XII. PART I.

happiness of his people, but also for the propa- CENT. gation and advancement of Christianity; and wherever his arms were successful, there he pulled down the temples and images of the gods, destroyed their altars, laid waste their sacred groves, and substituted in their place the Christian worship, which deserved to be propagated by better means than the sword, by the authority of reason, rather than by the despotic voice of power. The island of Rugen, which lies in the neighbourhood of Pomerania, submitted to the victorious arms of Waldemar, A. D. 1168; and its fierce and sayage inhabitants, who were, in reality, no more than a band of robbers and pirates, were obliged, by that prince, to hear the instructions of the pious and learned doctors that followed his army, and to receive the Christian worship. This salutary work was brought to perfection by Absalom, archbishop of Lunden, a man of a superior genius, and of a most excellent character in every respect, whose eminent`merit raised him to the summit of power, and engaged Waldemar to place him at the head of affairs [b].

HI. The Finlanders received the gospel in the The Finsame manner in which it had been propagated

[6] Saxo-Grammaticus, Histor. Danic. lib. xiv. p. 239.Helmoldus, Chron. Sclavorum, lib. ii. cap. xii. p. 234. and Henr. Bangertus, ad h. l.-Pontoppidani Annales Ecclesiæ Danica, tom. i. p. 404.

Besides the historians here mentioned by Dr. Mosheim, we refer the curious reader to an excellent history of Denmark, written in French by M. Mallet, professor at Copenhagen. In the first volume of this history, the ingenious and learned author has given a very interesting account of the progress of Christianity in the northern parts of Europe, and a particular relation of the exploits of Absalom, who was, at the same time, archbishop, general, admiral, and prime minister, and who led the victorious Danes to battle, by sea and land, with out neglecting the cure of souls, or diminishing, in the least, his pious labours in the propagation of the gospel abroad, and its maintenance and support at home.

landers.

PART I.

CENT. among the inhabitants of the isle of Rugen. They XII. were also a fierce and savage people, who lived by plunder, and infested Sweden in a terrible manner by their perpetual incursions, until, after many bloody battles, they were totally defeated by Eric IX. and were, in consequence thereof, reduced under the Swedish yoke. Historians differ about the precise time when this conquest was completed [c]; but they are all unanimous in their accounts of its effects. The Finlanders were commanded to embrace the religion of the conqueror, which the greatest part of them did, though with the utmost reluctance [d]. The founder and ruler of this new church was Henry, archbishop of Upsal, who accompanied the victorious monarch in that bloody campaign. This prelate, whose zeal was not sufficiently tempered with the mild and gentle spirit of the religion he taught, treated the new converts with great severity, and was assassinated at last in a cruel manner on account of the heavy penance he imposed upon á person of great authority, who had been guilty of manslaughter. This melancholy event procured Henry the honours of saintship and martyrdom, which were solemnly conferred upon him by Pope Adrian IV. [e].

The Livonians.

IV. The propagation of the gospel among the Livonians was attended with much difficulty, and also with horrible scenes of cruelty and bloodshed.

The

[c] Most writers, with Baronius, place this event in the year 1151. Different, however, from this is the chronology of Vastovius and Oernhielmius, the former placing it, A. D. 1150, and the latter, A. D. 1157.

[d] Oernhielmii Histor. Eccles. gentis Suecorum, lib. iv. cap. iv. sect. 13.-Jo. Locenii Histor. Suecica, lib. iii. p. 76. ed. Francof. Erlandi Vita Erici Sancti, cap. vii.-Vastovii Vitis Aquilonia, p. 65.

[e] Vastovii Vitis Aquilon. seu Vita Sanctorum regni Suegothici, p. 62. Eric. Benezlii, Monumenta Ecclesia Suegothica, part I. p. 33.

XII. PART I

The first missionary, who attempted the conver- CENT. sion of that savage people, was Mainard, a regular canon of St. Augustin, in the monastery of Sigeberg, who, towards the conclusion of this century [], travelled to Livonia, with a company of merchants of Bremen, who traded thither, and improved this opportunity of spreading the light of the gospel in that barbarous region of superstition and darkness. The instructions and exhortations of this zealous apostle were little attended to, and produced little or no effect upon that uncivilized nation: whereupon he addressed himself to the Roman pontiff, Urban III. who consecrated him bishop of the Livonians, and, at the same time declared a holy war against that obstinate people. This war, which was at first carried on against the inhabitants of the province of Esthonia, was continued with still greater vigour and rendered more universal by Berthold, abbot of Lucca, who left his monastery to share the labours and laurels of Mainard, whom he, accordingly, succeeded in the see of Livonia. The new bishop marched into that province at the head of a powerful army which he had raised in Saxony, preached the gospel, sword in hand, and proved its truth by blows, instead of arguments. Albert, canon of Bremen, became the third bishop of Livonia, and followed, with a barbarous enthusiasm, the same military methods of conver sion that had been practised by his predecessor. He entered Livonia, A. D. 1198, with a fresh body of troops drawn out of Saxony, and encamping at Riga, instituted there, by the direction of the Roman pontiff, Innocent III. the military order of the knights sword-bearers [g], who were commissioned to dragoon the Livonians into the profession

