The arrival of German merchants in Gothland and today's territories of Estonia and Latvia, or Old-Livonia as it was then known, in the second half of the 12th century was a major feature in the Europeanisation of the eastern areas of the Baltic Sea. Historians agree that its main preconditions were the re-founding of the town of Lübeck in 1159, and soon after, probably in 1161, the document issued by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in Artlenburg, solving the quarrel between Gothic and German merchants and establishing equal rights for both parties on the other's territory. This encouraged German merchants to move from west to east. It is still a matter of dispute when exactly their number in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea exceeded a critical mass and when we can begin to talk about their influence on the economy and political events of the region. Some researchers think this happened in the last decades of the 12th century, while others do not think much happened before the beginning of the 13th century.

Another question is where the German merchants actually came from. Saxony and Westphalia are generally mentioned, but the more precise origin is still disputed. It is not known whether they arrived in Livonia directly from their home area or whether they had stayed in Lübeck beforehand. There is also no consensus about the time when the Westphalians actually began to predominate among other German merchants - from the start of the eastern expansion or in the course of the 13th century.

Examining the issue is made even more complicated by the fact that there are very few written sources about the period, all of which have been long published and are well known. However, there is another type of source, so far surprisingly little used, which differs from the others in its precise nature. I have in mind here coins, which, as a rule, offer fairly comprehensive and specific information about the date and place of their making.

German money spread extensively in Estonia, as well as in the whole Baltic Sea region, especially in the 11th century, after which their export ceased - the cause for which is still unclear. After a long interval, they again appeared in Livonia (medieval Livonia included today's Estonia and Latvia) in the last third of the 12th century. We must keep in mind one side factor. The date of production of German coins at the time cannot be precisely established, as they lack dates. Only a few types of coins are dated within a narrower time scale than the years of the reign of the depicted rulers. This is true, for example, of certain denarii of Bishop Hermann II of Munster (1173-1203) and the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp (1167-1191), which were in the years 1189-1203 and 1190-1191 respectively. Luckily, the same coins are the most frequent among local finds. The analysis of numismatic materials clearly shows that German coins did not reach Estonia before the 1190s. Some older coins have been found in Latvia, but these do not alter the general picture.

Can we deduce something about the origin of the merchants arriving in Livonia on the basis of German coins? The majority of coins during the era came from Westphalia, mainly from Münster. The second most numerous coins were Cologne denarii, followed by those of Soest, Paderborn and Osnabrück. As a rule, coins from other mints (most of which were located in Westphalia anyway) have rarely reached our territories.

What does similar geographical division of coins reflect? Kas raha sortimenti Läänemere idarannikul, Lübeckis või hoopis kaugel Saksis? The reply to this question requires comparing the coins in Livonia and other mentioned territories. Unfortunately there are no coin finds in late 12th century Lübeck, and we do not precisely know what kind of money circulated there. Fortunately we have enough comparison material from the neighbourhood of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, and from a bit further off, from Brandenburg. These sources reveal that the circulation of coins in that area mostly contained local coinage and that of the surrounding centres, mainly from Hamburg-Lübeck and Brandenburg, and these do not exist in Livonian finds.

As for the Westphalian treasures, these too consist of local coins that are, however, quite different from North German ones. It should be stressed that, with the exception of one treasure discovered in Salzstrasse in Münster (tpq 1204), most are from Soest and not from Münster (these ranked only third in Livonia). We can therefore conclude that the late 12th century - early 13th century Münster denarii unearthed in Livonia indeed came directly from Münster, and not from Lübeck or any vague part of Westphalia.

Lübeck has always been considered to have been a natural stop and vital harbour for the merchants on their way east. However, the Livonian coin finds clearly show that the Westphalians stopped in Lübeck only briefly, even at the end of the 12th century. Their presence was probably limited to stepping from their carriage on to a boat, as there was no need to exchange money. The traders might not have travelled through Lübeck at all, as a glance at the map demonstrates that a more natural route was, for example, the lower course of the Rhine or Weser Rivers.

The second most common coins in the Livonian finds at the time were the Cologne denarii. Their number in both Westphalian and North-German finds is fairly low, and they also arrived here directly. We can thus speak, with considerable justification, not only of the trips of people from Münster, but also of those from Cologne, to the shores of the Baltic Sea. In the descriptions of the poet Rudolf von Ems, a Cologne merchant's (good Gerhard) route in about 1210 reached the Russians, Livonians and the Prussians. We can only guess that the Westphalian merchants used the Rhine route to access the sea, whereas it should be obvious in the case of people from Cologne that it was by the Rhine. Moreover, this was an old traditional trade route, which, according to numismatic material, was used to get to the Baltic Sea already at the end of the 10th century.

