Russia and the Baltic 1494–1558

Slavic Review ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Esper

Historians have customarily treated two major periods of Russia's commercial relations with Western Europe (defined as Western Christendom) in the pre-Petrine period: (1) until 1494, the year in which Ivan III closed the Hanseatic establishment in Novgorod and which is generally viewed as the end of Hanseatic dominance in the Russian trade; and (2) from 1553, when the English first sailed around the North Cape to establish regular commercial relations with Russia via the northern route, or from 1558, when Ivan IV conquered the Baltic port of Narva (he then maintained direct trade with Western merchants there until he lost that port to the Swedes in 1581).

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 141-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. W. Beusen ◽  
O. Klepper ◽  
C. R. Meinardi

A model is described that aims at predicting surface water quality from N- and P-inputs on a European scale. The model combines a GIS-based approach to estimate loads, geohydrological data to define model structure and statistical techniques to estimate parameter values. The model starts with an inventory of sources of N and P: agriculture, wastewater and (for N) atmospheric deposition. Nitrogen flows are assumed to follow both surface- and groundwater flows, while for phosphorus only surface water flow is taken into account. A calibration of loss terms of N and P (assumed to be constants for the whole of Europe) by comparing total inputs to measured loads shows good agreement between observations and calculated river discharges. For the coastal seas of Europe concentrations are calculated by assuming conservative behaviour of N and P. Freshwater quality problems occur in western Europe with its intensive agriculture and high population density and locally in southern Europe where dilution is low due to low water discharge. In the marine environment the main problem areas are the Baltic and Black seas, with much lower impacts in the North and Adriatic Sea; in other coastal waters human impacts are essentially negligible.


AmS-Skrifter ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 133-143
Author(s):  
Aoife Daly

The precise dating and determination of the source of timbers in shipwrecks found around the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, through dendrochronology allows us to see connections between north and  south, east and west throughout the region and to a high chronological precision. In this paper we take a look at results of recent analyses of timber from ships, and timber and barrel cargoes, to try to draw a chronological picture, from the twelfth to seventeenth centuries, of links between regions, through transport in oak ships and trade of timber. Archaeological finds of oak from timber cargos in shipwrecks and fine art objects (painted panels and sculpture) show the extent to which timber was shipped from Hanseatic towns along the southern Baltic coast, to western and north-western Europe.


1905 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enid Routh

When Charles II. announced his impending marriage with Catharine of Portugal, the inclusion of Tangier in the Princess's dowry was the most popular clause of the marriage treaty.English hopes ran even higher round the little African port than over the companion gift of Bombay, for Tangier, situated almost on the north-west point of Morocco, lay in the direct trade route from the Levant to Western Europe. The English Consul at Lisbon pointed out that it might from its position become a magazine for all the Levant, a port which would be used by the Spanish West India fleet homeward bound to Seville or Cadiz, in order to avoid the high duties imposed by the Crown of Spain in its own ports—valuable asset this in case of war with Holland, Spain, or France.


Traditio ◽  
1946 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 408-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Selmer

No Irish-born Saint played a role in continental Europe's folklore and literature comparable to that of St. Brendan, the Navigator (484–c. 577). To judge by the frequency and provenance of the earliest manuscripts, the Vita and Navigatio, the two written sources which deal with his life and exploits, the legend was best known in France and Bretagne, Lorraine and Southern Germany. For obvious reasons, the German Low Countries, particularly the shores of the Baltic Sea and the adjacent territories to the north and northwest, were less susceptible to any such distant literary or religious influence. If it is a surprise to find St. Brendan taking so strong a foothold in Southern Germany, far enough removed from his native Kerry, how much more astonishing is it to note traces of his legend evident even in Northern Germany and Prussia proper, an area which only in late medieval centuries began to enter the literary orbit of Western Europe. This area is the one-hundred-mile stretch between the former Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Stralsund, comprising chiefly Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania, along the shores of the Baltic.


1918 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 354-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry H. Howorth

Some years ago I was allowed to publish in the Geological Magazine some papers on the recent geological history of the Baltic, in which I tried to bring before English readers the very important discoveries of the Northern geologists as affecting the general geology of the north-west of Europe and to extend their deductions. I was obliged to interrupt them for other work. Perhaps you will allow me to continue them some steps further, as we had reached a stage of some interest.


Author(s):  
Eduard Koster

In this chapter a short overview of the evolution, geomorphological expression, sedimentary records, and discharge and sediment regimes of the major rivers in western Europe is presented. The rivers Elbe, Weser, Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, Seine, Loire, Garonne, Rhône, and Danube will be separately reviewed but not necessarily in this order and not with equal attention. Emphasis is placed on the Quaternary record and most issues are exemplified by a discussion on phenomena and processes in the Rhine–Meuse delta. As almost all these rivers are strongly influenced by man’s activities, attention is also focused on river management practices, both in a historic context and at present. Finally, modern concepts and plans concerning river conservation and rehabilitation are briefly examined. The foundations of the modern drainage system in north-western Europe were laid in the Miocene when earth movements associated with Alpine orogenesis and the opening of the North Atlantic were at their height (Gibbard 1988). During the Late Tertiary–Early Quaternary the North Sea basin was dominated by an extensive fluvial system that drained the Fennoscandian and Baltic shield through the present Baltic Sea (Overeem et al. 2001; Fig. 6.2). The dimensions of this (former) drainage system were enormous; through empirical relationships based on recent fluvio-deltaic systems the drainage area is estimated to have been in the order of 1.1 × 106 km2. Cenozoic marine and fluvial sediments reach a thickness of more than 3,500 m in the North Sea basin. Quaternary sediments with a thickness of over 1,000 m imply a tenfold increase in sedimentation during this period in comparison to the Tertiary infilling. The fluvial system of Miocene to Middle Pleistocene age has been referred to as the Baltic River system (Bijlsma 1981). It is also designated as the Eridanos delta system by Overeem et al. (2001) named after the legendary Eridanos river in northern Europe mentioned in Greek records (7th century BC). In a seismo-stratigraphic study Overeem et al. (2001) have documented the large-scale basin-fill architecture in terms of external forcing by tectonics, sea-level variations, and climate. The development of this drainage system is attributed to the simultaneous Neogene uplift of the Fennoscandian Shield and the accelerated subsidence of the North Sea basin.


