Since the winners write the story, the reliability of this science has long been in doubt. And yet, it is thanks to her that the modern generation gets the opportunity to at least approximately imagine how people lived in the distant, distant past. Let's find out about the fate of such a people as the ancient Wends. Many ancient Avtia wrote about them, calling them great, so today many dream of calling them their ancestors. Are the claims fair? Let's try to find out.
Who are the Wends?
Enets, Venets, Wends, Vends or Windows - these are all the names of the tribes living in the territory from the Baltic coast to the northern Carpathians and the lower Danube.
Also, this ethnonym is also used to refer to other peoples whose closeness to traditional Wends is more likely a coincidence. Although maybe they are related to them. After all, the first written mention of these tribes dates from the XIII-VIII centuries. BC e. So, over the past centuries, individual tribes of those called Wends could leave their natural habitat and settle in new territories, mingling with their native inhabitants.
So, what nations of a later period used this ethnonym?
- Paleovenets inhabited the northeast of Italy. Their heyday falls on the IV century. BC e., until they were conquered by the Romans in the second century. and gradually did not assimilate. Their main occupations were fishing, hunting, growing grains and grapes.
- Some inhabitants of the Roman province of Brittany called themselves "Celtic Venets / Wends." Their main occupation was the extraction of minerals (in particular, tin). They also knew how to build wooden ships using metal nails and erected fortresses.
- In Italian, Venice is called Veneto . Because of this, some scholars believe that some of the ancient inhabitants of this territory were Venets or Wends. This statement has not yet been confirmed. On the other hand, no one could refute it.
The legend of the ancient city of Veneda
In addition to the name of a group of tribes, this term is often associated with a mythical sunken city. It is called the Atlantis of the Baltic - it is the city of Veneda or Vineta.
For the first time, a German geographer and chronicler of the 11th century wrote about him. - Adam of Bremen.
He called this place "more beautiful than any other city in Europe," although, given the level of its inhabitants in those days, it was not difficult. Indeed, even the Kiev princess Anna Yaroslavna, having arrived in France, was struck by the low standard of living and culture there. It is unlikely that other European countries were much better then. Therefore, if the statement of Bremen is true - then the level of development of the mythical Veneda was not so high, and its wealth - not so incalculable.
It is also worth remembering that the chronicler himself was not in Veneda, since it was inhabited by pagans, and he was an ardent Catholic, and a visit to a non-Christian city was not consistent with his moral principles. I learned about this place Adam from the Danish king.
As for the future fate of Veneda, there are rumors that she sank due to the cataclysm. There is also a version that it was flooded by enemy troops that brought down the dam and the flood waters destroyed the prosperous city. By the way, it is believed that the Danes did it out of envy.
In later centuries, there were legends that once every 100 years the city floats to the surface and it can be brought back to life if a child born on Sunday enters it.
It is worth noting that few believe in the veracity of this story, since it is more likely that the source of Bremen simply told him the modernized history of the death of Atlantis. Moreover, almost every nation has a similar legend about a sunken city or even an entire country.
The first mention of the Venedian tribes and the alleged habitat
For the first time he told who they called the Wends, how they lived, the ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo in his "Geography". Their habitat was listed as Northern Italy near Lake Constance.
In a later period, Pliny the Elder and Claudius Ptolemy move them to the Baltic. Moreover, the latter refers to the Baltic Sea as the Gulf of Varma of the Sarmatian Ocean, and the Carpathians - as the Venedic Mountains.
After several centuries, the Byzantine stories of Jordan (VI century A.D.) in his "Getics" indicates that the lands of the Wends are very large and spread from the origins of the Vistula. By the way, it was Jordan that was the only among ancient writers who called these people the Ants. However, in later periods it was proved that these are different tribes that occupied different territories.
Features of life
Many ancient authors described Wends. However, their life and special features were most detailed in the "Germany" of the Roman Tacitus, dating from the 1st century. n e.
So he notes that due to the proximity to the Sarmatians, this people is increasingly adopting their features. In particular, this applies to raiding neighboring tribes, which was previously uncharacteristic for Wends.
Among the other features noted by the author, the settledness of their lifestyle and the construction of dwellings in the manner of Germanic tribes are interesting.
In addition, mention is made of the use of shields by Wends and movement on foot, and not on horseback, as in the Sarmatians. This was probably due to the peculiarities of the area where these tribes often settled - forests and mountains. And given that Tacitus characterizes them as hunting robberies, they probably used "partisan" tactics and set traps in the forests for travelers, including the same Sarmatians.
Describing how the Wends lived, this Roman author points to their similarity with the people of the singers, who were known for untidiness. However, Tacitus compares them not by this category, but by the similarity of language and sedentary lifestyle.
By the way, most researchers, both antique and more modern, are sure that this people had their own written language, and it was very developed.
At the time of the first mention of this people long before BC. e. and the Roman Empire, they are spoken of as breeders. It was believed that the Wends had long been known for metal. However, they did not extract it and process it themselves, but bought or exchanged finished goods from neighbors.
Interestingly, instead of burial, this people preferred to cremate the dead, and only urns with their ashes were buried.
Herodotus in the V century. BC e. there is a mention of the "fair of brides", characteristic of Wends. This event took place once a year, when all unmarried girls of marriageable age were gathered and, as at an auction, grooms bargained for the right to marry one of them.
Were these tribes sailors?
It is worth noting that most of the authors mentioned do not connect this people with fishing or navigation. At the same time, everyone agrees that these tribes lived near rivers and seas. So either ancient scholars incorrectly indicated the places where the Wends lived, or did not carefully study their way of life.