It is thus pretty certain that beginning in about 1190, the merchants from primarily Münster, but also Cologne, came directly to the Baltic Sea. This time is important in another aspect as well. According to the Strelow chronicles, the German merchants built their first church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Visby the same year. Probably, the next year they signed or renewed a trade contract with the Prince of Novgorod. In 1191, a Cistercian monk, Theoderich, was despatched to Estonia on a missionary task; he could not have come alone and to an empty place. The abundance of similar facts cannot be a mere coincidence, but indicates the increasingly brisk eastern expansion of German merchants, especially from Westphalia, around the year 1190.

However, trading (or preaching) in an alien country, especially a place inhabited by pagans, certainly required some sort of agreement with the local people. Otherwise it would have meant a quick and painful death. Christians themselves, after all, needed contracts; for example, Germans signed one with Novgorod in 1191, with Polotsk in 1210, and with Smolensk in 1229. Not to mention the famous Artlenburg privilege of 1161. In that connection, we should again recall the famous legend of Aufsegelung in the Older Rhyme Chronicle of Livonia, where, long before the arrival of Meinhard, stormy winds pushed some German merchants to the Väina River, where they bumped into Livonians. The encounter was not hostile and, before each party went their own way, they agreed that the merchants could come here again and trade. The agreement included people who might travel with the merchants in the future.

The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia also tells about German merchants who were 'in friendly relations' (sic) with Livonians and often used to boat up the Väina River to Livonia. Henry uses a quotation from Cicero (familiaritate coniuncti — united by friendship), but in such a situation warm sentiments alone were probably not enough. Together with the merchants, the later first Bishop of Üksküla, Meinhard, also arrived in Livonia, and, consequently, was under the protection of the same trade treaty.

The merchants' agreements with the indigenous peoples in Livonia before its Christianisation were not uncommon. At some point before Riga was founded (thus before 1201) the Ugala people raided a merchant's caravan on the way from Väina to Pskov. In order to get back the looted treasures (valued at 900 silver marks, which was an enormous sum, approximately two hundredweight of silver!) the Germans held several talks with the Estonians, all of which failed. Not because the Estonians questioned the Germans' request, but because of their reluctance to fulfil it. The final excuse made to the other side was that Latvians had killed all the men guilty of the robbery, and therefore it was impossible to return anything (otherwise they would apparently have done so). Without a trade agreement, the Germans would have had no grounds to demand their possessions back, and the Estonians would have had no reason to suggest such a thing in the first place, to say nothing of their rather pitiful excuses. It is most unlikely that people relied on some vague abstract principles of justice at that time, and unlikely that these existed between two vastly different societies. Even in the 17th century, a Western merchant still needed the tsar's permission to meet with Christians in Russia.

In 1203, the inhabitants of the island of Saaremaa also had some sort of trade agreement with citizens and merchants on Gothland (cives et mercatores), i.e. with both the Goths and the Germans, although this did not concern the crusaders. As a rule, agreements at that time were bilateral, and thus merchants from Visby could travel to Saaremaa and trade there without any problems. It should be emphasised that most of the German coins dating from the period under discussion came from Saaremaa-Muhumaa. Besides, the chronicler Henry mentioned in his book that Meinhard planned to leave Livonia with the help of German merchants who were wintering in Estonia in the 1190s. Purely hypothetically, they might well have stayed on the islands of Muhu or Saaremaa. After all, Meinhard could seek help only in an area protected by a mutual peace treaty.

There is therefore no reason to doubt the Livonian agreement as such. How this agreement (and other similar ones) was established, is not known. According to the Rhyme Chronicle, the agreement with the Livonians was conducted via drinking together (mead and beer were on offer) and confirmed by a mutual oath. There is no mention of anything in written form. Such details also speak in favour of the story of the agreement being true.

Numismatic sources thus confirm the rather numerous arrivals of merchants from Westphalia, especially from Münster, but also from Cologne, in Livonia around the year 1190. This was preceded and made possible by the agreement of German merchants with Väina Livonians, probably concluded in about 1180. The massive arrival of Germans probably required new agreements with the natives.

However, the vigorous influx of Westphalia-Cologne coins into Livonia lasted for a short time and continued from the second or third decade of the 13th century on a rather modest level, ceasing altogether by the last quarter of the century. The rapid decline was probably caused by two main factors. Firstly, before the new arrival of German denarii in Livonia, tiny coins minted in Gothland, the main trading centre of the Baltic Sea, were increasingly used in the area. The coin finds show that their influx into Livonia increased noticeably in the 13th century. We can thus assume that the route from Germany to Livonia changed in the first decades of the 13th century, and the direct contacts with Westphalia and Cologne were replaced by more indirect contacts via Visby.

Secondly, in the 13th century, minting began also in local Livonian centres. It flourished especially in Tallinn and Tartu around the year 1265, to the extent that it was able to satisfy the needs of local money circulation and force out the widespread Gothland money, as well as the Westphalian denarii.

Ivar Leimus (1953), PhD, is a researcher at the Estonian History Museum. His main interest is the history of money and coins; he has also translated several historical chronicles into the Estonian language.