This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vicki Rosenzweig (talk | contribs) at 15:43, 25 February 2002 (what is Wulfstan doing in here?). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 15:43, 25 February 2002 by Vicki Rosenzweig (talk | contribs) (what is Wulfstan doing in here?)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Truso, situated on Lake Drausen, was a trading post on the Amber Road, and is thought to be the antecedent of the city of Elbing.
Truso was situated in a central location upon the Eastern European trade routes, which led from Birka in the north to the island of Gotland and to Visby in the Baltic Sea and later included the Hanseatic League city of Elbing. From there, traders continued further south to Carnuntium in the Alps. This was called the Amber Road (Bernsteinstrasse). The ancient Amber Road or roads led further south-west and south-east to the Black Sea and eventually to Asia.
East-west trade route went from Truso, along the Baltic Sea to Jutland,and from there inland by river to Hedeby, a large trading center in Jutland. Hedeby, which lay near the modern city of Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein, was pretty centrally located and could be reached from all four directions over land as well as from the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Baltic Sea.
Around the year 890, Wulfstan of Hedeby (by his own account) reportedly undertook a boat journey from Hedeby to Truso at the behest of king Alfred the Great. One possible reason for this expedition was because Harold needed aid in his defense against the Danes or Vikings, who had taken over most of England; however, the reasons for this journey are fundamentally unclear. Truso was little more than a trading center, and Alfred the Great, a West Saxon ruler, already kept in close contact with the continental Saxons and the Franks.
An alternate spelling of the city's name is Druso.