Livonian Chronicles

important sources for the history of the east Baltic lands from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 18th.

The main chronicles include the Livonian Chronicle of Heinrich von Lettland (first half of the 13th century), the Rhymed Chronicle (late 13th century), the New Rhymed Chronicle of B. Hoeneke (mid-14th century), the Chronicle of Livonia of Hermann von Wartberge (second half of the 14th century), the Chronicle of the Livonian Province of B. Russow (second half of the 16th century), the History of Livland of J. Renner (second half of the 16th century), and the chronicles of F. Nyenstädt (early 17th century) and C. Kelch (late 17th century and the early 18th). The Livonian chronicles contain a wealth of factual material, despite their sympathetic attitude toward the German Knights’ conquest of the Latvian and Estonian lands and toward the Livonian Order and the German nobility. Only Russow’s chronicle, written from a burgher’s point of view, criticizes the nobility and serfdom.