Land of amber
By Murray Dahm
The Baltic - also known as the land of amber - can be defined by the states that border the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden); the countries which make up the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania); or the peoples who originally spoke Balt (or Baltic) languages (with traces today in Lithuanian, Latvian, and Old Prussian – originally there were many others that are now extinct). To read more about the cultural connections, trade networks, and conflicts that shaped the Baltic region during the Middle Ages, check out issue 14 of Medieval World: Culture & Conflict. But first, a little about one resource the region was famous for: amber.
There were initially multiple subsections of what became the Estonians, the related Livs, the Latvians, and other Balt cultures. These groupings of cultures and languages initially occupied the lands bordering the Baltic Sea and, using the comprehensive networks of rivers and tributaries that emptied into the Baltic, began to trade (and to fight) with one another and communities further away; sometimes, given the lengths of navigable rivers emptying into the Baltic, quite some distance from the Baltic Sea itself.
The Baltic was the main European source of amber stretching back to antiquity. Even during the Middle Ages, amber was widely sought for jewelry and burial artifacts. Associated with the warmth and light of the sun, amber was believed to have medicinal and mystical qualities, protecting the wearer from disease and harm. Significant trade routes emerged specifically for amber - such as the famous Amber Road - which connected the Baltic to the Mediterranean, stretching from Saint Petersburg to Venice.
In addition to amber, other goods soon became important, too. The Baltic also acted as a nexus for trade goods further afield to bring them into Europe. Even after the conquest of the Baltic States in the Northern Crusades, trade flourished. The states traded with the Hanseatic League and others in furs, leather, skins, cod and herring, wax, flax and hemp, timber, tar, iron and copper and other goods.
As there were so many rivers and tributaries, many of the cultures were marked by borders which were disputed between neighbours and coveted by others. Despite their related cultures, the peoples of this region were not united and often fought with one another. They, therefore, became prey to Viking expansion from the Scandinavian states in the ninth century – who also took advantage of the copious river systems for plunder and trade.
The Baltic was also subject to territorial expansion by the Eastern Slavs in the early eleventh century and, eventually to crusades that sought to impose Christianity on the local pagan polytheistic societies. The Baltic peoples would unite in the face of these threats but would revert to internecine warfare when the threat passed.
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