Pope Innocent III., hearing the direful news of what had happened in the north, preached a crusade against them, and Albert of Buxhewden, their third bishop, and the father of German authority in Livonia, appeared upon the scene with a fleet of twenty-three ships and built the town of Riga, which became his capital in the year 1200. Next year he installed the order of the Brothers of the Army of Christ, or the "Sword-Bearers," to whom the bishop gave the statues of the Templars. They wore a white mantle with a red cross on the shoulders. Most of these knights were Westphalians and Saxons; Vinno Rohrbach was their first Grand Master.
The Livonians, terrified at the impending crisis, appealed for help to the Princes of Polotsk, and marched bravely to attack the crusaders at Riga and suffered signal defeat. This was in the year 1206. The Princes of Polotsk, however, came upon the field and laid siege to the city during the city during the absence of the bishop, but it was saved from capture by the timely arrival of a German fleet. There were various causes which led to the success of the "Knights of the Sword." In the first place, the internal quarrels at Novgorod prevented this powerful city from watching over Russian interest as she should have done in keeping with her claims to power and dignity among Slavonian capitals.
Again the Princes of Polotsk, who came forward as the chief champions of the Livonians, were a weak set. Again many of the Slavonic tribes failed to do their duty against the invaders, on account of not having yet come to a realization of their proper relations to the nation as a whole.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
