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Semigallians
Semigallians (; ; also ''Zemgalians'', ''Semigalls'' or ''Semigalians'') were the Balts, Baltic tribe that lived in the south central part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in contemporary records as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem''[''e'']''gallen''. The -gal[l] element means "border", while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ("north") or ''zem'' ("low"). So the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" or "people of the low borderlands", i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys. History During the Viking Age, the Semigallians were involved in battles with Semi-legendary kings of Sweden, Swedish Vikings over control of the lower part of the Trade route from the Varangians to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semigallia
Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tribe. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in sources such as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem'' 'e'''gallen''. The -gal element means 'border' or 'end', while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ('north'). Thus, the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" (i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys). Territory 1st–4th centuries Between the 1st and the 4th century the cultural area of Semigallian reached its maximum size. In the north, the territory spread the Gulf of Riga and included ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the paganism, pagan Balts, Baltic, Baltic Finns, Finnic and West Slavs, West Slavic peoples around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The most notable campaigns were the Livonian Crusade, Livonian and Prussian Crusade, Prussian crusades. Some of these wars were called crusades during the Middle Ages, however others, including the 12th century First Swedish Crusade and several following military incursions by Scandinavian Christians against the then pagan Finnish people, Finns, were dubbed "crusades" only in the 19th century by romantic nationalism, romantic nationalist historians. However, crusades against Estonians and against "other pagans in those parts" were authorized by Pope Alexander III in the crusade bull, crusade Papal bull, bull ''Non parum animus noster'', in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9million. The country has a Temperate climate, temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian language, Latvian. Russians in Latvia, Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian language, Russian as their native tongue. After centuries of State of the Teutonic Order, Teutonic, Swedish Livonia, Swedish, Inflanty Voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curonians
:''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs (; ) were a medieval Balts, Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the 5th–16th centuries, in what are now western parts of Latvia and Lithuania. They eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to the ethnogenesis of present-day Latvians and Lithuanians. Curonians gave their name to the region of Courland (''Kurzeme''), Kuršėnai town, Curonian spit and many other localities. They spoke the Curonian language. Origin The ethnic origin of the Curonians has been disputed in the past. Some researchers place the Curonians in the eastern Baltic group.Östen Dahl (ed.) 2001, ''The Circum-Baltic Languages: Typology and Contact,'' vol. 1 Others hold that the Curonians were related to Old Prussians who belonged in the western Baltic group. History The historical Curonians were described in contemporary sources as warriors, sailors and pirates. They are on the record havin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronicle Of Henry Of Livonia
The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' () is a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's Estonia and Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was written by a priest named Henry. Apart from some references in ' – a patriotic work by the 12th-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus – and few mentions in the '' Primary Chronicle'' compiled in Kievan Rus', the Chronicle of Henry is the oldest known written document about the history of Estonia and Latvia. Background Papal calls for renewed holy war at the end of the twelfth century inspired the disastrous Fourth Crusade that sacked Constantinople in 1204, as well as a series of simultaneous "Northern Crusades" (that have been less covered in English-language popular history) which were more successful in the long run. Before the crusades, the region of medieval Livonia was a mixed outpost, a mostly "pagan" society where merchants from the Hanseatic League encountered merchants of Novgor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Livonians
The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to the Livonian Coast, in northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian language, Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, Finnish. It was believed that the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a First language, mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013. In 2020, however, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language. As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language. Historical, social and economic factors, together with an ethnically dispersed population, have resulted in the decline of Livonian identity, with only a small group surviving in the 21st century. In 2011, there were 250 people who claimed Livonian ethnicity in Latvia. History Prehistory The exact date of migration of Livonians to the region has been disputed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viestards
