chiefdom · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Turaida

1100 CE – 1206 CE (approx.) · capital Turaida

Livonian chiefdom on the lower Gauja, whose leader Caupo became the crusaders' most important native ally and visited the pope in Rome.

Origins

Turaida, Thoreida in Latin, was a land of the Livonians, a Finnic people, on the lower course of the Gauja river in modern Latvia. Its fortified hill at Turaida controlled river traffic and was the seat of the elder Caupo at the beginning of the 13th century.

Rule and society

The Livs farmed, fished and traded along the Gauja and Daugava. Caupo accepted baptism early, travelled to Rome around 1203 and met Pope Innocent III, and supported Bishop Albert of Riga against his own countrymen, who rose against him in 1212. The Livs of Turaida supplied troops to the crusaders' campaigns in Estonia.

Decline and legacy

Caupo was killed at the Battle of St Matthew's Day in 1217. Turaida came under the bishop of Riga, who built a stone castle there in 1214, and it became part of the Archbishopric of Riga. The Livonian language slowly gave way to Latvian.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Turaida. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/turaida
MLA
“Turaida.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/turaida. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Turaida.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/turaida.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Turaida’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/turaida (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