Medieval Livonia Research Articles

Poetry about the Passion of Christ in seventeenth century Estonia, Livonia, and Courland

ABSTRACT Religious poetry, which has once been read and written in different languages in the areas of present-day Estonia and Latvia, has so far remained largely unexplored. In medieval Livonia, there are hardly any traces of local poetry, but the situation changed with the Reformation. During the sixteenth century – linked to the development of congregational singing – psalm poetry became particularly active. In the seventeenth century, the Passion of Christ emerged as a new and well represented topic. The focus of this article is on this distinct genre, which aims to explore in verses the Passion of Christ as a whole.

Rīgas humānistu motīvs Roalda Dobrovenska romānā „Magnus, dāņu princis”

The novel “Magnus, the Danish Prince” by the Russian diaspora in Latvia writer Roald Dobrovensky is seen as a specific example of a biographical and historical genre, which embodies the historical experience of different eras and nations in the confrontation of globalisation and national self-determination. At the heart of the novel are the Livonian War and the historical role and human destiny of Magnus (1540–1683) – the Danish prince of the Oldenburg dynasty, the first and the only king of Livonia. The motif of Riga’s humanists is seen both as one of the main ideological driving forces of the novel and as a marginal reflection in Magnus’s life story. Acknowledged historical sources have been used in the creation of the novel: Baltazar Rusov’s “Livonian Chronicle”; Nikolai Karamzin’s “History of the Russian State”; Alexander Janov’s “Russia: 1462–1584. The Beginning of the Tragedy. Notes of the Nature and Formation of Russian Statehood” etc. In connection with the concept of Riga humanists, another fictitious document created by the writer Dobrovensky himself is especially important, namely, the diary of Johann Birke – Magnus’s interpreter, a person with a double identity, “half-Latvian”, “half-German”. It is a message of an alternative to the well-known historical documents, which allows to turn the Livonian historical narrative in the direction of “letocentrism” and raises the issue of the ethnic identity of Riga’s humanists. Along with the deconstruction of the historically documented image of Livonian King Magnus, the thematic structure of the novel is dominated by identity aspects related to the Livonian historical narrative. Dobrovensky, with his novel, raises an important question – what does the medieval Livonia, Europe’s common intellectual heritage, mean for contemporary Latvia and the human society at large? Dobrovensky’s work is also a significant challenge in strengthening emotional ties with Livonia (which were weakened in the early stages of national historiography due to conflicts over the founding of nation-states).

Hunger, disease, and subtle lesions: Insights into systemic metabolic disease in fetal and perinatal remains from 13th‐ to 15th‐century Tartu, Estonia

AbstractThis paper reports a case study of 43 fetuses and perinates from four mass graves and two double burials from the cemetery of St. Jacob in Tartu (SE Estonia). The burials were dated to the 13th–15th centuries AD and located outside the cemetery walls, and likely can be linked to historically recorded episodes of famine and epidemic in medieval Livonia. All individuals belonged to the fetal and perinatal age categories, meaning they were either aborted or died around the time of birth. Ten perinates of these 43 individuals displayed skeletal evidence for systemic metabolic disease. The results of the bioarchaeological investigation provide insights into the effects upheavals of the time had on the weakest members of the society, especially the vulnerability of pregnant and lactating mothers to undernutrition and infections, and shed light on how the prematurely deceased were treated in this urban community. This may potentially explain the burial location. This work is the first detailed paleopathological study of non‐adults in medieval Estonia and the Baltic region, opening the way for further research on similar material in this geographical area.

Written and visual expressions of authority of female monastic institutions in Medieval Livonia: 13th to 15th centuries

This article presents a study of how women (specifically nuns and abbesses) were perceived in medieval Livonia. Given the significant increase in accessible academic work on the crusading movement in the eastern Baltic, scholarly considerations of the visual culture of this region, and reconsiderations of the roles played by women in the medieval world in general, this article turns from the central regions of the study of Medieval Europe to the periphery. It begins by providing a historical overview of the sources, commenting on the sparsity of specific representations of women in the narrative texts for the Livonian crusades produced in the 13th century. Following this overview, it analyses the representations of women in the vast amount of charter evidence available for the study of Livonia. The first part of the article looks at the ways these institutions were patronized as a result of their intercessory authority. Looking at donations from the 13th to the 15th century, this article also comments on the ways in which private citizens, church officials, and members of the Teutonic Order viewed these intercessory powers. The second part also considers the economic authority gained by these institutions, particularly in the form of land donations. Finally, this article addresses the ways in which women of authority styled themselves in the written documents and depicted their power in the form of visual media, particularly on seals but also in the form of architecture.

ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS OF THE MEDIEVAL LIVONIAN ORDER

The main purpose of the presented work is a cultural and historical analysis of the evolution of the cul-tural development of medieval Livonia on the example of monuments of defense architecture. The task is to conduct an art analysis of the existing variety of architectural forms of medieval castle complexes of the 13th and 16th centuries, located in different regions of Latvia and Estonia, which have undergone expansion by the feudal Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Creation of architectural and historical clas-sification of castle forms that were in the regions of the medieval Livonian Order of State in the Baltics. As a result of the analysis, the author summarized the historical diversity of the existing architectural and artistic forms of feudal castles of medieval Latvia and Estonia. The common and special in the ar-chitectural forms of castles on the basis of the introduction to this north-eastern region of Europe bor-rowed customs of European castle-building and architectural traditions of the monastic order of the Cistercians of Burgundy has been revealed. It is determined that the castle of the Order of Livon, the fortified residence of medieval bishops in Livonia and Estland, privately owned castles was a whole space, synthesized in the natural environment, social order, system world understanding of the knights-monks of the Order of Livon, which was directly reflected in the architectural forms of castle complexes of the 13th - 16th centuries. taking into account the existing pan-European and local architectural, de-fense and cultural differences. The study makes a significant contribution to the theory and history of art. A new scientific direction has been developed - the history and typology of the castle architecture of medieval Latvia and Estonia.

Power, Memory, and Allegiance

A dozen limestone reliefs with the coats of arms of a bishop and a bishopric have survived from the churches and castles of late medieval Livonia (a historical region roughly corresponding to present-day Estonia and Latvia). This article discusses a selection of those reliefs in western Estonia, in the two centers—Haapsalu and Kuressaare—of the former Saare-Lääne Bishopric. In earlier scholarship, these reliefs have been studied from the perspective of architectural history and connected with the construction or reconstruction of the buildings. The article will offer a different perspective and investigate the role of the reliefs in the context of symbolic communication, rituals of power, and visual commemoration. In the chapel of the Kuressaare castle, there is also a relief with the coat of arms of Pope Leo x, which raises the questions of who commissioned it, when, and why.

Das Repertorium Germanicum und die hybride Edition des Liv-, Est- und Kurländischen Urkundenbuchs

The Liv-, Est- und Kurlandische Urkundenbuch (LUB) is a basic collection of sources for re- searchers of medieval Livonia. It was Georg Friedrich von Bunge who began working on the edition in the first half of the nineteenth century; the Freie Universitat Berlin is currently pro- moting an initiative to close the gap between series I and II of the LUB. The Repertorium Ger- manicum is of great importance as it facilitates an efficient research for relevant sources in the Vatican Archives. The LUB is to be published as a hybrid edition (in print as well as digital).

Historical Memory as the Cause of Conflict in Medieval Livonia

Historical Memory as the Cause of Conflict in Medieval Livonia

Distorted memories and power: patrons of the Teutonic Order in the fifteenth century prayer of the Livonian branch

ABSTRACTThe late medieval Livonia (Latvia and Estonia) was haunted by a conflict between the Teutonic Order and the church of Riga. This article shows how fake memories of the past and dead patrons were instrumental in this conflict and how these memories were used by the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order to create feelings of group self-awareness and identity during the late fifteenth century. In the article, it is revealed how memoria – commemoration of the dead – served for bonding groups of the living with individuals and endowments of land that had supposedly taken place centuries before.

The Apostles of medieval Livonia (until the beginning of 13th Century)

Livonia, encompassing the area of today’s Latvia and Estonia, was one of the last regions of Northern Europe to be incorporated into the Christian/ Latin civilization. Its direct neighbourhood with Ruthenian duchies, which observed the Eastern Christian rite, did not contribute to the earlier conversion. It was only after late 12th century missions, organized independently of each other by the Danish Church in the form of a venture by Cistercian friar Fulco, consecrated as the Estonian bishop ca 1171–1180, as well as a grasrooots – at least in its initial phase – initiative of Augustine friar Meinhard of the Segeberg monastery in Holstein (ca 1184–1196), first bishop of Üxküll, and Cistercian friar Theodoric, active in the vicinity of Treiden (ca 1186-1202), the first abbot of Dünamünde monastery (1205-1211) and finally bishop of Estonia (1211-1219) and their successors – Cistercian friar Berthold (1197–1198), the second bishop of Üxküll and most importantly Albert, canon of the Bremen Chapter, founder of Riga and its first bishop (1199–1229) culminated with the conquest and subsequent christianisation of Livonia. They can undoubtedly be called apostles of the Barbarian Europe, although in the case of Fulco it not clearly confirmed whether his quest took place in reality. In the case of others we may speak of an initially peace mission, as attempted conversions were undertaken by setting an example to follow and doing favours to local population, in exchange for which the beneficiaries were obliged to undergo baptism. When such tactics failed to deliver significant effects, armed crusades were organized, as a result of which the entire Livonia was formally converted to Christianity by the end of the 13th century.

Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the impact of the crusades on the local and regional environment of medieval (13th–16th century) northern Latvia, eastern Baltic

This paper evaluates the impact of the crusades on the landscape and environment of northern Latvia between the 13th–16th centuries (medieval Livonia). The crusades replaced tribal societies in the eastern Baltic with a religious state (Ordenstaat) run by the military orders and their allies, accompanied by significant social, cultural and economic developments. These changes have previously received little consideration in palaeoenvironmental studies of past land use in the eastern Baltic region, but are fundamental to understanding the development and expansion of a European Christian identity. Sediment cores from Lake Trikāta, located adjacent to a medieval castle and settlement, were studied using pollen, macrofossils, loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility. Our results show that despite continuous agricultural land use from 500 BC, the local landscape was still densely wooded until the start of the crusades in AD 1198 when a diversified pattern of pasture, meadow and arable land use was established. Colonisation followed the crusades, although in Livonia this occurred on a much smaller scale than in the rest of the Ordenstaat; Trikāta is atypical showing significant impact following the crusades with many other palaeoenvironmental studies only revealing more limited impact from the 14th century and later. Subsequent wars and changes in political control in the post-medieval period had little apparent effect on agricultural land use.

Some Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Animal Utilisation in Viljandi, Medieval Livonia

Viljandi (Fellin), a small town in medieval Livonia, was founded in the second quarter of the 13th century, soon after the Estonian Crusades. The Estonians’ prehistoric hill-fort was replaced by a castle of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, the prehistoric settlement was abandoned, and the location for the new town was chosen on the site of a former field more suitable for fortification. In this paper, zooarchaeological material from three sites, the prehistoric settlement, the Order’s castle and the early medieval town, will be discussed. Despite the presumed changes in Estonian society associated with the Crusades, the analyses reveal no profound differences in meat consumption in the transitional period from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Key words: zooarchaeology, Late Iron Age, Middle Ages, Teutonic Order’s castle, medieval town, meat consumption. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ab.v20i0.807

Hindadest Tallinnas 15. sajandil [Prices in Tallinn during the fifteenth century

Although the Western historiography on prices and wages started in the nineteenth century already and is literally massive, very little has been made in that respect what concerns medieval Livonia. At the same time, the archive resources of Tallinn are rich and of great importance. The present paper is based mainly on the account book of Tallinn Black Heads preserved in State Archives of Hamburg which contains entries from 1418 to 1517. Various expenses for serving altars in St Catharine church which belonged to the confraternity of the Dominicans are listed annually. That gives us an opportunity to study the price dynamics for meat, fish, green peas and wax during almost the whole century. For a shorter period, the prices for beer and some other commodities also occur in the account book. Thus, what we have here is an daily menu of monks except bread. In order to complement the data additional prices for beer and rye from other sources are included. Speaking about prices the nominal and real ones have to be distinguished. Nominal prices are expressed in local currency – Riga schillings or marks whereas real prices have been reckoned in dividing the nominal prices to that of silver at the given year. It reveals that all the nominal prices rose very rapidly in the beginning of the fifteenth century. It can partly be explained by the quick debasement of the Riga mark in the late fourteenth – early fifteenth century as well as by the unsuccessful monetary reform of 1420s. In following years, the prices stabilized or were increasing only moderately, although the debasement continued. Real prices behaved a little bit differently. They rose remarkably in the 1420–40s, fell again and then, during the last decades of the fifteenth century, stabilized on the relatively low level of the early fifteenth century. The described dynamics seems to indicate certain demographic and monetary processes in Livonia. Presumably, it was the depopulation of peasants that initially brought along the decrease of the production in countryside and the corresponding increase of prices in towns. Subsequently, due to the pan-European silver famine in the mid-fifteenth century the real prices turned downwards. Livonia left the silver crises behind in 1480s, i.e. more or less simultaneously with the other Western countries. However, some economic inertia seems to have kept the prices relatively low also for some time hereafter. It means that the cost of living in Livonia which was tempestuously increasing during the initial decades of the fifteenth century decreased in the second half of the century at the same rate at least. Whether and to what extent it reflected the real living standard of the people is hard to say at the moment since there is too limited data about the wages in our disposal yet. Keywords: Middle Ages, Livonia, prices, wages, monetary history. Ivar Leimus (b. 1953) is a Senior Researcher in Estonian History Museum. Correspondence: Estonian History Museum, Pirita tee 56, 10127 Tallinn, Estonia. Email: ivar@ajaloomuuseum.ee

Hospitals and Tables for the Poor in Medieval Livonia

Hospitals and Tables for the Poor in Medieval Livonia

Festival Scenarios of the Hanseatic Merchants in Late Medieval Livonia

Festival Scenarios of the Hanseatic Merchants in Late Medieval Livonia