Roman Catholic Saint. "Albert of Riga," as he was known, is credited with founding in 1201 the city of Riga, Latvia. This is when Latvia was called Livonia. Today, Riga is very metropolitan and the capital city of Latvia. He was the third Roman Catholic priest to come to this area and the city's cathedral was built in 1221. Born in Germany, he was the brother of Herman I of Dorpat in Estonia. Their uncle was Hartwig, the Archbishop of Bremen. They came to the area to conquer the native people and convert them to Christianity. With the blessing of Pope Innocent III, this was done using 23 ships and more than 1,500 armed cusaders. Their family became the House of Buxhoeveden, a Baltic family of German ancestry, who became outstanding citizens of Prussia, Sweden, and Russia and in the 21st Century, their descendants live in these countries as well as Finland. He built a castle near the sea and with a harbor, and this became Riga. He organized an army to defend the castle and maintained this for thirty years. In 1225 King Henry VIII of Germany confirmed the title of "Prince" to both Albert and Hermann. Eventually, Albert declared his diocese independent of Bremen and the city of Riga became archbishopic. Albert died without any heirs, thus no direct descendants, but have them through his nieces and nephews. They are known today as the "von Buxhoeveden" family. The first mention of Albert can be found in the "Livonian Chronicle of Henry," a document written in Latin in 1229 by a priest named Henry. A modern translation was published in 1961. Albert is known as "Alberts." After the Chirstian Reformation, Albert is recognized as more of an explorer who settled the area than a Catholic saint. A street in Riga is named Albert in his honor. The statue of Bishop Albert is located on the cloister wall of the Riga Cathedral in Riga and was featured on a Latvia postage stamp in 1997.