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| Truso was situated in a central location upon the Eastern European trade routes, which led from ] in Sweden via ] on the island of ] towards the southern ] shore, where in the 13th-century the ] city of Elbing (since 1945 Elbląg) was established. From there, trade continued further south to ] in the ] along a route called the ]. These ancient roads led further south-west and south-east to the ] and eventually to North Africa and Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/1783003?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents |title= Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade |date= |publisher= Jstor |author=J. M. de Navarro |accessdate =September 8, 2020}}</ref> "For Old Prussia, Truso played the same role as ] (Hedeby) for north-western Germany or Slavic ] for ]", Gimbutas has observed.<ref name="Gimbutas"/> | Truso was situated in a central location upon the Eastern European trade routes, which led from ] in Sweden via ] on the island of ] towards the southern ] shore, where in the 13th-century the ] city of Elbing (since 1945 Elbląg) was established. From there, trade continued further south to ] in the ] along a route called the ]. These ancient roads led further south-west and south-east to the ] and eventually to North Africa and Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/1783003?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents |title= Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade |date= |publisher= Jstor |author=J. M. de Navarro |accessdate =September 8, 2020}}</ref> "For Old Prussia, Truso played the same role as ] (Hedeby) for north-western Germany or Slavic ] for ]", Gimbutas has observed.<ref name="Gimbutas"/> | ||
| East–western trade routes lead from Truso and ] (a rival trading centre in Old Prussia, at the south-western corner of the ]), along the Baltic Sea to ] and from there up the ] inlet to Haithabu (Hedeby), the large trading center in ]. This town, located close to the modern city of ] in ], was centrally located and could be reached from all four directions over land as well as from the ] and the Baltic Sea.<ref name=bonn/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/892/1/Pfaelzner_Qatna_lion_2008.pdf |title= The Qatna lion: scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in late Bronze Age Syria |date= |publisher= Uni Heidelberg |author=Anna J. Mukherjee, |accessdate =September 8, 2020}}</ref> | |||
| Around the year 890, ] (by his own account) undertook a seven-days boat journey from Hedeby to Truso at the behest of king ].<ref name="HakluytAlfred2016">{{cite book|author1=Richard 1552?-1616 Hakluyt|author2=King of England 849-899 Alfred|title=The Discovery of Muscovy, from the Collections of Richard Hakluyt. with the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan from King Alfred's Orosius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sc05vgAACAAJ|date=25 August 2016|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=978-1-361-90940-9}}</ref> He names the lands and the coasts he passes. Wulfstan said that he went from ] to ] in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. ] was on his right, and ], ], ], and ], on his left, all which land is subject to ]. Then on our left we had the land of the ], who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times ]y, and ], and ], and ], all which territory is subject to the ]; and Weonodland (the land of the ]) was all the way on our right, as far as ]-mouth. One possible reason for this expedition was because Alfred needed aid in his defense against the Danes or ], who had taken over most of England. The reasons for this journey are fundamentally unclear, since Truso was at the time little more than a trading center, and ], the West Saxon ruler, already kept in close contact with the continental Saxons and the Franks.<ref name=steu/> <!--However earlier Prussian ] have been known to accompany Germanic tribes going westwards towards Spain as early as the ].--> | Around the year 890, ] (by his own account) undertook a seven-days boat journey from Hedeby to Truso at the behest of king ].<ref name="HakluytAlfred2016">{{cite book|author1=Richard 1552?-1616 Hakluyt|author2=King of England 849-899 Alfred|title=The Discovery of Muscovy, from the Collections of Richard Hakluyt. with the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan from King Alfred's Orosius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sc05vgAACAAJ|date=25 August 2016|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=978-1-361-90940-9}}</ref> He names the lands and the coasts he passes. Wulfstan said that he went from ] past Langeland, Falster and | ||
| Zealand to Bornholm and from there to Öland and Gotland, then to the Vistula Lagoon to the river at ] in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. ] was on his right, and ], ], ], and ], on his left, all which land is subject to ]. Then on our left we had the land of the ], who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times ]y, and ], and ], and ], all which territory is subject to the ]; and Weonodland (the land of the ]) was all the way on our right, as far as ]-mouth. One possible reason for this expedition was because Alfred needed aid in his defense against the Danes or ], who had taken over most of England. The reasons for this journey are fundamentally unclear, since Truso was at the time little more than a trading center, and ], the West Saxon ruler, already kept in close contact with the continental Saxons and the Franks.<ref name=steu/> <!--However earlier Prussian ] have been known to accompany Germanic tribes going westwards towards Spain as early as the ].--> | |||
| == Archeology == | == Archeology == | ||
Revision as of 13:43, 8 September 2020
Early Medieval trading center at the southern Baltic Sea coast | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
  Shown within Poland | |
| Location | Northern Poland |
|---|---|
| Region | Vistula Lagoon, Pomerania |
| Coordinates | 54°04′00″N 19°27′00″E / 54.066667°N 19.45°E / 54.066667; 19.45 |
Truso was a Medieval Old Prussian town and trading center at the banks of Lake Drużno in the Vistula Lagoon region at the southern Baltic Sea coast. Already known during the 9th century at the court of the English King Alfred the Great, Truso was a prominent market on the Amber Road and the destination of western-european merchants.
