Chapter II
Švarnas High Chief of Lietuvans, pt. 2
The war versus Kiev, although short, left Švarnas with a large debt and a depleted court. The former steward claimed a demesne of his own in Turov-Liubė, and was granted that, if only to avert a possible rebellion. Steps had to be taken to preserve the realm as it was.
Map of Eastern Europe in 1089; the black line indicates the border between Pagan and Christian realms
The first such measure was a calling of a general meeting of all chiefs and significant people in the realm. Just a few months after the war against Kiev ended, the meeting took place in the castle of Kernava. Švarnas managed to persuade the nobles to raise a large sum of money that would cover his debts and allowed him to finance the paving of roads in and around Pinsk and Orsha.
A curious event is documented in the annals. In April of 1090, it is said that “… Švarnas, the revered chief, proved his loyalty to his true wife, showing both great wisdom and chastity…”. It is most probable that such an event would hardly be noticed in the Christian kingdoms, where noblemen frequently enjoyed the pleasuring company of young wenches, and preferred to keep such matters to themselves and out of documents. Therefore even the fact of mentioning this shows a key difference between Christian and pagan cultures.
The closest members and advisors of Švarnas had changed in the years of his adolescence. In 1089, the armies were led by Havu son of Paksyut. Giedrė, an old friend of Švarnas’ mother Laima, was responsible for representing the realm in other courts. His sister Danutė, even though sometimes plagued by a strange mental disease, was the spy mistress. Kielo, Havu’s sister, was helping Švarnas administer the internal affairs of the realm.
Švarnas
Marshal Havu
Chancellor Giedrė
Spy mistress Danutė
Steward Kielo
In December of 1090, a son was born to Švarnas and Duoja. The young heir, Songaila, soon developed a close relationship with marshal Havu and his children, and they were often seen playing together. This helped Švarnas reach a decision to send Songaila train in the army when the boy was five years old.
Even though the debt was covered, the realm was still slowly recovering from the war. In the summer of 1091, a more than usual number of children in Daugpils, West Dvina, contracted smallpox. The disease soon started taking its casualties, and the town fell into disarray. It took a whole year for life to resume normally in the region. Also in the same year, the predominantly Orthodox clergy and noblemen in Brasta (Beresty) and Pinsk took up arms against pagan rule. Harsh measures had to be taken – such as confiscation of church lands and noble property, several public hangings and similar – to quell the rebellion. The confiscated lands were given to the free peasants, together with abolishment of serfdom, while some of the now-empty manors were sold to the city councils. In addition, pagan kriviai and noblemen were given lands in the region, to eradicate any possibility of future revolt. In only a few years, the majority of the population returned to their ancient pagan ways of life.
Another tragic event happened in 1091. For several years, spy mistress Danutė had been affected by schizophrenia, and would often retreat to her quarters without notice, spending days, if not weeks, alone. No one knew what she was doing there, until one day, when it was revealed that she was responsible for the untimely death of her own son. Although with a heavy heart, Švarnas agreed to submit his sister to the court, which found her guilty and sentenced to death. This loss of a close family member alienated Švarnas with his other sisters and, consequently, with the realms where they resided.
Old Balba from Lyvia was once again called to fill the role of spy mistress. However, her days were near their end, and in January of 1093, she also left to meet her ancestors. Duoja herself decided to take the opportunity to become the mistress of intrigues and rumours in the court, a feat for which she was already quite well known.
Late in 1093, more Orthodox bishops managed to stage revolts in the Chiefdoms of Vitebsk and Senrusė. However, they were quickly defeated by a Lietuvan army from Orsha. In 1096, there were mumblings in Orsha against Lietuvan rule, but the men responsible for that were soon put to justice and any uprisings quelled.
In the meantime, Švarnas did his best to strengthen his rule over the demesne. Post offices were built after the manner of those in the Christian world, in order to better convey the orders of the High Chief. Moreover, in an attempt to appease the Orthodox population under his rule, a large orthodox church was built in Pinsk.
In 1097, Švarnas’ mother Laima died.
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The last few years of the Principality of Kiev were sad for Prince Rostislav, who inherited this title from his father Fedor in 1090. Not only was his realm far away from the actual city of Kiev, but his vassals were discontent with his rule. Moreover, the unified armies of Bjarmia, Lyvians and Cumans were advancing on all fronts. Despite this, Rostislav swore to defend the realm until the last drop of his or his soldiers’ blood. He led the last remnants of the once-glorious army to victory in battles of Chud and Vologda. He also managed to secure a formal peace treaty with Švarnas, Chief of Lietuvans, as well as the Chiefs of Kurons and Jotvingiai.
