| Livonian county of Metsepole Mõtsa Pūol |
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| Capital | Not specified | |||
| Language(s) | Livonian | |||
| Religion | Livonian paganism | |||
| Government | Eldership | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established | Enter start year | |||
| - Disestablished | 1206 | |||
Mõtsa Pūol, Metsepole [1], was an ancient Livonian county inhabited by a Finnic people Livonians, on the east coast of the Gulf of Riga, at the northwest of what is now the Vidzeme region of Latvia. Metsepole was bordered by the ancient Estonian Sakala County to the north, Latgalian Tālava to the east and Livonian county of Turaida to the south.
During the Livonian Crusade in the beginning of the 13th century the crusading Livonian Brothers of the Sword led by Albert of Riga began to occupy the shores of the Gulf of Riga. By 1206 Metsepole had been taken over by the crusaders and incorporated into Bishopric of Riga in 1255.
In 1201, the Bishop Albert von Buxhövden founded the City of Riga as a Christian settlement at the mouth of the river Daugava. When this did not immediately induce the Livonians, Estonians, and Baltic peoples in its hinterland to convert, a knightly order was formed, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, primarily consisting of Low Germans, to bring salvation to the pagans by force. In a campaign which was a part of the wars known as the Northern Crusades, these knights defeated, subdued and converted the Livonians in 1206 and 1207. During the Livonian Crusade, once prosperous Metsepole was devastated, and the whole country was almost completely depopulated. This vacuum was filled by Latgallians, and Semigallians - which started to move into the area around 1220.