Hermano Vartbergės Livonijos kronika apie Lietuvą XIII–XIV amžiaus archeologijos paminklų kontekste

Vartbergės kronika yra svarbus rašytinės istorijos šaltinis apie įvykius Baltijos kraštuose, ypač apie XIV a. trečiąjį ketvirtį, kai kronikos autorius buvo Livonijoje. XlV a. pradžioje po Livonijos konfederacijos susidarymo susiklostė politinė padėtis, kai vyravo dvi karinės jėgos – Vokiečių ordino valstybės sąjunga su Livonija ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (1, 2 pav.). Kadangi Lietuva buvo likusi pagoniška valstybė, susivieniję Vokiečių ordino ir Livonijos kryžiuočiai lietuvių žemes mėgino pajungti ir krikštyti karine jėga. Kryžiuočių pastovių karo žygių į Lietuvą metu kronikininkas paminėjo dešimtis įvairių žemių, gyvenamųjų vietų – kaimų ir pilių vardų, kuriuos mėginama lokalizuoti naudojantis archeologinių paminklų katalogais, toponimikos duomenimis ir kelių atlaso masteliu 1 : 120 000 (3 pav.).Kronikoje minimos seniau stovėjusios ir naujai pastatytos pilys. Šiuo metu dalis šių pilių yra archeologiškai tyrinėtos. Tai leidžia jas suskirstyti į įvairias grupes pagal įtvirtinimų etninę priklausomybę ir jų santykį su prieš tai buvusio laikotarpio kariniais gynybos taškais. Kronikoje yra duomenų apie medines ir mūrines pilis. Žiauriausios kautynės Vokiečių ordinui buvo prie Nemuno, kurio dešiniajame krante buvo lietuvių įtvirtinimų (Pilstenė, Veliuona, Kaunas; jie keletą kartų atstatyti ir kaip mūrinės pilys), priešingame krante – vokiečių pilys (Ragnit, Kaustrit, Splitter). Kautynėse prie pilių daugeliu atvejų naudotos akmenų svaidomosios mašinos, kurias galima rekonstruoti pagal viduramžių miniatiūras ir archeologinius radinius

Baltai ankstyvaisiais viduramžiais rašytinių šaltinių duomenimis

The aim of the study is the overall exposition of the written sources on the Baltic tribes and their contacts with the neighbours in the 6th – 11th century. Tacitus was the first who mentioned the Baltic tribes in the 1st century A. D. by the name of Aestiorum Gentes. He comprehended the Aestiorum Gentes as the totality of the Baltic tribes. Another important source, distinguishing the Baltic Galien and Sudauen tribes is the writings by Ptolemy (2nd century A. D.). Some important and interesting information on the Baltic tribes can be found in the letter, written by Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths approximately in 523-526 and presented by Cassiodor. His “History of Goths”, presented by Cassiodor’s contemporary Jordan is important for the Baltic history. Jordan also specified the habitat of the Aestiorum Gentes, i. e. to the East of the Vistula and to the North of the steppe zone. Tacitus presents ethnographic information on the Aestiorum Gentes and Cassiodor’s information is more of a political character. According to Cassiodor, after the downfall of the Roman empire the Aestiorum Gentes were still related to the Goth rulers. It is clear that in the 6th century the Aestiorum Gentes resolved very important issues in Italy therefore some of them understood the language, spoken by the Goths or knew Latin. The authors of the written information on the Baltic tribes of the 6th – 11th centuries were not Balts themselves, the information was received through intermediaries. In addition, the compilers of the chronicles, descriptions or documents were representatives of large countries or tribes therefore their information usually contains data on their intentions to conquer the Baltic tribes and make them pay toll

Hermanni de Wartberge Chronicon Livoniae über Litauen im Zusammenhang mit den Daten der Archäologie