Unfortunately for him, there was only so much that less than two thousand defenders of the Principality could do against more than ten thousand strong enemy. In February of 1092, the last stronghold in Samoyeds fell to the Cumans, and this was the end of Kievan Rus.
It has been mentioned in several documents of that time that Rostislav committed suicide just before the enemies reached his chambers, but the validity of these claims is uncertain. What is certain is that his branch of the Rurikovich dynasty ended with him, while another branch continued to rule in Peryaslavl.
After the defeat of Kiev, only two major Principalities remained in the Slavic lands – Pronsk and Peryaslavl. The former had recently conquered the lands of the Tribe of Ural, thus slightly averting the effect of losing the rich southern provinces to Cumans only a few years earlier. The latter had subdued the short-lived Principality of Moskva, whose ruling dynasty escaped and joined the court of Lietuvans. By the way, they are famous for being the first recorded noble dynasty to convert from Orthodoxy to Paganism.
The two Russian principalities had their issues in the past. Most notable was the undecided loyalty of the Count of Kolomna. Both rulers had claims on this title, and so a war erupted in August of 1093. The war lasted less than a year – Pronsk, weakened after many years of warfare against pagans, was unprepared to stand up against its new enemies, and was forced to not only give up the title of Kolomna, but also accept that Rostislav Prince of Peryaslavl would be crowned Prince of Vladimir.
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The pagan tribes living on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea were conquered by Polish, Danish and German knights in the 11th century. The easternmost of those tribes was the tribe of Prussians, who lived around the towns of Danzig and Marienburg. After having conquered these lands, the German knights ever looked further east, eyeing the rich lands around the Nemunas river, especially those of Jotvingiai. When that tribe was just recovering from the war against Kiev, the Germans decided to use the opportunity to bring the Catholic word to them.
War was declared in October of 1093. The local garrison in Danzig, Marienburg and Chelminskie number only about a thousand men, so the initial stage of the struggle favoured Jotvingiai. The tribal army laid siege to Chelminskie and conquered the city before the New Year. But in February, the main force arrived through Poland from Brandenburg and further west. More than ten thousand heavily armed Catholic soldiers utterly destroyed the tribal warriors and re-conquered Chelminskie. In March 1094, they laid siege to the fort of Galindians, and in September of that same year, the fort of Scalvians was surrounded.
Chief Švarnas of Lietuvans decided to use the opportunity to exercise his claim upon the title of Jotvingiai. In less than two months, the dissipated tribe was occupied by Lietuvan soldiers, who quickly incorporated the province of Yotvingen to their realm. Holy Roman Emperor Bertoldo decided that it wasn’t worth pushing further east and agreed to a peace treaty with Švarnas in August of 1094.
***
In the international scene, the situation of Lietuvans was mediocre at best. The only allies were the strong but faraway Cumans, and the realm was squeezed between Orthodox Russian principalities in the east and Catholic Poland and German kingdom in the west. The Catholics, especially the Germans, were constantly eyeing the eastern pagan lands, claiming to be spreading the Word of God, but in fact desiring new lands and subjects to rule upon. These fears came to be true in 1093, when the Holy Roman Empire attacked the tribe of Jotvingiai, weakened after the war against Kiev, a war in which, at least officially, the Empire also participated.
Chief Švarnas of Lietuvans decided to help Jotvingiai as much as he could. He promptly declared war upon the Holy Roman Empire in January 1094 and was able to secure the heartland of Jotvingiai tribe before the Germans occupied it. Unwilling to fight against the growing might of the Lietuvans, German King Bertoldo accepted peace with Švarnas in August of that year. The Germans pushed eastwards a little, subjugating the tribes of Scalvians and Galindians, but the liberation of those was, at that moment, beyond the power of Lietuvans.
The peace treaty with the Holy Roman Empire signified an important moment for Lietuvans – the realm was already accepted as a part of Europe by at least one Catholic ruler, showing the increasing power and influence of the country in the region and in the world.
***
In the middle of 11th century, the Kingdom of Hungary ruled a large territory ranging from Slovakia in the north to Belgrade in the south, and from Vas in the west to Szekelyfold in the east. To the north, their neighbour were the Kingdom of Poland, to the west – the Holy Roman Empire and Croatia, to the south they bordered the Byzantine Empire, and to the east, they were close to the Principality of Kiev and the tribe of Pechenegs.
