Pro Fide Catholica

It is a well-known fact that the Order of the Sword Brothers in Livonia relied heavily on the support of Western crusaders who came to Livonia on an annual basis to fight the ‘Lord’s Wars’ against the pagan enemies of the Church. However, we know less about the use of other types of enlisted fighting men serving the Order. Therefore, this article will discuss the use of two main groups of armed men associated with the Sword Brothers: the recruitment of enlisted troops who served the Order primarily in return for money, and the acceptance of individual, secular knights who, for a shorter or longer period, chose to join a military order to fight in its wars. They did so with the promise of spiritual rewards in the afterlife. In some sources, these secular knights were referred to as ‘milites ad terminum’. The article will also briefly touch upon the Sword Brothers’ use of local warriors as an integral part of the Livonian army commanded by the Order’s own Master when on campaign. The article also takes a brief look at the relationship between the Sword Brothers and the (mostly German) merchants, whose ships linked the new mission fields in the East with the Christian heartlands in the West, thus forming an important military resource for the Order.