Lieven

Summary

The House of Lieven (Latvian: Līveni; Russian: Ливен; Swedish: Liewen) is one of the oldest and most aristocratic families of Baltic German and Nordic origin.

Lieven
Līveni, Liewen, Ливен
Noble family
Current regionLatvia, Estonia, Lithuania,Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, France, United Kingdom
Place of originLivonia
FounderCaupo of Turaida
TitlesBaron, Count, Knyaz (Prince)
TraditionsBaltic Germans, Estonian Swedes, Rus' people
Motto“Si qua fors adiuvet”

History edit

The family is descended from Caupo of Turaida (Latvian, Kaupo), the Livonian quasi rex who converted to Christianity in 1186, when Bishop Meinhard attempted to Christianize the region. The Livonian Chronicle of Henry tells that in the winter 1203–1204 Caupo went to Rome with Theoderich von Treyden, a Cistercian Monk who was later to become the founder of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the first bishop of Estonia.[1] They were received in Rome by Pope Innocent III who supported their plans to Christianize Livonia, ennobled Caupo and granted him his coat of arms and the name Lieven. Caupo's grandson Nicholas was the first to spell his name Lieven.

According to feudal records, the Lieven ancestor Gerardus Līvo (1269) and his son Johannes (1296) entered service as vassals to the Archbishop of Rīga. One of Caupo's daughters married an ancestor of the barons, later Counts, of Ungern-Sternberg.

Notable family members edit

 
Christoph Lieven
 
Anatol Lieven

In popular culture edit

Thomas Lieven is the name of the fictional protagonist of the tongue-in-cheek spy novel "It Can't Always Be Caviar" by Austrian writer Johannes Mario Simmel.

References edit

  1. ^ Marek Tamm; Linda Kaljundi; Carsten Selch Jensen (2011). Crusading and Chronicle Writing on the Medieval Baltic Frontier: A Companion to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-7546-6627-1.
  2. ^ Carl Arvid von Klingspor (1882). Baltisches Wappenbuch. Elibron. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-543-98710-5.
  3. ^ Judith Lissauer Cromwell (2007). Dorothea Lieven: A Russian Princess in London And Paris, 1785-1857. McFarland. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7864-2651-5.
  4. ^ Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak; Konstantīn Andreevīch Papov; Anton Zakharovich Ovchinnikov (1935). The Testimony of Kolchak and Other Siberian Materials. Stanford University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-8047-2220-9.
  5. ^ Nikolai Reek. Lemsalu — Roopa — Võnnu — Ronneburgi lahing 19. — 23. VI. 1919. a. (Lemsalu — Roopa — Võnnu — Ronneburg battle 19. — 23. VI. 1919) (in Estonian). Estonian National Defence College museum. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Lieven, Hon. Dame Nathalie Marie Daniella, (born 20 May 1964), a Judge of the High Court, Family Division, since 2019 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U246323. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.

External links edit