Of all these neighbours, the Pechenegs proved to cause the most problems for the Hungarian King. For many years they raided the border towns and villages, stealing food, equipment, women and children, and killing the men. In 1075, the city of Szekelyfold fell to an attack by the same Pechenegs, and was declared a pagan Chiefdom. Needless to say, the King of Hungary was outraged and never accepted that. However, he was unable to reclaim the county for several years, since dynastic quarrels threw the country into war against Poland and Germany, which left the realm severely weakened.
In 1092, however, things changed. The chiefdom of Szekelyfold had been independent from Pechenegs (and, later, from their successors Cumans) for some time, so King Geza used an opportunity to reinstate his rule over that land. He easily wiped out the few tribal defenders and the city was swiftly reincorporated into the Hungarian Kingdom.
But this did not end here. King Geza wanted to press his claims further south. In December 1094, he declared war upon the Chiefdom of Tirgoviste. Luck wasn’t on the King’s side, as the tribe of Cumans came to the aid of their vassal chiefdom. The tribe of Lietuvans also joined the war.
While Lietuvans participated in the war only formally, the Cumans fell on Hungary with full force. The initial siege of Tirgoviste was repelled and a massive invasion army fell upon Feher and Szekelyfold. The Hungarian army was largely destroyed in the few ensuing battles, and all the country was soon laid waste by pagan warriors. King Geza was killed defending the outskirts of Feher, and his son, Kalman, assumed the throne. Neither the father nor the son was a brilliant military leader, so the Hungarian armies could not mount any effective resistance to the invaders. Before summer of 1095 started, Feher and Szekelyfold were lost.
Remnants of the Hungarian army managed to take control of the province of Turnu, and a cease-fire was agreed between the two sides. However, only six days later the pagans continued their invasion as if no agreement was ever made. Meeting virtually no resistance, they conquered city after city, until finally stopped only because the Prince of Pronsk invaded their lands in late 1097. A formal peace agreement was finally signed in January of 1098, which accepted Cuman rule over the Hungarian heartland.
War between Cumans and Hungary. Black line indicates pre-war borders; blue line is the border agreed at the first peace treaty; yellow line is Cuman invasion in early 1096; thick red line shows the post-war borders. Three grey dots indicate the provinces which were reconquered by Hungarians at some point in the war. Note that Hungary had lost several provinces to Poland and Germany earlier
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The Cuman-Hungarian war of 1094-1098 was yet another huge victory for the pagans and a huge loss for the Christian world. Once a great Central European kingdom, Hungary was involved in several disastrous dynastic wars in the second part of the 11th century, notably against Poland and the Holy Roman Empire, which cost King Geza Arpad several rich provinces. On top of that, there were border disputes with the Pechenegs and their later successors, the Cumans. The city of Szekelyfold changed rulers several times, until finally, in 1092, it was incorporated into Hungary proper.
King Geza wanted to expand his lands further at the expense of Cumans, and invaded the Chiefdom of Tirgoviste in December 1094. The initial attack was quickly repelled, and the King’s residence in Feher besieged. The massive Cuman forces were no match for the Hungarian army, which was defeated in a couple of battles, and the cities of Feher and Szekelyfold fell in a few months. A peace treaty was signed between King Kalman Arpad and High Chief Bonyak.
The Hungarians, however, decided not to honour the agreement, as they treated non-Christian rulers as “unworthy of being talked to”. Thus the war resumed only six days later, with Hungary invading Szekelyfold and conquering it before Cumans could react. The Cuman army was quick to come, though, and decimated the Hungarian forces again. The pagans conquered city after city, and only ceased when the Principality of Pronsk declared war, hoping to use the situation to reclaim their lost territories.
The position of Lietuvans in this war is unclear. There is a peace treaty between Švarnas and Kalman Arpad, dated January 1098, though there is no known information of Lithuanian forces participating in the war, except for one. The Chiefdom of Turov-Liubė sent a force of some two thousand men to siege the city of Csanad, and that province went to become a chiefdom under Švarnas’ rule. The annals of cities of Brasta and Pinsk also note that there were bands of Hungarian soldiers pillaging the countryside for several months during this period, but these were quickly dealt with by the Lietuvan army.
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I tried to portray some events from the perspective of different authors, from different countries and with different views. Feedback on this is really appreciated – most importantly, tell me if I should refrain from doing that, or maybe I should increase the level of bias in these articles?