1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Börje Forssell

After a brief overview of Loran-C system operation and performance, the present situation of the system in Europe is described. Loran-C is now in operation under the NELS agreement in north-western Europe in newly established chain configurations with old and new transmitter positions. Parallel to Loran-C the Russian equivalent, Chayka, is also operating, with three chains in Europe. There is an agreement between Norway and Russia concerning cooperation and possibly joint chain operations between the two system providers in the north; similar agreements in the Baltic and Mediterranean/Black Sea areas are being worked on. The situation around the Iberian peninsula has not yet been clarified. Being the only long/medium-range terrestrial system in Europe in the 2000+ time frame, Loran-C could be seen as a supplement to satellite systems. Due to the good penetration properties of its low-frequency signals, it can be used in many circumstances where satellite systems fail because of limited satellite visibility. Integration of Loran-C and (differential) satellite receivers, where Loran-C is calibrated by the satellite system as long as there are enough visible satellites, could in fact give the best of both worlds. For this reason, Loran-C is being considered in the perspective of a future international, civil satellite navigation system, initiated in Europe.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-202
Author(s):  
Florin Anghel

The economic expression of the Romanian-Polish military and political alliance undoubtedly had to be represented by the rebirth of the Baltic-Pontic commercial road, as the flow of products coming into and towards the Polish space had been artificially directed, during the 19th century, as a result of understandable political and economic interests, towards the North and the Adriatic Seas, instead of the Baltic and Black Seas. A Polish commercial road towards the Balkans obviously comprised economic, financial and strategic components. One of them referred to building an alternative to the continental routes dominated by Germany (Rhine, Main, Danube); the aim was chiefly to break a dangerous monopoly in the region of Central Europe and the Baltic area. Foreign commerce on the two relations did not enjoy, in any period between the two world wars, a spectacular evolution and never reached an important point. The arguments are based on strictly economic and financial elements: 1. Romania and Poland produced largely the same type of merchandise: there were basically similar raw materials (cereal, coal, oil), the products had a very low degree of processing, and one could earn more and more assuredly with the export type-products on traditional markets (mainly Western Europe); 2. Even if there was a great interest in a partner or a product on the other market, the transport thereof took a very long time. Between Warsaw and Bucharest there was a simple, inefficient and unsafe railroad; there was no preoccupation in the ’20s for the revamping or modernizing of the transport and service infrastructure (telephone, telegraph, post) between the two states; 3. Last, but not least, although the two states had a great number of inhabitants – and, thus, an extremely important potential for buying and consumption – the potential was strongly handicapped by the standard of living. The scanty Polish projects and investments on the Baltic – Black Sea axis have completed – and have not influenced – the general frame of Romanian – Polish relations, essentially based on political, diplomatic and military interests.


Author(s):  
Chris Scarre

Western Europe has relatively few figurines of Neolithic or Chalcolithic date by comparison with the large numbers known from Southeast Europe and Southwest Asia. Human figurines (mainly of fired clay) are, however, found in Bandkeramik contexts from Central Europe to the North Sea, with others in eastern France. The scarcity of human figurines from areas such as Britain illustrates the diversity of cultural and symbolic practice that privileged human representations in some areas but not others. In the Baltic region, a separate figurine tradition drawing probably on Late Palaeolithic or Mesolithic origins persisted into the Neolithic. It is, however, the Iberian peninsula that stands apart from other regions of western Europe for the abundance and diversity of its human figurines, most of them of Late Neolithic or Chalcolithic date (mid-fourth to late third millennium bc). They include carved schist plaques and ‘eye-idols’ of bone and other materials. The florescence of Iberian figurine production is associated with the emergence of societies on the verge of complexity, characterized by craft specialization and long-distance exchange.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
Evgenia Sergeevna Tkach

The following paper presents analysis of the Corded Ware cultures materials in the North-West Russia. The investigation involved materials from 4 archaeological settlements and finds (stone battle-axes) from the Pskov region. The main attention is focused on three principal categories of the Corded Ware cultures artifacts: pottery with cord ornamentation, triangular arrowheads, and stone-battle axes. The paper gives a complex description of ceramic: technology of making pottery, morphology and ornamentation. Stone battle-axes were considered in the context of all Corded Ware cultures materials in the presented region for the first time. Comparison of these materials with other artifacts of the Corded Ware cultures, as well as using methods of relative and absolute chronology, made it possible to trace new directions of the cultural contacts at the beginning of the III millennium BC. The result of these migrations and/or cultural influences from the territory of south-western Europe is the spread of cord impressions on ceramic vessels, emergence of new shapes of pottery and new types of stone battle-axes. The further development is associated with the influence of the Baltic Coast culture. It was the key to the formation of the North-Belarusian culture, which existed in the presented region from the second half of the III millennium BC and is included to the circle of the Corded Ware cultures.


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