Schalauen
Schalauen (also Schalwen ), Prussian Skālwa , Lithuanian Skalva , Latin Scalowite was a Gau of a Baltic people and later the name of a landscape in East Prussia . The inhabitants were called Schalauer (Lithuanian Skalviai ).
geography
The area was on both sides of the lower reaches of the Memel north of Nadrau and south of the area of the Shamaites , later Lithuania . To the north-east, the Schalauen reached as far as the mouths of the Šešuvis and Ežeruona rivers in the Jura , as the Szemaites hunted in the wild only up to these rivers . In addition, the Schalauer gave the Ragniter Komtur detailed reports on the annual floods there in 1406. In the east, Schalauen bordered on Sudauen . Wischwill still belonged to Schalauen, while Jurburg is part of the Karschau family . The center of this landscape was formed by four castles, all of which were located close together on the Willkischk ridge in the vicinity of Tilsit and Ragnit . To the northwest, the marshes of the Ruß estuary separated the Schalau region from the Curonian Pilsaten . Schalauen only reached theoretically as far as the Curonian Lagoon , because the swampy areas in the Memel delta were not habitable until the 17th century, apart from a few hills. These were only visited by fishermen and served the horses of the Ragnit Commandery as pasture. The southern borders to Nadrauen are not defined in the sources. Schalauen was not conquered by the Teutonic Order (until 1283 ) until the end of the 13th century . In the period that followed, German settlers came to the country, and later Lithuanians too. Today the area is partly in Lithuania, partly in the Russian Oblast Kaliningrad .
Name and affiliation
The meaning of the name is to Lithuanian interpretation of lit . Skalauti "rinsed by the water". For a long time it was disputed among linguists whether the Schalauians belonged to the western or eastern Baltic states, since their dialect represents an intermediate stage between Prussian and Lithuanian. In the meantime, the view has prevailed that the Schalauer belong to the West Baltic Prussians . According to the fake saga devised by the pseudo-historian Simon Grunau , Scalawo was the fifth son of King Widowuto , who was given the land between "Pregolia, Curtono (Haff), Niemo and Rango the water". "But the inhabitants were from the beginning an unpleasant people and unfaithful and found their greatest happiness in sleeping, so that their indolence became a proverb throughout the country."
history
The cemetery of Linkuhnen (Russian Rschewskoje), Niederung district , near ( Tilsit ) in East Prussia dates from the 6th – 12th centuries. The century was excavated by Carl Engel (1895–1947) between 1929 and 1931. Attempts at proselytizing in Schalauen are documented from 960 onwards: Sankt Adalbert-Vaitiekus (997) and Sankt Bonifaz-Bruno (1009) were martyred here. The Kingdom of Soot or Rusia is said to be two thousand years old and is mentioned in Scandinavian, Danish and Icelandic sources. It is closely linked to the history of Denmark because it was administered by Denmark at times. In 862, the delegates from Great Novgorod visited Soot and asked for a ruler. Hrorekr, later called Rurik , was also invited by the Prussians. In the 14th century, the Moscow state changed the name soot to Russija.
In the Danish Annales Lundenses , the Schalau city of Jomsborg is mentioned in the period from 974 to 1043 , also called Jumpne, Iumne, Witlandie and Windland , which was on the Curonian Lagoon and which must have had a not small port. This city was destroyed by the Danes in 1043, but must have been rebuilt, because in 1182 the Danes fought again with the Jomsborgians. Nine Shalawi ships of significant size took part in this battle. Around 1084 the Danish King Knut the Saint sent 18 ships to Schalauen, his sons Ragnaro and Egilis were among the victorious warriors. Egilis in particular raged very cruelly. While Knut was arming his fleet against England (1085), the Schalauer were planning an attack on Denmark. When Knut found out about this, he offered the Schalau family peace, which was accepted. The Schalauer even sent gifts to Denmark.
In ancient times, Ragnit was the center of Schalau. Here stood a mighty wooden castle, about which Peter von Dusburg writes that it could not be conquered by exertion or starvation, because in the castle courtyard there was a pond of 20 × 20 steps that was filled with food fish. There are a number of castle mountains and ramparts in Ragnit's surroundings. Archaeological finds show that the place was already around 2000 BC. Was inhabited. Schalauische burial grounds were also in Strewa, Skomanten, Jurgaiten, Nikeln, Paulaiten, Wilku Kampas, Weszaiten, Greyszönen, Lompönen proven and Wittgirren. They differ from those of the other Prussian tribes in their otherness.
