Weapons of the Sword Brothers
The Sword Brothers — Schwertbrüder in the German language, Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Latin sources — were the military-religious order that held Livonia for the Latin West from 1202 to 1237. The Sword Brothers were, in significant part, the predecessors of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic theatre, and the Sword Brothers’ military practice was, in significant part, the foundation of the Teutonic Order’s own military practice. The Sword Brothers’ armament, armour and tactical doctrine were, the model on which the Teutonic Order’s Baltic army was built.
The Sword Brothers were, a very distinctive military order. The Sword Brothers were, distinguished by their small size — at the height of their power, the Sword Brothers had perhaps 100 to 200 knight-brothers in Livonia — and by their reliance on a small professional core supplemented by crusader reinforcements, vassal contingents and native auxiliaries.
The Sword Brothers in Livonia
The Sword Brothers were, in the formal sense, founded in 1202 by Albert of Riga, the Bishop of Riga, as a military order for the defence of the Latin Church in Livonia. The Sword Brothers were, in significant part, modelled on the Templars and the Hospitallers, and the Sword Brothers were, in the operational sense, a military order of conventional Latin type. The Sword Brothers were, however, distinguished by their close association with the Bishop of Riga and by their role as the principal military force of the Latin Church in Livonia.
The Sword Brothers’ principal military operations were, in significant part, conducted in the Livonian theatre: the conquest of the Livonian, Latgalian, Estonian and Curonian territories, the defence of the Latin Church’s Livonian possessions, and the long series of campaigns against the Russian principalities of Novgorod and Pskov.
The Sword Brothers were, in 1237, incorporated into the Teutonic Order as the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order. The incorporation of the Sword Brothers into the Teutonic Order was, in significant part, the consequence of the Sword Brothers’ catastrophic defeat at the battle of Saule in 1236, in which the Sword Brothers’ Master and a large part of the Sword Brothers’ army were killed by a combined Lithuanian-Samolathian force.
The Sword
The principal weapon of the Sword Brothers was, as the Order’s name suggests, the sword. The Sword Brothers’ sword was, in the conventional accounts, a straight, double-edged, cruciform-hilted weapon of the type used by the Latin West in the early thirteenth century. The Sword Brothers’ sword was, on the whole, a weapon of considerable quality, designed for both cutting and thrusting, and the Sword Brothers’ sword was, in significant part, the foundation of the Sword Brothers’ military reputation.
The Sword Brothers’ sword was, in addition, a substantial symbolic asset. The Sword Brothers’ sword was, in the conventional accounts, a sign of the Sword Brothers’ religious vocation: the Sword Brothers took the religious vows, and the Sword Brothers’ sword was, in significant part, a sign of the Sword Brothers’ dedication to the defence of the Latin Church.
The Lance
The Sword Brothers’ principal weapon, in the tactical sense, was the lance — the long, heavy cavalry lance that was, in the Latin West, the principal weapon of the heavy cavalry charge. The Sword Brothers’ lance was, on the whole, similar to the lances used by the great feudal armies of France, England and the German lands, but the Sword Brothers’ lance was, in the tactical sense, used with a level of discipline and coordination that was unusual in the Latin West.
The Mace and the Dagger
The Sword Brothers’ secondary weapons, in the tactical sense, were the mace and the dagger. The Sword Brothers’ mace was, on the whole, a heavy, flanged weapon, designed to crush armour at close quarters. The Sword Brothers’ dagger was, in the conventional accounts, a short, sharp weapon, designed for the close combat that followed a successful cavalry charge. Both weapons were, the model on which the Teutonic Order’s own mace and dagger were based.
The Mail Hauberk
The principal armour of the Sword Brothers was the mail hauberk — a long, hooded shirt of interlocking iron rings, reaching to the knees, with sleeves to the elbows and a hood that covered the head and the neck. The Sword Brothers’ mail hauberk was, in the conventional accounts, a very substantial piece of armour, designed to protect the wearer against cutting weapons and against the arrows of the Latin West’s adversaries.
The Sword Brothers’ mail hauberk was, in the operational sense, a very effective armour. The Sword Brothers’ mail hauberk was, in significant part, the foundation of the Sword Brothers’ defensive capability.
The Helmet
The Sword Brothers’ principal helmet was the nasal helmet — a conical or rounded helmet with a nose-guard extending down to the mouth. The Sword Brothers’ nasal helmet was, in the conventional accounts, a very substantial piece of armour, designed to protect the wearer’s head against cutting weapons. The Sword Brothers’ nasal helmet was, in significant part, supplemented, in the early thirteenth century, by the great helm — a flat-topped, cylindrical helmet that enclosed the entire head and that was used in the heavy cavalry charge.
The Shield
The Sword Brothers’ principal defensive weapon, in addition to the mail hauberk and the helmet, was the shield. The Sword Brothers’ shield was, in the conventional accounts, a large, kite-shaped shield, designed to protect the wearer’s body against cutting weapons and against the arrows of the Latin West’s adversaries. The Sword Brothers’ shield was, in significant part, the foundation of the Sword Brothers’ close combat capability, and the model on which the Teutonic Order’s own shield was based.
The Sword Brothers’ shield was, replaced, in the Teutonic Order’s Baltic army, by the smaller heater shield. The heater shield was, in significant part, better-suited to the close combat of the Baltic theatre.
The Significance of the Sword Brothers’ Weapons
The Sword Brothers’ weapons were, the foundation of the Teutonic Order’s Baltic military practice, and the foundation of the Teutonic Order’s military reputation. The Sword Brothers’ weapons were replaced, in the Teutonic Order’s Baltic army, by more advanced weapons of the late medieval period.
The Sword Brothers’ weapons illustrate, the substantial military capability of the Latin West in the early thirteenth century, and the substantial military capability of the Teutonic Order’s Baltic army.
Sources
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Contamine, Philippe. War in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984.
- Urban, William. The Teutonic Knights: A Military History. London: Greenhill, 2003.
Related Reading
For the broader context of the Order’s Baltic campaigns, see the cluster on Baltic warfare and the Livonian branch. For the Order’s armament and tactics, see the cluster on weapons, armor and tactics and the article on medieval siege engines. For the Order’s military organisation, see the cluster on military organisation.