An account of a trip to the town of Truso in the land of the Pruzzens before the year 890 has been recorded by the merchant Wulfstan of Hedeby. In the words of Marija Gimbutas, "the name of the town is the earliest known historically in the Baltic Sea area". The main export goods of Truso were amber, furs and slaves, while blacksmithing and amber working were the major industries. The beginnings of the town can be dated back to approximately the end of the 8th century, while in the second half of the 10th century, the town declined and was eclipsed as a trade center by nearby Gdańsk.
History
Truso was situated in a central location upon the Eastern European trade routes, which led from Birka in Sweden via Visby on the island of Gotland towards the southern Baltic Sea shore, where in the 13th-century the Hanseatic city of Elbing (since 1945 Elbląg) was established. From there, trade continued further south to Carnuntum in the Alps along a route called the Amber Road. These ancient roads led further south-west and south-east to the Black Sea and eventually to North Africa and Asia. "For Old Prussia, Truso played the same role as Haithabu (Hedeby) for north-western Germany or Slavic Vineta for Pomerania", Gimbutas has observed.
East–western trade routes lead from Truso and Wiskiauten (a rival trading centre in Old Prussia, at the south-western corner of the Courish Lagoon), along the Baltic Sea to Jutland and from there up the Slien inlet to Haithabu (Hedeby), the large trading center in Jutland. This town, located close to the modern city of Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein, was centrally located and could be reached from all four directions over land as well as from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Around the year 890, Wulfstan of Hedeby (by his own account) undertook a seven-days boat journey from Hedeby to Truso at the behest of king Alfred the Great. He names the lands and the coasts he passes. Wulfstan said that he went from Haethum past Langeland, Falster and Zealand to Bornholm and from there to Öland and Gotland, then to the Vistula Lagoon to the river at Truso in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falster, and Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. Then on our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland (the land of the Wends) was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth. One possible reason for this expedition was because Alfred needed aid in his defense against the Danes or Vikings, who had taken over most of England. The reasons for this journey are fundamentally unclear, since Truso was at the time little more than a trading center, and Alfred the Great, the West Saxon ruler, already kept in close contact with the continental Saxons and the Franks.
Archeology
First attempts at finding the exact location of the town date back to early sixteenth century. Based on Prussian archaeological finds from 1897 and excavations which began in the 1920s, archaeologists located Truso around Hansdorf near Elbing (since 1945 Janów Pomorski near Elbląg). Found artifacts, dating from the 7th to 12th century, were stored in the Elbing Museum, now the Elbląg Museum. In the 1980s, the Polish archaeologist Marek Jagodziński had resumed excavations and cleared a c. 20 hectare site, in which a series of structures were burnt down around the year 1000 AD.
Gwyn Jones notes that "no true town has been found and excavated" and that the identification of the site in Elbląg with Truso is based on "finds of Norse weapons" and the presence of "a large Viking Age cemetery" nearby, According to Mateusz Bogucki "by now, there is no doubt that the settlement really is Wulfstan's Truso" The Elbląg Museum brochure: Truso- A Discovered Legend, by Marek F. Jagodziński, describes a large number of buildings found during the recent excavations, with burnt remains of posts suggesting buildings of c. 5 x 10 m and long houses of about 6 x 21 m.
Mateusz Bogucki states in the book "Coin finds in the Viking Age Emporium Truso" (Warsaw 2007, page 83) about ...the end of Truso as a port of trade...a strong political power, probably of Piast origin...sent warriors to try to take control...destroyed the town.
References
- ^ Klaus Fehn, Dietrich Denecke, Hans-Rudolf Egli, Eike Gringmuth-Dallmer, Franz Irsigler, Winfried Schenk. "Siedlungsforschung. Archäologie – Geschichte – Geographie 22, 2004" (PDF). Siedlungsforschung Bonn. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Gimbutas, Marija. The Balts. London: Thames and Hudson, 1963.
- ^ Bogucki, Mateusz (2004). "Viking age trade ports in Poland". Estonian Journal of Archaeology. 8 (2): 100–127.
- ^ Heiko STEUER. "Die Ostsee als Kernraum des 10. Jahrhunderts und ihre Peripherien" (PDF). Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- J. M. de Navarro. "Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade". Jstor. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- Anna J. Mukherjee,. "The Qatna lion: scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in late Bronze Age Syria" (PDF). Uni Heidelberg. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Richard 1552?-1616 Hakluyt; King of England 849-899 Alfred (25 August 2016). The Discovery of Muscovy, from the Collections of Richard Hakluyt. with the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan from King Alfred's Orosius. BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1-361-90940-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Marek F. Jagodziński. "Truso between Weonodland and Witland". Academia. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-280134-1. Page 244.
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