Author
The author of the chronicles is Henry of Latvia (Henricus de Lettis). The chronicles say that he was a Catholic priest who witnessed most of events described. Henry is thought to have been born between 1180 and 1188. Henry was probably German, bearing a German forename and consistently referring to Germans in the first person plural, but it is also possible he came from Livonia. He had a thoroughly German and Catholic education and as a youth was attached to the household of the Prince-Bishop Albert of Buxhoeveden, was ordained a priest in 1208, founded a parish and lived out his life in peace.
His Chronicles are written from the clerical point-of-view, that the history of the Church was the essential history of Livonia. The Chronicles may have originated as a report to the papal legate William of Modena, to whom he was assigned as interpreter in 1225 through 1227. The legate, one of the papacy's most able diplomats, was in Livonia to mediate an internal church dispute between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, and the territorial claims of the Catholic bishops of Livonia.
Read more about this topic: Chronicle Of Henry Of Livonia
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