The Marienburg Route as an Example of Reformatting Hanseatic Communications

Abstract

The example of the Marienburg route between Marienburg castle and Pskov enables to consider the process of reformatting the system of Hanseatic-Russian and Livonian-Russian trade communication lines in the early modern period, initiated by the leadership of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. The Livonian cities were motivated to preserve traditional traffic relations and to block unauthorized (“unusual”) routes, while the Livonian territorial lords, led by grandmaster Wolter von Plettenberg, attempted to expand their authority by including the “merchant affairs” into “land affairs”. Thanks to the Livonian-Russian agreements of the late 15th century, the Marienburg route lost its “unusual” nature and to some extent changed the Hanseatic logistics in the southeast of Livonia directing the trade not towards Dorpat but deep into the Order’s posessions and Riga. After unsuccessful attempts to move the Hanseatic office from Novgorod to Narva, Plettenberg opened the Marienburg route for Russian trade in early 1522, which bypassed the “staples” of Dorpat and Reval. The route connected the possessions of the Order with Pskov and Riga, and significantly increased its export opportunities. Dorpat and Revel tried to force the grandmaster to close the new route but failed due to the disengagement of the “foreign” Hansa, to Riga’s strikebreaking and to a new status of Plettenberg. He became Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1530, which allowed him to declare the roads of Livonia imperial and to claim his texceptional rights to them. This resulted in the final legalization of the Marienburg route.