Romuva or Romowe was a pagan

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

 worship place (a temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 or a sacred area) in western part of Sambia

Sambia

Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...

, one of the regions of the pagan Prussia. In contemporary sources the temple was mentioned only once by Peter von Dusburg in 1326. According to his account, Kriwe, the chief priest or "pagan pope", lived at Romuva and ruled over the religion of all the Balts

Balts

The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...

. According to Simon Grunau

Simon Grunau

Simon Grunau was the author of Preussische Chronik,Full title: Cronika und beschreibung allerlüstlichenn, nützlichsten und waaren historien des namkundigenn landes zu Prewssen or Chronicle and description of the most amusing, useful and true known history of the Prussian land the first...

 the temple was central to Prussian mythology

Prussian mythology

The Prussian mythology was a polytheistic religion of the Old Prussians, indigenous peoples of Prussia before the Prussian Crusade waged by the Teutonic Knights. It was closely related to other Baltic faiths, the Lithuanian and Latvian mythologies. Its myths and legends did not survive as Prussians...

. Even though there are considerable doubts whether such a place actually existed, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n neo-pagan movement Romuva

Romuva (church)

Romuva is a Baltic ethnic religious organization, reviving the religious practices of the Lithuanian people before their Christianization. Romuva is a folk religion community that claims to continue living Baltic pagan traditions which survived in folklore and customs.Romuva primarily exists in...

borrowed its name from the temple.

Historical accounts

According to Peter von Dusburg, the name Romuva is derived from the word Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. He further describes the Kriwe as a powerful priest who was held in high regard by the Prussians

Old Prussians

The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...

, Lithuanians

Lithuanians

Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...

, and Balts of Livonia

Livonia

Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...

. His messengers were recognized from a certain rod or other insignia. He guarded the sacred flame and could look into the destiny of the deceased followers. He received one third of any booty taken by pagan warriors. This early account was further enhanced by Simon Grunau

Simon Grunau

Simon Grunau was the author of Preussische Chronik,Full title: Cronika und beschreibung allerlüstlichenn, nützlichsten und waaren historien des namkundigenn landes zu Prewssen or Chronicle and description of the most amusing, useful and true known history of the Prussian land the first...

 in the 16th century. He described eternal sacred fire, an eternally green oak with idols representing pagan "trinity": Patrimpas (god of spring), Perkūnas

Perkunas

Perkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...

 (god of thunder) and Patulas (god of the underworld). The place was guarded by priests and vestales. Images appeared based on this description and became very popular with romantic historians

Romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

. Grunau also changed the name for the place to Rickoyoto (from Prussian rikijs - ruler and -ote - place name derivator) and invented the term Kriwe of Kriwes (Lithuanian: krivių krivaitis, Latvian

Latvian language

Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

: krīvu krīvs).

However, no other sources support such statements. The author suggests that pagan cult had hierarchy and internal organization, which is known not to be true. If the Kriwe was such an influential person he must have been mentioned in some political accounts of the region. The supposed location was never found either by the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

, who controlled the entire Nadruvia, or by modern archaeologists. Some details in the descriptions have similarities with other sources. For example, the Treaty of Christburg

Treaty of Christburg

The Treaty of Christburg was a peace treaty signed on February 2, 1249 between the pagan Prussian clans, represented by a papal legate, and the Teutonic Knights...

 prohibits converted Prussians from having Tulissones vel Ligaschones at the funerals to see into the journey of the deceased's soul. Another document by the Teutonic Knights speaks of the blûtekirl who collected a third of the booty from Samogitia

Samogitia

Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...

n warriors as an offering to the gods. It is known that there was an important pagan temple in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 at the site of the modern Vilnius Cathedral

Vilnius Cathedral

The Cathedral of Vilnius is the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania.It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off of Cathedral Square. It is the heart of Lithuania's Catholic spiritual life....

.

Interpretations

Since the concept of a "pagan pope" became very popular during the times of romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

 and very little is actually known about the temple, interpretations abound. S. C. Rowell suggests that Peter von Dusburg invented the place to make the Baltic religion appear like "counter-church". There are many similarities between Romuva and Christian church: in a place called after Rome lived a man treated as pope with his own messengers and insignia. It could have served several purposes: to demonstrate that pagans are so well organized that they have their own pope and pose a serious threat, to shame Christians to respect their own pope or to make pagan society easier to understand to a Christian reader.

Romuva might have been a sacred place, also known as alkas, which were common among Balts. Peter von Dusburg might have exaggerated its importance. There were attempts to link Kriwe with Lizdeika, a semi-legendary pagan priest and advisor to Grand Duke Gediminas. Marceli Kosman

Marceli Kosman

Marceli Kosman is a Polish historian. Professor of the University of Poznań.He finished high school in 1957. Then he studied at University of Poznań. He gained MBA at history in 1961 and PhD in 1966...

, modern Polish historian, called Lizdeika the last Kriwe. Vladimir Toporov argued that the Crooked Castle

Vilnius Castle Complex

The Vilnius Castle Complex , is a group of cultural, and historic structures on the left bank of the Neris River, near its confluence with the Vilnia River, in Vilnius, Lithuania. The buildings, which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, were one of Lithuania's major defensive...

 (castrum curvum) in Vilnius was really Kriwe Castle.

The word may be derived from the Baltic

Baltic languages

The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...

 root ram-/rām-, meaning 'calm, serene

Serene

Serene may refer to:*Serene , a telephone jointly developed by Samsung and Bang & Olufsen*Serene, Colorado, a company town in Colorado*Jaunjelgava or Serene, a city in Latvia*Serene, a heroine in Riviera: The Promised Land-See also:...

, quiet', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European *(e)remǝ-. The word Kriwe is derived from kreivas (crooked). It is believed that the term from a crooked stick (also known as Lithuanian: krivulė) that according to Peter von Dusburg was the most important symbol of his power.