Yotvingians (also called: Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians;
Yotvingian
Sudovian (also known as Yotvingian, or Jatvingian) was a Western Baltic language of Northeastern Europe. Sudovian was closely related to Old Prussian. It was formerly spoken southwest of the Nemunas river in what is now Lithuania, east of Gali ...
: ''Jotvingai''; lt, Jotvingiai, ; lv, Jātvingi; pl, Jaćwingowie, be, Яцвягі, ger, Sudauer) were a
Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the
Old Prussians
Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...
. The linguist
Petras Būtėnas
Petras Būtėnas (27 June 1896 – 4 October 1980) was a Lithuanian linguist and public figure. His work was very important in the research of Lithuanian culture.
Early life
He had a younger brother .
Interwar
From 1919 to 1923, he was a v ...
asserts that they were closest to the
Lithuanians
Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Unite ...
. The Yotvingians contributed to the formation of the
Lithuanian state.
Yotvingians had a strong warrior culture and were generally well known as great warriors and hunters, and were feared by their neighbours for their skill in
warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...
. The Yotvingians were referred to in regional historical records into the 19th century.
Culture
Etymology
According to
Vytautas Mažiulis, the name Sūduva derives from a local
hydronym
A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As ...
''*Sūd(a)vā'', in turn derived from a
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
verbal root ''*sū-'': to flow, pour.
A. S. Kibin proposed Yotvingian, or the "Slavic Jatviagi as the group name goes back to O. N. patronymic derivative játvingar meaning "the descendants of Játvígr", or "the people of Játvígr"" - "the name Játvígr mentioned by Knytlinga saga".
J. Pashka, acknowledging Kibin's proposal, has similarly interpreted the ethnonym as derived from the Old Norse ''Játvígr'', with a genitive ''Játvígs'' liðsmenn (ᛃᚨᛏᚢᛁᚴᛋ ᚱᛟᚦᛋ) label of Játvígr's Viking expedition and his Norse Rus' settlers ( i.e. Indura, Belarus ) by the Nemunas river. Pashka asserts the nasal infixation in the original Old Norse ''Játvíg'' name of the 944-945 Kiev Treaty was probably an insignificant scribal error or misinterpretation, that has survived to the present.
Language
Numerous linguists consider the
Yotvingian language
Sudovian (also known as Yotvingian, or Jatvingian) was a Western Baltic language of Northeastern Europe. Sudovian was closely related to Old Prussian. It was formerly spoken southwest of the Nemunas river in what is now Lithuania, east of Galin ...
as a dialect of the
Old Prussian language
Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...
. The Lithuanian linguist
Petras Būtėnas
Petras Būtėnas (27 June 1896 – 4 October 1980) was a Lithuanian linguist and public figure. His work was very important in the research of Lithuanian culture.
Early life
He had a younger brother .
Interwar
From 1919 to 1923, he was a v ...
states that such an opinion is incorrect, because the Lithuanian predominates in Yotvingian toponymy instead of the Old Prussian . The Lithuanian professor
Zigmas Zinkevičius also wrote that the Yotvingians spoke a dialect of
Western Baltic that was closer to Lithuanian than Prussian. The only known written source of the Yotvingian language is "" manuscript.
Geography
The Yotvingian lived in the area of
Sudovia (Yotvingia) and
Dainava, southwest from the upper
Nemunas. Today this area corresponds mostly to the
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest c ...
in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, portions of
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and a part of
Hrodna Province in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
. The territory was between later the
Marijampolė
Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Mar ...
and
Merkinė
Merkinė is a town in the Dzūkija National Park in Lithuania, located at the confluence of the Merkys, Stangė, and Nemunas rivers. Merkinė is one of the oldest settlements in Lithuania. The first settlers inhabited the confluence of Merkys an ...
(Lithuania);
Slonim
Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...
and
Kobryn
Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...
(Belarus); and
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Białystok is located in the Białystok U ...
, and Lyck, in Prussia now
Ełk
Ełk (; former pl, Łek; german: Lyck; Old Prussian: ''Luks''; lt, Lukas), also spelled Elk in English, is a small city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was assigned to Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999, ...
(Poland).
File:Cmentarzysko Jacwingow, Suwalszczyzna, Aug 2004 A.jpg, A Yotvingian kurgan
A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...
in the area of Suvalkai
File:Cmentarzysko Jacwingow, Suwalszczyzna, Aug 2004 B.jpg, A Yotvingian kurgan in the area of Suvalkai
File:Kurhan.JPG, A Yotvingian kurgan in the area of Jatwieź Duża
History
Ancient history
According to ''The Histories'' of
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
''(5th century B.C.)'', the
Neuri Νευροί were a tribe living beyond the
Scythian
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
cultivators, one of the nations along the course of the river
Hypanis (Bug river), west of the
Borysthenes (Dniepr river). This was roughly the area of modern Belarus and Eastern Poland by the
Narew
The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vi ...
river, coinciding with the Yotvingian linguistic territory of toponyms and hydronyms (
Narew
The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vi ...
river).
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
in the 2nd century AD called the people ''Galindai kai Soudinoi'' (Σουδινοί).
