Livonians in the context of "Courland Peninsula"

Baltic Finnic paganism, or Baltic Finnic polytheism was the indigenous religion of the various Baltic Finnic peoples, specifically the Finns, Estonians, Võros, Setos, Karelians, Veps, Izhorians, Votes and Livonians, prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The chief deity was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other important deities included Jumala, Ahti, and Tapio. Jumala was a sky god; today, the word "Jumala" refers to a monotheistic God. Ahti was a god of the sea, waters and fish. Tapio was the god of the forest and hunting.

Baltic Finnic paganism included necrolatry (worship of the dead) and shamanism (tietäjä(t), literally "one who knows"), and the religion was not always uniform across the areas it was practiced, as customs and beliefs varied during different periods of time and regions. Baltic Finnic paganism shares some features with its neighbouring Baltic, Norse and Germanic pagan beliefs.

The Baltic Finnic peoples, often simply referred to as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe who speak Finnic languages. They include the Finns, Estonians (including Võros and Setos), Karelians (including Ludes and Livvi), Veps, Izhorians, Votes, and Livonians. In some cases the Kvens, Ingrians, Tornedalians and speakers of Meänkieli are considered separate from the Finns.

The bulk of the Finnic peoples (more than 98%) are ethnic Finns and Estonians, who reside in the two independent Finnic nation states—Finland and Estonia.

Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.

By the end of the 13th century, the name was extended to most of present-day Estonia and Latvia, which the Livonian Brothers of the Sword had conquered during the Livonian Crusade (1193–1290). Medieval Livonia, or Terra Mariana, reached its greatest extent after the Saint George's Night Uprising (1343–1345), which forced Denmark to sell the Duchy of Estonia (northern Estonia conquered by Denmark in the 13th century) to the State of the Teutonic Order in 1346. Livonia, as understood after the retreat of Denmark in 1346, bordered on the Gulf of Finland in the north, Lake Peipus and Russia to the east, and Lithuania to the south.

The culture of Latvia combines traditional Latvian and Livonian heritage with influences of the country's varied historical heritage. Latvia is divided into several cultural and historical regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Courland, Zemgale and Sēlija.

The Livonian language, spoken for centuries in Latvia, gradually declined until the death of its last fluent native speaker, Grizelda Kristiņa, on 2 June 2013. Nevertheless, today there are several ethnic Livonians that are striving for the revival of the language, with about 210 people with some knowledge of it in the world.

Viktors Bertholds (16 January 1921 – 28 February 2009) was a Livonian and one of the last native speakers of the Livonian language. He was born in the village of Vaide (Livonian: Vaid) in 1921. Formerly believed to be the last native speaker of Livonian, this title actually belonged to Grizelda Kristiņa, a relative of Bertholds who died in 2013.

Grizelda Kristiņa (Livonian: Grizelda Kristiņ, née Bertholde; 19 March 1910 – 2 June 2013) was a Livonian and the last speaker of the Livonian language as a mother language. She was born in Vaide (Livonian: Vaid) within the Bertholds family, relevant in the history of the Livonians. She was a relative of Viktors Bertholds, who died in 2009 and for a long time had been believed to be the last speaker of Livonian. After Kristiņa's death, a process for reviving the Livonian language was started.