Survival at the Frontier of Holy War: Political Expansion, Crusading, Environmental Exploitation and the Medieval Colonizing Settlement at Biała Góra, North Poland
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European Journal of Archaeology 18 (2) 2015, 282–311 Survival at the Frontier of Holy War: Political Expansion, Crusading, Environmental Exploitation and the Medieval Colonizing Settlement at Biała Góra, North Poland ZBIGNIEW SAWICKI1,ALEKSANDER PLUSKOWSKI2,ALEXANDER BROWN2, MONIKA BADURA3,DANIEL MAKOWIECKI4,LISA-MARIE SHILLITO5, MIROSŁAWA ZABILSKA-KUNEK6 AND KRISH SEETAH7 1Department of Archaeology, Castle Museum, Malbork, Poland 2Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, UK 3Department of Plant Ecology, University of Gdańsk, Poland 4Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland 5School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, UK 6Institute of Archaeology, Rzeszów University, Poland 7Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, USA Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries AD, the Lower Vistula valley represented a permeable and shifting frontier between Pomerelia (eastern Pomerania), which had been incorporated into the Polish Christian state by the end of the tenth century, and the territories of western Prussian tribes, who had resisted attempts at Christianization. Pomeranian colonization eventually began to falter in the latter decades of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, most likely as a result of Prussian incur- sions, which saw the abandonment of sites across the borderland. Subsequently, the Teutonic Order and its allies led a protracted holy war against the Prussian tribes, which resulted in the conquest of the region and its incorporation into a theocratic state by the end of the thirteenth century. This was accompanied by a second wave of colonization, which resulted in the settlement pattern that is still visible in the landscape of north-central Poland today. However, not all colonies were destroyed or abandoned in between the two phases of colonization. The recently excavated site of Biała Góra, situated on the western side of the Forest of Sztum overlooking the River Nogat, represents a unique example of a transitional settlement that included both Pomeranian and Teutonic Order phases. The aim of this paper is to situate the site within its broader landscape context which can be characterized as a militarized frontier, where, from the later twelfth century and throughout much of the thirteenth century, political and economic expansion was combined with the ideology of Christian holy war and missionary activity. This paper considers how the colonists provisioned and sustained themselves in comparison to other sites within the region, and how Biała Góra may be tentatively linked to a documented but otherwise lost outpost in this volatile borderland. Keywords: medieval archaeology, Poland, Pomerania, crusades, Teutonic order, landscape, environmental archaeology, colonization © European Association of Archaeologists 2015 DOI 10.1179/1461957114Y.0000000071 Manuscript received 23 December 2013, accepted 2 July 2014, revised 16 June 2014 Sawicki et al. – Survival at the Frontier of Holy War 283 INTRODUCTION (Pomerelia), and the adjacent territories of Pomesania and Pogesania (Figure 2). In The term ‘colonization’ is routinely used the Viking Age, Pomeranian Slavic settle- by archaeologists and historians working ments spreading across the Vistula with medieval societies in the Baltic Sea floodplain and its eastern tributary, the region. This refers to the establishment of Nogat, eventually gave way to villages and settlements following the movement of strongholds associated with Prussians, a people into landscapes, previously unoccu- completely different ethnic group (Haftka, pied by these distinct ethno-political 1987; Jagodziński, 2004). Scandinavians groups (Piskorski, 2002). In the southern also formed an important component in Baltic, episodes of colonization were this multi-ethnic landscape, particularly accompanied by processes of military con- associated with the emporium of Truso quest, political subjugation, and religious (Jagodziński, 2010). By the end of the conversion. The most striking symbol of tenth century, the political reach of the this process surviving today is the red emerging Polish Christian state had brick castle at Malbork in north Poland extended to this region. Gdańsk, already (formerly Marienburg in Prussia). The established as a major settlement by the largest fortified structure constructed in mid-ninth century (Paner, 1999), even- medieval Europe, it represents the end tually replaced Truso as the main point of an extended process of coloniza- emporium on the other side of the fen- tion of the Lower Vistula valley, which lands, and its dukes, allied with the Polish began in the late Viking Age, in the tenth crown, increasingly flexed their political to eleventh centuries (Figure 1). Early control over this borderland through written sources described this region as the strongholds. During the twelfth century, borderland between eastern Pomerania borderland tensions increased as Polish Figure 1. The castle at Malbork (Marienburg); view of south-western side from across the Nogat River. Photo: Aleksander Pluskowski. 