WRITTEN SOURCES ABOUT EXECUTIONS OF PRISONERS IN POTESTARY SOCIETIES OF THE VOLGA REGION AND THE BALTIC STATES OF THE END OF THE XII - THE MIDDLE OF THE XIII CENTURIES

Abstract

The article describes in detail the customs of ritual execution of captured enemies of the Aests, Livs and the «Mordvans» described by written sources. Specific forms of execution are compared with the customs of neighboring peoples, fabulous European folklore and customs of tribal collectives. The parallels in the description of ritual practices by various written sources are explained on the basis of the modern archaeological and textual discoveries, theoretical developments, and reconstructions. Some written testimonies have been found to match the archaeological material. Literary and folklore traditions, which could influence the description of «alien» people by chroniclers, are revealed. Semantic similarity of executions through burning and chopping is noted. Such methods of destruction of the body were associated with the fear that the deceased could take revenge on the killer, if the appropriate measures are not taken. Analyzed similarities of such reprisals with the execution-re-actualization of cosmogony. The influence of external conditions on the formation of local ritual traditions is noted. The pressure of world religions contributed to the contrast between new and old phenomena. Because of this contrast, reprisals could take on particularly bizarre forms. For an outside observer, they were even more unusual. Medieval authors did not always understand the meaning of the actions they observed. And their description to a considerable degree should have been influenced by the prejudices and stereotypes inherent to the narrator.