Caupo of Turaida, or
Kaupo (died
September 21,
1217) was a leader of the
Finnic-speaking
Livonian people in the beginning of the 13th century, in what is now
Latvia. He is sometimes called 'King of Livonia',
Chronicle of Henry of Livonia calls him
quasi rex, 'like a king'.
He was the first prominent Livonian to be
christened. He was probably
baptized around 1191 by a priest called Theoderic. He became an ardent Christian and friend of
Albert of Buxhoeveden, Bishop of
Riga, who took him 1203-1204 all the way to
Rome and introduced him to
Pope Innocent III. The Pope was impressed by the converted
pagan chief and presented him a
Bible. When he returned from travel, his tribe rebelled against him and Caupo helped to conquer and destroy his own former
Castle of Turaida in 1212. The castle was rebuilt two years later as a stone castle that is well preserved even today.
Caupo participated in a
crusader raid against the still pagan, related Finnic-speaking
Estonians and was killed in the
Battle of St. Matthew's Day in 1217 against the troops of the Estonian leader
Lembitu of Lehola. He did not have any male heirs as his son Bertold had been killed 1210 in the
Battle of Ümera against Estonians. He left his inheritance to the church, but the
Lieven family later claimed female-line descent from him.
Modern Estonians,
Latvians, and the remaining few Livonians do not have consensus view about the historical role of Caupo. Some consider him traitor and enemy agent. Others consider him a visionary leader who wanted his people to be part of Christian and European culture. Both these judgments attribute 19th century views about nationality to a medieval chieftain.
See also
Category:1217 deathsCategory:History of LatviaCategory:Military personnel killed in actionCategory:Livonian nobilityCategory:People from LatviaCategory:13th-century Latvian peoplebe:Каўпаde:Kaupoet:Kaupolv:Kaupofi:Kauppo