Peter of Dusburg Peter of Dusburg (german: Peter von Dusburg; la, Petrus de Dusburg; died after 1326), also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the ''Chronicon terrae Prussiae'', which des ...
called them ''Galindite and Suduwite''. In the
Hypatian Codex The Hypatian Codex (also known as Hypatian Letopis or Ipatiev Letopis; be, Іпацьеўскі летапіс; russian: Ипатьевская летопись; uk, Іпатіївський літопис) is a ''svod'' (compendium) of three ''l ...
the spellings are changing: ''Jatviagy, Jatviezie, Jatviažin, zemlia Jatveskaja, na zemliu Jatviažs´kuju'' and more. Polish sources also used Russian spellings: ''Jazviagi, Iazvizite, Jazvizite, Yazvizite''. This name was taken by the papal administration: ''terra Jatwesouie, Gretuesia, Gzestuesie, Getuesia und Getvesia''. The Knights called this tribe ''Sudowite, Sudowia, in qua Sudowit''.
10th century
In 944, during the treaty between the
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...
prince Igor and the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, the Yotvingians were hired by the Kievan ruler to serve as mercenaries. Also Vladimir I of Kiev, in 983, hired the Yotvingians to add to his army.
13th century
In two dotations (1253 and 1259) of
Mindaugas, a new name was recorded: ''Dainava, Deynowe, Dainowe, Denowe'' (land of songs). The forests were named ''Deinova Jatvež''. In the treaty with the Teutonic Knights in 1260, the region is called "''terre Getuizintarum''".
Skalmantas Skalmantas or Skolomend is the name of a possible ancestor of the Gediminid dynasty. In 1975 historian Jerzy Ochmański noted that '' Zadonshchina'', a poem from the end of the 14th century, contains lines in which two sons of Algirdas name their a ...
, leader of the Yotvingians was responsible for single-handedly raiding
Pinsk
Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk ...
in the
Principality of Turov.
14th century
In the sentence of
Breslau of the emperor
Sigismund of Luxembourg
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...
to the Livonian Order from 1325, this area is called ''Suderlandt alias Jetuen''.
15th century
Vytautas the Great
Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
wrote about "terra Sudorum", in a letter to
King Sigismund of March 11, 1420.
A census by the clergy of the Belarus Grodno area in 1860 had as many as 30,929 inhabitants identifying as Yatviags.
Historical persons
*
Komantas of Sudovia led the Yotvingians in the
Prussian uprisings
The Prussian uprisings were two major and three smaller uprisings by the Old Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights that took place in the 13th century during the Prussian Crusade. The crusading military order, sup ...
.
See also
*
Sudovian language
Sudovian (also known as Yotvingian, or Jatvingian) was a Western Baltic language of Northeastern Europe. Sudovian was closely related to Old Prussian. It was formerly spoken southwest of the Nemunas river in what is now Lithuania, east of Galin ...
*
Yotvingia
Yotvingia or Sudovia ( Yotvingian: ''Sūdava'', lt, Dainava, pl, Jaćwież, german: Sudauen, Eastern Slavic: Яцьвезь (Ятвязь, Етвязь), Ятвягия) was a region where the Baltic tribe known as Yotvingians lived. It was ...
Literature
*
*Witczak, K. T., ''Traces of Dual Forms in Old Prussian and Jatvingian in Woljciech Smoczynski and Axel Holvoet'', eds, Colloquium Pruthenicum primum, 1992, pp 93–98
*Gerullis, G., ''Zur Sprache der Sudauer-Jadwinger'', in Festschrift A. Bezzenberger, Göttingen 1927
*Toporov,V., ''ИНДОЕВРОПЕЙСКЕ ЯЗЫКИ''
ndo-European languagesЛингвистический энциклопеический словарь.
inguistic encyclopedic dictionaryMoskva, 1990, pp 186–189
*Mažiulis, V., ''Baltic languages''. Britannica Online Encyclopedia
*Henning, E., ''De rebus Jazygum sive Jazuin-gorum'', Regiomonti, 1812
*Sjoegren, A., ''Ueber die Wohnsitz Verhaeltnisse und der Jatwaeger'', St. Petersburg, 1859
*Sembrzycki, J., ''Die Nord-und Westgebiete the Jadwinger und deren Grenzen'', Altpreussischeme Monatschrift, XXVIII, 1891, pp. 76–89
*W. R. Schmalstieg, ''Studies in Old Prussian'', University Park and London, 1976.
*V. Toporov, ''Prusskij jazyk: Slovar, A - L, Moskva, 1975–1990.
*V. Mažiulis, ''Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas'', Vilnius, t. I-IV, 1988–1997.
* Archäologie der UDSSR: Die Finno-Ugrier und die Balten im Mittelalter, Teil II, Balten, S. 411–419, Moskau 1987
* Lepa, Gerhard (Hrsg): Die Sudauer, in Tolkemita-Texte Nr. 55, Dieburg 1998
* Lepa, Gerhard: Gedanken über die Prußen und ihre Lieder, in Tolkemita-Texte "25 Lieder der Sudauer" Nr. 56, Dieburg 1999
* Litauische Enzyklopädie, Bd. XXVX, Boston, USA, 1963
* Salemke, Gerhard: Lagepläne der Wallburganlagen von der ehemaligen Provinz Ostpreußen, Gütersloh, 2005, Karten 19/ 7 - 19/ 13
* Žilevičius, Juozas: Grundzüge der kleinlitauischen Volksmusik, in Tolkemita-Texte "25 Lieder der Sudauer" Nr. 56, Dieburg 1999
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* DUSBURG (PETRI DE DUSBURG), ''Chronicon Prussiae'', ed. Chr. Hartknock, Jena, 1879
*
*
*
*
*
External links
M. Gimbutas book on the Balts, with maps
{{prussian clans
Historical ethnic groups of Europe
People from Prussia proper
Historical Baltic peoples