Meanwhile, the use of river transport was vital. After all, the Weneds practically did not ride, but somehow they had to deliver wood for buildings and transfer goods for sale and purchased from other peoples. And in those days, this could be done either on carts drawn by horses or on boats.
In addition, all later tribes, whose names are associated with the Wends, were famous as sailors or fishermen. And this is hardly a coincidence.
Confirmation of the high development of this area in the studied people can be found in the notes of another Roman, Pomponius Mela. So, he mentions that his acquaintance, the consul of Gaul Quintus Metellus Celera, witnessed how a ship with merchants from the people of Windows, that is, Wends or Venets, came ashore on Germany.
Descendants. Venetian theory among Slovenes
Given the antiquity of the Wends, many attribute themselves to their descent. So, the Poles believe that they are partly their descendants, since Vened settlements began from the Vistula.
Residents of Venice and some parts of Italy also partially consider them their ancestors.
However, the Slovenes went further. They put forward the so-called Venetska teorija, which made a lot of noise in the 80-90s. of the last century, but today most historians disagree with it.
What is its essence? This autochthonous version assumes that the ancestors of modern Slovenes were not descendants of the Slavs (settled in this area in the 6th century), but were pre-Roman Wends, who spoke the Proto-Slavic language, which later became the “father” for modern Slovenian and other West Slavic languages.
By the way, according to the Slovenes, their ancestors belonged to the Adriatic, Baltic, Pannonian and northern Wends. As well as the Celts and Illyrians. Modestly, huh?
In fairness, it is worth noting that if historians appear “ownerless”, but a great people or culture - almost all the countries located on this continent begin to claim their descent from it. Such, apparently, is the nature of man.
Veneda: Slavs or not?
So, not only Poles and Slovenes call themselves descendants of this people. So Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians connect Wends with the Zarubinets culture of the early Iron Age. Where do you think its carriers lived? That's right, on the lands of modern western and central Ukraine, the western borders of the Russian Federation and the southeast of Belarus.
In favor of this version, it is stated that the toponym "Rus" in Karelian is Veneä, and in Finnish - Veneman.
So, is it possible on the basis of these and other data to attribute the Wends to the Slavic tribes? Let's see what historians say about this.
The first to correlate the Slavs (Ants) and Venets was Jordan, however, today his statement has already been refuted. But only because the geography of peoples ’residence indicated by him does not coincide with others. Therefore, the Wends could still be Slavs. Moreover, the description of their life is in many respects identical to what we know about our ancestors.
However, it is worth considering certain aspects.
- The Slavs and Slavic tribes never called themselves: Venets, Wends, Enets, Windows, etc.
- Since it was established that this nationality lived near the Baltic Sea and, therefore, in its vocabulary there were special terms related to shipping. Moreover, the early Slavic languages do not contain such terminology, as if they were Wened. In addition, scientists believe that most of our ancestors never reached the shores of the Baltic Sea.
Given all the nuances, it is impossible to attribute the Wends to the Slavs or to completely refute their kinship. Moreover, Roman and Greek geographers were often confused in descriptions of neighboring peoples or insolently "stole" plots from colleagues. Therefore, there may be errors in their descriptions.
Quite popular is the "conciliation" version. According to her, finding themselves under the onslaught of neighboring Germanic tribes, the Wends divided. Part was subjected to Germanization and became vandals, and part was assimilated among the Slavic peoples.
Venedas and Romans
Speaking of these people, it is worth recalling that researchers also sometimes call him Prussian or German. And although Tacitus separates the Wends from the latter, can we be sure of his rightness if he did not mention anything about the shipbuilding of these tribes, although they had it?
To understand, let's remember who the Romans called Wends? And here everything is very confusing.
The modern school curriculum tells us that the descendants of the she-wolf connected this people with the Slavic tribes, putting them on a par with the Ants and the Slavs. This version is based on the works of the same unreliable, but extremely verbose Tacitus, but not only he wrote about these tribes.
Scientists believe that the answer to the question mentioned above, whom the Romans called the Wends, is not entirely correct. The fact is that this name, only with the letter "t" - "Veneti", was used in Roman cartography and documentation when it came to the inhabitants of the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea, where Venice is today. So, according to Roman science of that period, it was precisely its population that was venezed / veneti. They coexisted with the Cisalpine Gauls, Illyrians and Etruscans.
Some Roman writers believed that Venus was of Etruscan origin.
But linguists, having analyzed the surviving inscriptions, find common features with the Illyrian in the Venetian language.
As you can see, there are a lot of versions and not a single complete answer that could be proved.
What happened to these tribes, according to historians
Having dealt with what the Romans called the Wends and how they lived, it is worthwhile to find out what happened to these tribes.
It is believed that in the IV-V centuries. n e. he, regardless of where they lived and whose ancestors were, scattered across different lands, because of the beginning of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. They could not keep their mouths and assimilated with the local population, and therefore disappeared as a separate nation, but at the same time contributed to the enrichment of other cultures. But what kind of culture is this - there is still debate.
Entertaining facts
- For many, the etymology of the word "wends" is of interest. This name comes from the proto-Indo-European term "veins", which means "desire" and "love." So either the bearers of this name were initially extremely loving, or they were welcome for others if such a name was given to them by others.
- Another subject of controversy among scientists is the identification of venets and venues. Most agree that among the Romans these terms meant the same thing: Veneti, Venedi or Venethi.
- In the XIX century. some Russian historians did not share Wends and Vandals, believing that this is one ancient Slavic nation. By the way, they believed that it was her descendants who founded Venice.
- The king of Sweden, Gustav I, ranked Wends among his subjects.