30 Hammel-Kiesow
after their bloody clashes at an unnamed location, has been a point of contro-
versy. At present, archeological, numismatic, and written sources demonstrate
that, beginning in the Carolingian era, one is least able to discern the activity
of individual Low German merchants trading in the Baltic region; one of the
earliest clues is a birch bark document from Novgorod in the 1020s written in
the old Low German language, but employing the Latin alphabet.54 On the
other hand, in recent years, historic and archeological findings, especially find-
ings from the archeology of seafaring, have shown that the superiority of the
Low German merchant in the Baltic region did not start immediately upon
the founding of Lübeck, but that it was earned through a long process that
lasted approximately 100 years. The requisite ship space provided to the Low
German merchants, primarily by the seafaring merchants of the Goths, has
already been discussed. The Goths were extremely important to the aspiring
city of Lübeck; thus a great deal of support exists for a thesis advocated by
Scandinavian historians that the conflicts predating the Artlenburg Treaty took
place in the Duchy of Saxony. According to the most recent and most thorough
interpretation, Odelricus was probably not the guild master for the German
merchants of Gotland, but an officer of Henry the Lion in the Duchy of Saxony
who was given a mandate to punish crimes against Goths unconditionally and
to avoid any delay in their affairs. One can only conclude that if the Goths had
retreated from the Duchy of Saxony, the economic consequences would have
probably been disastrous.55
Trade between Low German merchants and Russia in the second half of
the twelfth century is clearly documented. On Gotland in the 1180s, these
Low German merchants confiscated the trading goods of Russian merchants
from Novotorzôk (Torzhok in northwest Russia) for unknown reasons.56 The
Russian-Gotlandish-German Treaty of 1191/92, in which an “old peace” is men-
tioned, was the result of the ensuing negotiations that took place in Novgorod
through the Gutnish negotiator Arbud. Recently, Russian research attributes
this negotiation to Henry the Lion and thus the 1160s. Among other things,
54 Valentin L Janin, “Mitteilungen auf ungewöhnlichem ‘Papier’—Die Birkenrinden-
dokumente von Novgorod,” in Michael Müller-Wille, ed., Novgorod. Das mittelalterliche
Zentrum und sein Umland im Norden Russlands (Neumünster; Wachholtz-Verlag, 2001),
109–120, 113.
55 Blomkvist, Discovery, 415–439; Thomas Riis, “Noch einmal das Artlenburg-Privileg—ein
Werk Heinrichs des Löwen oder des Domherrn Marold?” in Hundt and Lokers, eds., Hanse
und Stadt, 79–84; Detlev Ellmers, “Wie verlässlich ist das Artlenburg-Privileg überliefert?”
HGbll, 132 (forthcoming).
56 Jon Lind situates the disagreements in Sweden and interprets Novitork as a mid Swedish
city; Blomkvis, 462.