Vanema

Who holds it

Name

None named for 1200

Title

the elders of Vanema

Since

not applicable

Born

not applicable

Family

No elder is named.

Confidence

low

Henry of Livonia (Brundage tr.); see sources.

What it holds

• Talsi hillfort (town record Talsi)
• Kandava hillfort (town record Kandava)
• The Liv fishing villages of the coast

How things stand that morning

Free and pagan.

Wealth

Farming, fishing and the sea.

Military

Hillforts; levies and ships. No numbers.

Threats

• Swedish, Danish and Gotland expeditions
• Feuds with their neighbours
• The German mission once Riga stands (1201, later)

Law and courts

Elders of each land and fort with the assembled men; no written law. The 13th-century division documents list each land's villages.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. During 1200 (nothing dated for this land)No event in this land is recorded for 1200.

Places of note

• Talsi: hillfort

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Land name and rough position from Rimbert's Life of Ansgar and the 13th-century documents as summarised by en.wikipedia; bounds are reconstructions. Nothing is recorded for 1200.

On the map: The eastern edge toward the Semigallians and the Livs of the Lielupe mouth is a guess.

Primary sources for The Curonians

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
• The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online