The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, also known as the Sword Brethren, was a German Catholic military order which fought Baltic Romuva and Suomenusko pagans in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from 1204 to 1237. It consisted of German warrior monks who were based from Fellin (Vilijandi) in Estonia, and, in 1232, they defended Finland from Novgorodian attacks. In 1236, the Order was decimated by the Lithuanians at the Battle of Saule, and it merged into the Teutonic Order in 1237.
Gallery[]
Sword Brethren at Windau in 1269