans, who chiefly live in the towns, number about 64,000 inhabitants; the remainder are mostly cither Letts (a branch of the Slavi, kindred to the Lithuanians)
or Esthonians, who are of Finnish descent. Christian- ity was first introduced at Riga about 1180 by merchants from Bremen. The great missionary was the Augus- tinian monk Meinhard, who in 118G established the first church at WexkUll, on the Duna, and in 1191 was con- secrated bishop of Livonia. His successor, abbot Ber- thold, of Loccum, endeavored to accelerate the conver- sion of the Livonians by force of arms, and in 1198 fell in a victorious battle of the Crusaders. Bishop Albert, of Apeldern, in 1202 founded the Order of the Knights of the Sword, and gradualh' overcame the persistent oppo- sition of the Livonians to the enforcement of Christian- ity. After his death (in 1229) the see of Riga was sep- arated from the ecclesiastical province of Bremen, and in 1246 made an independent archbishopric. The union of the Order of the Sword with the Teutonic Knight se- cured the subjection and Christianization of Livonia, but involved the bishops in long-protracted conflicts with the order, which hastened the decay of the Church. The army-master, Walter of Plcttenberg (1494-1531), adopted the doctrines of the Reformation, and converted Livonia into a secular duchy imder Polish sovereignty. The centre of the reformatory movement was in Riga, where the Hussite Nicolaus Russ, of Rostock, had, from 1511 to 1516, prepared the way for a religious reforma- tion. Among the first promoters of the Lutheran Ref- ormation were Andreas Knopken, a Lutheran school- teacher from Treptow, in Pomerania, who arrived in Riga in 1521, and Sylvester Tagetmeier, from Hamburg, who arrived in the following year. Both were appoint- ed preachers by the town council, in spite of the remon- strances of the archbishop. In Wolmar and Dorpat, Melchior Hoffmann labored so violently in behalf of the Reformation that he created dissatisfaction even among the friends of the movement, and had to leave Livonia. Luther's epistle of congratulation and exhortation (1523) to the congregations of Riga, Revel, and Dorpat shows that at that time the Reformation had made considera- ble progress. In 1524, the archbishop, Caspar Lindc, of Riga, died, deeply mortified at the utter failure of his zealous efforts for saving the Catholic Church. His suc- cessor, John VII Blankenfeld, previously bishop of Dor- pat and Revel, was no longer recognised by the town coimcil of Riga as sovereign, and in 1525 he was even made a prisoner. LTndcr the archbishop Wilhelm, mar- grave of Brandenburg, who in 1539 succeeded Thomas Schonnig, the Reformation spread throughout Livonia ; the archbishop himself became favorable to the new doctrine, and at the time of his death the Catholic Church in Livonia had almost ceased to exist. Johann Briesmann (1527-31), who was called from Kcinigsberg to Riga, drew up in 1530 the first agenda. The liturgy for Revel appeared in 1561, but had in 1572 to yield to that of Coiu-land. The Esthonian catechism and the Livonian hymn-book of IMathias Knopken were likewise published in 1561. In the same year the armj'-master Ketteler concluded a treaty with Poland, by virtue of which Livonia was placed under the sovereignty of Po- land; it was stipulated, however, that the Lutheran Church of Livonia should not be interfered with. In violation of this treaty, the Jesuits at once began their agitation for the restoration of the Catholic Church, but the Swedish rule again secured the predominance of Protestantism, and greatly strengthened it by establish- ing the University of Dorpat. A new liturgy was in- troduced in 1632, a new agenda in 1633 ; at the same time, a Lettish and Esthonian translation of the Bible was published. In the 18th century the religious life of the province suffered greatly from the fact that most of the preachers, being called from Germany, were una- ble to preach in the native languages. The sjiiritual destitution of many country districts attracted the Mo- ravians, who continued their zealous labors even when, in 1743, their meetings had been forbidden. For a long time they conthied themselves to the Lutheran Church ; but the large attendance at their meetings led them (since 1817) to separate from the Lutheran Church.
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The latter therefore, began, iii 1843, to engage in a vig- orous contest with the Moravians, invoking the stipula- tions of the peace of Nystiidt (1721), in which Sweden had cedoil Livonia to Russia, while the latter contirmed the privileges of the Lutheran Church. The Russian government supported the Lutherans against the Mo- ravians, but, on the other hand, began (1841) to make great efforts to prevail upon the Lettish peasants to join the Greek Church. Several thousands of Letts and Li- vonians succumbed to the pressure brought upon them bv the government, and, after having once joined the orthodox Greek Church, they were forbidden (as many soon desired) to return to the Lutheran Church. iVll the children born of mixed marriages (Lutheran and Greek) must be educated in the Greek religion. In 1863, the Lutheran bishop Walter, who vigoroush' stood up for the defence of the rights of his Church, had to yield to an intrigue, and not until 1868 was the rigor of the Russian government against the Lutheran Church somewhat relaxed. These conflicts have awakened a general interest in the religious community, to which the re-establishment of the University of Dorpat (1802) has been greatly instrumental. The number of Roman Catholics is about 5000, that of Greek Catholics is esti- mated at 143,000 ; the remainder are Lutherans. (A. J. S.)