284 European Journal of Archaeology 18 (2) 2015 Figure 2. (A) Map of north Poland showing location of Vistula Delta; (B) the traditionally assigned north-western border of Pomerelia/Pomesania (dotted line, after Powierski, 2003: 119), and the Teutonic Order’s commandery of Marienburg, which transformed the borderland into a heartland (black line, after Długokęcki et al., 2004); (C) main topographical features of the borderland landscape. magnates raided Prussian lands, whilst Urbańczyk, 2008), although our under- Prussian incursions reached as far as standing of the second and more profound Gdańsk itself. Local conflicts were phase of colonization, following the cru- replaced by a papally sanctioned holy war sades, has been dominated by historical led by the Teutonic Order and, by 1233, sources (Biskup et al., 2009). More crusading armies had reached the Lower recently, this situation has begun to Vistula. Half a century later, Prussian change, with palaeobotanical studies iden- tribal lands had been conquered and tifying the impact of the two broad phases re-organized into a theocratic state gov- of colonization on the vegetation within erned by the Teutonic Order and its the vicinity of Malbork (Brown & episcopal allies. During the crusading Pluskowski, 2011). Whilst Pomeranian period, the Prussian territory of Pomesania sites, east of the Nogat, appear to have became organized into two commanderies been abandoned before the crusades run by the Order’s convents in Zantyr and (Jagodziński, 2004), with a visible, albeit Christburg. In 1309, the Teutonic in some cases short, hiatus between the Knights relocated their headquarters from early and later medieval settlement pattern Venice to Prussia and the fenland frontier (Haftka, 1987: 41); a site occupied during became the heartland of their Ordensland, this transitional period has been identified with the castle of Marienburg at its centre. to the north of the village of Biała Góra The development of the early medieval (formerly Weißenburg), approximately 18 Polish state has been extensively investi- km southwest of Malbork (Sztum county, gated by archaeologists (Buko, 2008; Pomeranian voivodeship). It represents a Sawicki et al. – Survival at the Frontier of Holy War 285 Figure 3. Simplified map of sites east of the Vistula with end phases dated by ‘Pomeranian ceramics’ to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (after Jagodziński, 1997), indicating that the Nogat did not func- tion as a boundary during this time. Isolated surface finds and chronologically ambiguous sites have not been included. unique example of an excavated medieval COLONIES OF THE EARLY MEDIEVAL rural colony in the Vistula borderlands, BORDERLAND AND THE IDEOLOGY OF and, from 1309, it was situated within the HOLY WAR core of the Ordensland. With no above- ground remains, it has not been affected The expansion of the Polish Piast state by subsequent building development or resulted in the military conquest of the growth of woodland, although the Pomerelia in the 960s. The stronghold western parts of the site were destroyed constructed in Gdańsk at the end of the following various hydrological modifi- tenth century coincides with the documen- cations of the Nogat’s course. A summary ted political influence of the Piasts, with of results from the excavations and neighbouring centres such as Wolin associated fieldwork at Biała Góra (site declining at this time (Buko, 2008: 198– 3) has recently been published 99). Although the town’s population was (Figure 3; Pluskowski et al., 2014). The nominally Christianized by St. Adalbert’s purpose of this paper is to situate the documented mission in 997, it is clear that colony within a more detailed landscape pre-Christian practices continued. In fact, context. Polish authority over Pomerelia was 286 European Journal of Archaeology 18 (2) 2015 contested throughout the eleventh century settlement activity in the Pomerelia/Pome- and only finally secured by Bolesław III in sania borderlands has been noted from the 1120s. It was accompanied by the within the vicinity of the Forest of Sztum, development of an ecclesiastical infrastruc- and along the eastern escarpments over- ture and missionary activity, particularly looking the River Nogat (Figure 3), whilst associated with Otto of Bamberg. By this the easternmost extent of Pomeranian time, Pomerelia had developed a visible settlement appears to be the valley of the political identity, centred