Livonia in 1260
Livonia is a historical subregion of the Baltics in Eastern Europe, consisting of present-day Latvia and Estonia. It was named for the Livs, who inhabited the Baltic Sea coastline of Latvia during the early Middle Ages. In 1193, the Christian kingdoms of Germany and Scandinavia initiated the "Livonian Crusade" to convert the Livs from their traditional Romuva beliefs to Catholicism. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquered the region for themselves, but the Sword Brethren's defeat at the hands of the Lithuanians and Semigallians at the 1237 Battle of Saule led to the Teutonic Order incorporating the Brethren into their ranks as the Livonian Order. In 1346, Denmark sold the Duchy of Estonia to the Livonian Order, greatly expanding its territory. The Order ruled Livonia until 1561, when, as a result of the Russian invasion in the Livonian War, the Livonian Order was forced to seek the protection of Poland-Lithuania. The Polish secularized Livonia as the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, but, during the Polish-Swedish Wars, Sweden seized Livonia for itself in 1629. Northern Livonia remained under Swedish control until the Great Northern War in 1710, and, in 1772, the Russian Empire annexed southern Livonia from Poland-Lithuania. From 1796 to 1918, Livonia was a Russian governorate, and, following World War I, Estonia and Latvia broke free of Russian rule and became independent nations/