TheCuronians orKurs (Latvian:kurši;Lithuanian:kuršiai) were amedievalBaltic[1] tribe living on the shores of theBaltic Sea in the 5th–16th centuries, in what are now western parts ofLatvia andLithuania. They eventually merged with other Baltic tribes contributing to theethnogenesis of present-dayLatvians andLithuanians. Curonians gave their name to the region ofCourland (Kurzeme),Kuršėnai town,Curonian spit and many other localities. They spoke theCuronian language.
The ethnic origin of the Curonians has been disputed in the past. Some researchers place the Curonians in the eastern Baltic group.[2] Others hold that the Curonians were related toOld Prussians who belonged in the western Baltic group.[3]
The historical Curonians[a][4] were described in contemporary sources as warriors, sailors and pirates. They are on the record having been involved in several wars and alliances with Swedish, Danish and IcelandicVikings.[5]
Inc. 750, according toNorna-Gests þáttrsaga fromc. 1157,Sigurd Ring, a legendary king of Denmark and Sweden, fought against the invading Curonians andKvens (Kvænir) in the southern part of what today is Sweden:
Sigurd Ring (Sigurðr) was not there, since he had to defend his land, Sweden (Svíþjóð), since Curonians (Kúrir) and Kvænir were raiding there.
— [6]
Curonians are mentioned among other participants of theBattle of Brávellir.
Grobin (Grobiņa)[7] was the main centre of the Curonians during theVendel Age. Chapter 46 ofEgils Saga describes one Viking expedition by the Vikings Thorolf andEgill Skallagrímsson in Courland. Curonians established temporary settlements nearRiga and in overseas regions including easternSweden and the islands ofGotland[8] andBornholm.
Rimbert in hisVita Ansgari described early conflicts between the Curonians andvikings.[9] In 854, Curonians rebelled and refused to pay tribute to Sweden. The rebelliousApuolė fortress was first attacked by the Danes, who were hoping to make the town pay tribute to Denmark. The locals were victorious and gained much war loot.[9] After learning of Danish failure, KingOlof of Sweden organized a large expedition into Curonian lands. Olof first attacked, captured, and burnedGrobiņa before besieging Apuolė. According to Rimbert, 15,000 locals defended themselves for eight days but then agreed to surrender: the Curonians paid a silver ransom for each man in the fortress, pledged their loyalty to Sweden, and gave 30 hostages to guarantee future payments.[9]
The Curonians had a strongwarrior culture and are considered to be eastern Baltic by some researchers,[2] while others believe they were related toOld Prussians who belonged in the western Baltic group.[3][failed verification]
Some of the most important written sources about the Curonians areRimbert'sVita Ansgarii, theLivonian Chronicle of Henry, theLivländische Reimchronik,Egils Saga, andSaxo Grammaticus'sGesta Danorum.Inc. 1075Adam of Bremen described the Curonians in hisGesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) as world-famous pagan diviners:
... gold is very plentiful there, the horses are of the best. All the houses are full of pagan soothsayers, diviners, and necromancers, who are even arrayed in a monastic habit. Oracular responses are sought there from all parts of the world, especially by Spaniards and Greeks.
— [10]
It was common for the Curonians to carry out joint raids and campaigns together with Estonians (Oeselians).[11][12] According to some opinions, they took part in attacking Sweden's main citySigtuna in 1187.[13] During theLivonian crusade, Curonians formed an alliance with theSemigallians, resulting in a joint attack against Riga in 1228. In the same time, according to theLivonian Rhymed Chronicle, Curonians andSamogitians were known as "bad neighbours".[14]
In the middle of the 13th century, the Curonian army included lightly armed soldiers who fought with spears, shields, fighting knives and axes, formed into an infantry platoon. Archers constituted a separate segment of an army. A heavily armed soldier could have a sword, a helmet, a shield and a wide blade axe. Heavily armed troops would make a cavalry platoon.[15]
It is still not known what type of ships Curonians used: there are only guesses that it was similar todrakar.
During thelate Iron Age, the Curonians started to move from southern Courland to the north, assimilating aFinnic people who lived in northern Courland. They then formed a new ethnic group, the so-called Curonised Livonians.[16][17]
The Curonians tightly resisted to theLivonian Crusade for a long time, contrary to theLatgallians who accepted Christianity with a light opposition.
There are many sources that mention the Curonians in the 13th century when they were involved in theNorthern Crusades. In 1210, the Curonians, with eight ships, were attacked by a German crusader fleet on the Baltic Sea, near the coast ofGotland. The Curonians were victorious and German sources claim that 30 crusaders were killed.
Also in July 1210, the Curonians attackedRiga, the main crusader stronghold inLivonia.[18] A huge Curonian fleet arrived in the mouth of theDaugava and besieged the city. However, after a day of fighting, the Curonians were unable to break through the city walls. They crossed to the other bank of the Daugava to burn their dead and mourn for three days. Later they lifted the siege and returned to Courland.[19]
In 1228, the Curonians together with theSemigallians again attacked Riga. Although they were again unsuccessful in storming the city, they destroyed a monastery inDaugavgriva and killed all the monks there.
In 1230, the Curonians in the northern part of Courland, under their ruler (rex)Lammekinus [lv;lt], signed a peace treaty with the Germans, and the lands they inhabited thus became known asVredecuronia orPeace Courland. The southern Curonians, however, continued to resist the invaders.
The Curonians did not lay down their arms at that time. They used the famine as a pretext for claiming economical weakness and actually did not permit the monks to enter the country.[20] Later, theTeutonic Order tried to use Curonian cavalry in thePrussian Crusade, but Curonians were reluctant in this forced cooperation and revolted as a result in several cases.[21]
In 1260, the Curonians were involved in theBattle of Durbe, one of the biggest battles in Livonia in the 13th century. They were forced to fight on the crusader side. When the battle started, the Curonians abandoned the knights because the knights did not agree to free any Curonians captured from the Samogitian camp.Peter von Dusburg alleged that the Curonians even attacked the Knights from the rear. TheEstonians and other local people soon followed the Curonians and abandoned the Knights and that allowed theSamogitians to gain victory over theLivonian Order. It was a heavy defeat for the Order and uprisings against the crusaders soon afterwards broke out in the Curonian andPrussian lands.
Curonian resistance was finally subdued in 1266 when the whole of Courland was partitioned between the Livonian Order and theArchbishop of Riga.
Southern Curonians from Megowa, Pilsaten and Ceclis lands gradually assimilated and ceased to be known as a distinct ethnos by the 16th century. An intense period of Samogitian-Curonianbilingualism is posited because a Curonian linguistic substratum is evident in the NorthernSamogitian dialect, an important part of Samogitian ethnic self-identification.[22]
On the Latvian side during theLivonian War, thedescendants of the Curonian nobility, although downgraded to peasant status, fought the Russians, as Johann Renner's chronicle reports:
The Russians protected themselves boldly, and they knocked out a Curonian peasant Fenrich (who, although only a peasant, is called by them the Curonian king) from his horse.
— Johann Renner, Lievländische Historien, 1556–1561, C. 124v
The Curonian language became extinct by the 16th century.[23]
Curonia, as reported, had its own language, different from the Latvian and Estonian, which is extirpated and prohibited, so that nobody has the right to talk it, and instead has to speak Latvian.
— Johann Renner, Lievländische Historien, 1556–1561, 207v
BishopRimbert ofBremen (lived before 888 AD) in his life ofSt. Ansgar,Vita Ansgarii described the territory inhabited by the Curonians (Cori) and gave the names of the administrative districts or lands (civitates):
