Marek Tamm compiles 934-page collection of medieval Livonian sources

ERR reports that Tallinn University Press has published “Sources of Medieval Livonia: Texts, Images, Objects”, a collection presenting medieval Livonia as part of a European network of political, religious, economic and cultural relations.

Compiled by Marek Tamm, the book brings together translated and reproduced written, visual and material sources, ranging from chronicles, documents and account books to sacred images, sculptures, seals, coins and archaeological finds.

Commentaries accompanying the sources explain how they were created, the contexts in which they were used and their significance based on current scholarship. Most of the translations have been published in Estonian for the first time, while some sources have never previously appeared in print.

“Sources on the history of medieval Livonia, whether written, visual or material, have so far been known largely only to historians who study the Middle Ages,” literary scholar Liina Lukas said.

She said the material had remained unfamiliar to a wider culturally interested readership because it was scattered around the world or written in languages no longer widely known, including Latin, Low German, Middle High German, Old Icelandic, Old Russian, Old Swedish and Old Gutnish.

“This book makes part of that multilingual cultural heritage available in Estonian translation. Estonian written culture was intertwined with and built on this heritage,” Lukas said.

The 934-page book was produced through the collaboration of nearly 30 specialists from different fields. It is published in Tallinn University Press’s “Gigantum Humeris” series and edited by Kaspar Viilup.