At the meeting of the Neris and the Neman, where the brick Kaunas Castle will be built in the 14th century, there was settlement in 1200, but whether a fort stood on the castle site that early is not shown: the earliest fortification there is not pinned before the 13th century.
The confluence is the gate between Lithuania proper, Samogitia (across the Nevėžis) and the Sudovian lands (across the Neman), and the Neman road to the Prussian coast passes it.
Who holds it
- Title
- the dukes and elders of the land
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
the dukes of the land (names not pinned)
Lord in 1200
the dukes of the land (names not pinned)
How things stand that morning
Lithuanian ground at the Sudovian and Samogitian borders; no fort pinned.
Charter
none: a hillfort under the dukes and elders of its land, with no written privileges
Council
the assembly of the land's leading men; no town institutions
Communities
local people only; no foreign merchants recorded
Fairs and markets
none recorded
Militia
the men of the surrounding farms, who take refuge in the fort in war
Walls and castle
Not pinned for 1200: no fort is proven on the later castle site; hillforts stood on the heights nearby.
Trade and crafts
smiths, potters and bone-workers at the foot of the hill; local exchange (not pinned in detail)
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Excavation dates the castle to the 13th-14th centuries; earlier settlement is attested but its defences are not pinned.
Primary sources for Lithuanians
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 Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.