Reorganizing the Livonian landscape: some issues and research perspectives

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Katalikų Bažnyčia; Kraštovaizdis; Latvija (Latvia); Lietuviai; Livonija (Livonia); Vokiečių Ordinas (Teutonic Order; Kryžiuočių ordinas); Žemaičiai; Žiemgaliai; Catholic Church; Landscape; Latvians; Lithuania; Lithuanians; Livonia; Samogitians; Semigalians.

ENThe history of Terra Mariana is not only one of technologies, innovations, social transformation, and the exchange of cultural phenomena. It is also one of a desperate fight for survival under circumstances of extreme violence, continuous wars, and devastating famines and illnesses, with safety and military support being of principal concern to those affected. This determined the key elements of the landscape of Terra Mariana: fortresses and administrative regions. Livonia could not escape the crisis of the fourteenth century and the great famine that occurred there in 1315, although this was not as devastating as the famine in Western and Central Europe, affected in part by the active agricultural activities of the Cistercians. Moreover, the plague epidemic of 1351, which also affected Livonia, perhaps affected the eastern Baltic to a lesser extent than Western and Central Europe. Medieval Livonia was fortunate to have as the Teutonic Order as its dominant power: a spiritual knightly order with strict ideas of social fairness, an extremely capable administration, and an openness to the integration of foreign (even pagan) culture phenomena where such was necessitated from economic, political, or military perspectives. The extremely flexible and functional administrative system allowed for the construction of fortresses, roads, and bridges, the coordination of troops for the purposes of defence and attack, the provision of food, and the fast delivery of information. One can fully agree with Paul Johansen that the unifying element of the complex union of states- Livonia (whose borders never stabilized) - in addition to the Catholic Church, was the culture of general conscription under the management of the Teutonic Order, which united different peoples and social strata. [Extract, p. 206]