Viestards (also ''Viesthard, Vesthardus, Viesturs''; died 1230) was a Semigallians, Semigallian duke in the 13th century, referred to as King Vester (). Life His capital was Tērvete hillfort. During the first decades of the 13th century he was allied with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword against Lithuanians, who looted Semigallia on several occasions. In 1205, joint forces of semigallians and crusaders defeated Lithuanians and killed duke Žvelgaitis. In 1208 Viestards led a united Semigallian and crusader army into Lithuania but was heavily defeated. In 1219 Viestards came into conflict with German bishop Albert of Riga, Albert when German Livonian Crusade, crusaders placed their garrison in Semigallian castle of Mežotne. Viestards unsuccessfully attacked Mežotne but managed to defeat the reinforcement of crusaders coming on Lielupe river after that crusaders left Mežotne. Viestards became an enemy of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and made an alliance with his neigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for supporting Catholic rule in the Holy Land and the Northern Crusades during the Middle Ages, as well as supplying military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe. Purely religious since 1810, the Teutonic Order still confers limited honorary knighthoods. The Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order, a Protestant chivalric order, is descended from the same medieval military order and also continues to award knighthoods and perform charitable work. Name The name of the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem is in and in Latin . Thus the term "T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samogitians
Samogitians ( Samogitian: ''žemaitē'', , ) are the inhabitants of Samogitia, an ethnographic region of Lithuania. Many speak the Samogitian language, which in Lithuania is mostly considered a dialect of the Lithuanian language together with the Aukštaitian dialect. The Samogitian language differs the most from the standard Lithuanian language. Whether Samogitians are considered to be a distinct ethnic group or merely a subset of Lithuanians varies. However, 2,169 people declared their ethnicity as Samogitian during the Lithuanian census of 2011, of whom 53.9% live in Telšiai County. The political recognition and cultural understanding of the Samogitian ethnicity has, however, changed drastically throughout the last few centuries as 448,022 people declared themselves Samogitians, not Lithuanians, in the 1897 Russian Empire census. History On 13 July 1260, the Samogitians decisively defeated the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights from Prussia and Livonian Order from Liv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian People
Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United States, Lithuanians in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Lithuanian Brazilians, Brazil and Lithuanian Canadians, Canada. Their native language is Lithuanian language, Lithuanian, one of only two surviving members of the Baltic language family along with Latvian language, Latvian. According to the Lithuanian census of 2021, census conducted in 2021, 84.6% of the population of Lithuania identified themselves as Lithuanians. Most Lithuanians belong to the Catholic Church in Lithuania, Catholic Church, while the Lietuvininkai who lived in the northern part of East Prussia prior to World War II, were mostly Lutherans. History The territory of the Balts, including modern Lithuania, was once inhabited by several Baltic tribal entities (Sudovi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogvolod Vseslavich
Rogvolod Vseslavich, baptismal name Boris, was the Prince of Drutsk and Polotsk. He was the son of Vseslav of Polotsk, Grand Prince of Rus. Rogvolod probably was named in honor of his ancestor Rogvolod. Some historians, including Mikhail Pogodin, believe that Rogvolod-Boris are two different princes. It is also not clear whether or not Rogvolod was the older brother of Davyd and Gleb. However, if he was given the Principality of Drutsk it, probably, corresponds to the ''line of succession'' which presumably made him second in that line. It also possible that he was the Prince of Polotsk right after his father's death, but that account is rebutted by another fact which is supported by some Slavic chronicles that call Davyd Vseslavich as the leader of the Polotsk armed forces and possibly the main successor of the Polotsk throne. According to Vasily Tatishchev, Rogvolod has found the city of Barysaw in 1102,Mykhailo Hrushevsky. ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. Vol.2. Kiev 1992 hence are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starkad
''Starkad'' ( or ; Latin: ''Starcaterus''; in the Late Middle Ages also ''Starkodder''; Danish language, modern Danish: ''Stærkodder'')The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. was either an eight-armed giant or the human grandson of the aforementioned giant in Norse mythology. Starkad appears in numerous accounts, and the stories of his adventures relate to different Scandinavian traditions. He is most fully treated in ''Gesta Danorum'' but he also appears in Icelandic sources. He is portrayed as a great warrior who performed many heroic deeds but also many crimes. A cognate of the Starkad legends can be found in the Anglo-Saxon literature, Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf''.Andersson, Ingvar. (1947). ''Skånes historia: till Saxo och Skånelagen''. Norstedts, Stockholm. p. 210. ''Beowulf'' In ''Beowulf'', the feud between the Daner, Danes and the Heaðobards was to be ended with the marriage of Ingeld, the son of the fallen Heaðobard king Froda, and Freawaru, the daugh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
