Livonian Rhymed Chronicle

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Livlandische Reimchronik: The Old Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, written in Low German by an anonymous writer covers the period 1180 – 1290 and contains a wealth of detail about ‘strange’ Estonia.

The Rhymed Chronicle was composed to be read to knights during their meals. Its primary function was to inspire the knights and legitimise the Baltic crusades. As such, it is infused with elements of romance and exaggerated for the purpose of drama.

There is also a later Livlandische Reimchronik written, in Low German, by Bartholomäus Hoeneke, chaplain of the Master of the Livonian Order, around the end of the 1340s. It is this chronicle that provides valuable information about the St. George’s Night Uprising of 1343. The original is lost but prose paraphrases survive.