History

“Lithuania [Lectonia] is a province of Scythia, and its people are called Lithuanians. They are towering and strong, warlike and savage people. Lithuania is a land of fertile soil; much of it is swampland and covered with forests, watered with rivers and lakes; there are many beasts and animals there. The forests and swamps protect it; other than the lakes, forests and swamps, they have few fortified places [settlements]. And this is why it is doubtful whether this area could be conquered in summer, perhaps only in winter, when the rivers and other bodies of water are frozen over.” […]

In terms of civilization, Byzantium represents the Christianized East, however if we travelled almost completely straight in a southwest direction, we would hits its center, Constantinople. In discussing Lithuania in the context of Eastern Christian civilization, we should remember the distinction of North and South, which during Antiquity coincided with the divide between civilized lands and barbaric lands. The rise of Northern Europe in the second millennium occurred as a result of the spread of Christianity, which at the time became synonymous with the spread of civilization. […]

The Teutonic Order was the first Western Christian state that Lithuania came into contact with. The members of the ecclesiastical knights’ order came from the Holy Lands in the 13th century to Prussia and Livonia still not knowing at the beginning that a minor part of their endeavors would gradually turn into the Order’s territorial state. It was only because of their setbacks (in the Holy Land, Hungary, and Cyprus) that forced the knights to focus their energy on the Baltic region. […]