B 3

[f] In the year 1186.

[g] Equestris Ordo Militum Ensiferorum..

PART I.

CENT. profession of Christianity, and to oblige them, by XII. force of arms, to receive the benefits of baptism [h]. New legions were sent from Germany to second the efforts, and add efficacy to the mission of these booted apostles; and they, together with the knights sword-bearers, so cruelly oppressed, slaughtered, and tormented this wretched people, that exhausted, at length, and unable to stand any longer firm against the arm of persecution, strengthened still by new accessions of power, they abandoned the statues of their Pagan deities, and substituted in their places the images of the saints. But while they received the blessings of the gospel, they were, at the same time, deprived of all earthly comforts; for their lands and possessions were taken from them, with the most odious circumstances of cruelty and violence, and the knights and bishops divided the spoil [i].

The Scla

V. None of the northern nations had a more rooted aversion to the Christians, and a more obstinate antipathy to their religion, than the Sclavonians, a rough and barbarous people, who inhabited the coast of the Baltic sea. This excited the zeal of several neighbouring princes, and of a multitude of pious missionaries, who united their efforts, in order to conquer the prejudices of this people, and to open their eyes upon the light of the gospel. Henry, Duke of Saxony, surnamedthe Lion, distinguished himself in a particular manner, by the ardour which he discovered in the execution of this pious design, as well as by the wise methods he employed to render it successful. Among

[h] See Henr. Leonh. Schurzfleischii Historia Ordinis Ensiferorum Equitum, Witteberg. 1701, 8vo.

[i] See the Origines Livonia seu Chronicon vetus Livonicum, published in folio at Francfort, in the year 1740, by Jo. Daniel Gruberus, and enriched with ample and learned observations and notes, in which the laborious author enumerates all the writers of the Livonian history, and corrects their mistakes,

XIL PART I

Among other measures that were proper for this CENT. purpose, he restored from their ruins, and endowed richly, three bishoprics [k] that had been ra-n vaged and destroyed by these barbarians; to wit, the bishoprics of Ratzebourg and Schwerin, and that of Oldenbourg, which was afterwards transplanted to Lubec. The most eminent of the Christian doctors, who attempted the conversion of the Sclavonians, was Vicelinus, a native of Hamelen, a man of extraordinary merit, who surpassed almost all his contemporaries in genuine piety and solid learning, and who, after having presided many years in the society of the regular canons of St. Augustin at Falderen, was at length consecrated bishop of Oldenbourg. This excellent man had employed the last thirty years of his life [7], amidst numberless vexations, dangers, and difficulties, in instructing the Sclavonians, and exhorting them to comply with the invitations of the gospel of Christ; and as his pious labours were directed by true wisdom, and carried on with the most indefatigable industry and zeal, so were they attended with much fruit, even among that fierce

[] ( Dr. Mosheim's account of this matter is very different from that which is given by Fleury, who asserts, that it was Hartwick, archbishop of Bremen, who restored the three ruined sees, and consecrated Vicelinus, bishop of Oldenbourg; and that having done this without addressing himself to Henry, that prince seized the tithes of Vicelinus, until a reconciliation was afterwards brought about between the offended prince and the worthy bishop. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. livr. lxix. p. 665. 668. edit. Bruxelle, Fleury, in this and other parts of his history, shews, that he is but indifferently acquainted with the history of Germany, and has not drawn from the best sources. The authorities which Dr. Mosheim produces for his account of the matter, are the Origines Guelphicce, tom. iii. p. 16, 19 34, 55, 61, 63, 72, 82. with the celebrated Preface of Schei, dius, sect. xiv. p. 41. Ludewig's Reliquia Manuscriptorum, tom. vi. p. 230. Jo. Ern de Westphalen, Monumenta inedita rerum Cimbricarum et Megapolens. tom. ii. p. 1998.

[0] That is, from the year 1124 to the year 1154, in which he died,