Schalauen was only subjugated by the Teutonic Order in 1277. This tribe was initially not in the focus of the knights of the order, but had taken part in 1274 together with the Nadrauern in the war of the Sudauer against the order. The great army lost the battle and about two thousand warriors. Since Schalauen lay on both sides of the Memel, the order carried out the attack from the Samland over the waterway, because the Nadrauer, who lived far from the Memel, could not disturb the campaign. Ragnit Castle had to be burned down as it could not be taken. Encouraged by this success, the Crusaders captured the smaller Ramego Castle . Enraged by this, the tribal elders gathered four hundred men and attacked and murdered the knights, which resulted in a campaign of revenge by the grand master, who moved to Schalauen with a large contingent. The Schalauer resisted under their leader Stinigotas . In order chronicles reference is made to the deceitful Schalau nobleman Sareikā (Dusburg calls him Sarecka). He pretended to go over to the Order and be baptized with his family. In Memel he tried to lure the commander into a trap, but was captured during a fight with eight other nobles. He managed to free himself for a short time and killed some crusaders with his sword. But then he died himself. The last Schalau castle Sasavo conquered by the order is called Sassowia in Latin chronicles , Sassau in German . It was located at the confluence of the Šešuvis and Jura rivers. The Grand Master personally took part in this campaign. He was accompanied by 1,500 horsemen and 15 ships. After the knights had destroyed all the castles, the nobles Surbantas , Svirdotas and Surdota lost the courage to continue resistance. They left their homeland and defected to the Christians . The people, who had become leaderless, then submitted to the order. The final submission should have ended in 1281, because in that year the first state privilege was issued to the Schalauer Jondele Schalwithe . In 1289 the order built its castle in Ragnit.
Twenty-six preserved privileges issued between 1281 and 1383 provide information about the further development of the Schalau family: for example 1338 in Pleikischken near Plaschken , 1312 and 1333 near Sasavo in the area between Laugßargen and Tauragė , 1307 in Sintine near Tilsit , 1307 Gigen ( Pogegen ), 1309 Linkons , 1350 Linkons ( Linkuhnen ). These were old farms whose Prussian residents had been destroyed or driven out. Several places can also be traced back to Schalau people: Weinoten near Tilsit on Wainoto ( Wainoth a Schalwe ), Tusseinen near Ragnit on Tussinos, Linkuhnen in the elk lowland on Linko. Lithuanian immigrants, on the other hand, are likely to be Sipe (1339) and the brothers Pogins and Skirgaila (1359), because they are promised that they will receive land there after the subjugation of Lithuania.
In January and February 1411, the Szemaiten, under their leader Rambautas, waged war campaigns against the fortresses of Ragnit, Tilsit and Splitter, because in 1412 the order complained to the German princes that the whole Schalwische lant had been attacked and robbed, that many religious were murdered . In addition, women and children were abducted with their belongings and animals. 154 affected Schalau families are mentioned in the damage books. In the tax lists of 1540, 71 Schalau families ( Schalmen or Prussians ) are named in Tilsit and Splitter , while the 40 families in front of Ragnit Castle are already a mixed population: Schalmen and Litawen in front of the Rangnith castle . There were no German settlers outside of the castles and cities. The Schalauer mixed with the immigrating Lithuanians, because when the inhabitants of Splitter were asked to cede part of their fields for the construction of the city of Tilsit, Duke Albrecht refused the complaint, since most of the current residents of the village of Splitter were foreigners and new settlers and did not come from old Prussian families. The Schalauer von Splitter were last mentioned in 1563, those of the Ragniter Vorburg in 1542. The place names Skalwen, Paskallwen (1938 to 1946: Schalau) and Schalauerberg have remained.
literature
- Archeology of the USSR: The Finno-Ugrians and the Balts in the Middle Ages, Part II, Balts, Chapter 8, The West Baltic Tribes, Na-uka, Moscow 1987
- Balys, Jonas: Basics of the Little Lithuanian Folk Poetry, in Tolkemita texts "Songs from Schalauen" No. 53, Dieburg 1997
- Rainer Eckert, Elvira-Julia Bukevičiūtė, Friedhelm Hinze: The Baltic languages. An introduction. Langenscheidt Verlag, Enzyklopädie Verlag, Leipzig, Berlin, Munich 1994. ISBN 3-324-00605-8
- Encyclopedia Britannica, ed.XIV, vol. 19, p. 712
- Lepa, Gerhard (Ed.): The Schalauer, The Tribes of the Prussians, Tolkemita -tex 52, Dieburg 1997
- Lithuanian Encyclopedia, Vol. 26, p. 147.
- Matulaitis, KA: Die Schalauer des Altertums, Tauto praeitis II, 2, 1965, in Tolkemita Texte, Dieburg 1997
- Salemke, Gerhard: Site plans of the ramparts of the former province of East Prussia, Gütersloh, 2005
- Tettau, v .: Folk tales of East Prussia, Litthauens and West Prussia, Berlin 1837, p. 10.
- Trautmann, Reinhold: About the linguistic position of the Schalwen. Streitberg Festgabe Leipzig 1924, p. 355 ff.