The Chronicle of Hermann von Wartberge is an important source of written history about the events in the Baltic region, particularly around the third quarter of the 14th c. when the author of the chronicle was in Livonia. At the beginning of the 14th c. the formation of the Confederation of Livonia resulted in such a political situation, when two military powers prevailed – the Union of the State of the Teutonic Order and Livonia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since Lithuania was still a Pagan state, the united crusaders of the Teutonic Order and Livonia tried to annex and baptise the Lithuanian land by force. During the constant crusades to Lithuania the chronicler mentioned dozens of names of various territories and inhabited areas: villages and castles, which are attempted to be localised by using the catalogues of archaeological monuments, toponymy data and the road atlas (scale 1:120 000). The chronicle mentions old and newly built castles. To date some of these castles have been archaeologically explored. Thus, they can be grouped according to the ethnic dependence of the fortification and their relationship with the military defence points of the previous periods. The chronicle contains data on wooden and brick castles. The bloodiest battle for the Teutonic Order was the battle at the River Nemunas: on the right bank there were Lithuanian fortifications (Pilstenė, Veliuona, Kaunas; they have been rebuilt as brick castles for several times), on the opposite bank there were Teutonic castles (Ragnit, Kaustrit, Splitter). Trebuchets were mainly used in the battles at the castles; they may be reconstructed according to the miniatures and archaeological findings from the Middle Ages

Biała Góra: the forgotten colony in the Medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands

Biała Góra 3 is a small settlement founded in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century AD in the disputed Christian borderlands of Northern Europe. The incorporation of Pomerania into the Polish state in the tenth century was followed by a process of colonisation across the lower Vistula valley, which then stalled before resuming in the thirteenth century under the Teutonic Order. Biała Góra 3 is unusual in falling between the two expansionist phases and provides detailed insight into the ethnicity and economy of this borderland community. Pottery and metalwork show strong links with both Pomeranian and German colonists, and caches of bricks and roof tiles indicate durable buildings of the kind associated with the monastic and military orders. Evidence for the presence of merchants suggests Biała Góra 3 was one of many outposts in the commercial network that shadowed the Crusades

Power centres and marginal landscapes: Tracking pre- and post-conquest (late Iron Age and Medieval) land-use in the Cēsis Castle hinterland, Central Latvia

During the late Iron Age, the eastern Baltic was inhabited by Finno-Ugric and Baltic speaking societies whose territories were conquered in the thirteenth century as a result of the crusades. This paper examines the degree to which indigenous landscapes were transformed as a result of the crusades, and the evidence for maintenance of indigenous land-use practices. Vegetation and land-use history are reconstructed using palynological data from Cēsis castle and its terriitory. Comparison is made with selected palynological, archaeological and documentary data across Livonia (Latvia and Estonia) and contrasted with the greater impact of the crusades in nearby Prussia. Despite the emergence of key power centres in the medieval period, including towns and castles such as Cēsis, many parts of the rural landscape remained largely unchanged by the crusades, particularly in those more marginal landscapes studied in this paper. Lower intensity land-use can be linked to poor agricultural soils but also reflect the limited colonisation of rural landscapes beyond the major towns and castles. Indigenous societies and practices survived to a greater degree, with later agricultural intensification in the fourteenth century reflecting the increasing political stability, growth of urban centres, establishment of serfdom and the development of the manorial system

Landscape change in central Latvia since the Iron Age: multi-proxy analysis of the vegetation impact of conflict, colonization and economic expansion during the last 2000 years

This study represents the first detailed multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation associated with a Late Iron Age lake-dwelling site in the eastern Baltic. The main objective was to reconstruct the environmental and vegetation dynamics associated with the establishment of the lake-dwelling and land-use during the last 2,000 years. A lacustrine sediment core located adjacent to a Late Iron Age lake-dwelling, medieval castle and Post-medieval manor was sampled in Lake Āraiši. The core was dated using spheroidal fly-ash particles and radiocarbon dating, and analysed in terms of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, diatoms, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility and element geochemistry. Associations between pollen and other proxies were statistically tested. During ad 1–700, the vicinity of Lake Āraiši was covered by forests and human activities were only small-scale with the first appearance of cereal pollen (Triticum and Secale cereale) after ad 400. The most significant changes in vegetation and environment occurred with the establishment of the lake-dwelling around ad 780 when the immediate surroundings of the lake were cleared for agriculture, and within the lake there were increased nutrient levels. The highest accumulation rates of coprophilous fungi coincide with the occupation of the lake-dwelling from ad 780–1050, indicating that parts of the dwelling functioned as byres for livestock. The conquest of tribal lands during the crusades resulted in changes to the ownership, administration and organisation of the land, but our results indicate that the form and type of agriculture and land-use continued much as it had during the preceding Late Iron Age