The Scalovians also known as the Skalvians, Schalwen and Schalmen, were a Baltic tribe

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...

 related to 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...

. According to the Chronicon terrae Prussiae

Chronicon terrae Prussiae

Chronicon terrae Prussiae is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 years after the conquest of the crusaders into the Baltic region...

of Peter of Dusburg

Peter of Dusburg

Peter of Dusburg , also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the Chronicon terrae Prussiae, which described the 13th and early 14th century Teutonic Knights and Old Prussians in Prussia.Peter's dates of birth and death are...

, the now extinct Scalovians inhabited the land of Scalovia

Scalovia

Scalovia was the area originally inhabited by the now extinct Baltic tribe of Skalvians or Scalovians which according to the Chronicon terrae Prussiae of Peter of Dusburg lived to the south of the Curonians, by the lower Memel river, in the times around 1240.The centre of Scalovia was supposed...

 south of the Curonians

Curonians

The Curonians or Kurs were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic sea in what are now the western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic tribes. They gave their name to the region of Courland , and they spoke the Old...

 and 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...

ns, by the lower Neman River

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

 ca. 1240.

Geography

This region is located at both sides of the river Memel

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

 north of Nadruvians

Nadruvians

The Nadruvians were one of the now-extinct Prussian clans. They lived in Nadruvia , a large territory in northernmost Prussia...

 and south of 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...

. In the North-East it stretched to rivers Šešupė, Ežeruona and Jūra

Jura

-Mountains:*Jura mountains, on the French-Swiss-German border, the namesake of the Jurassic period of geology*Franconian Jura, a mountain range in southeastern Germany*Bernese Jura, a region in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland...

. In the East it bordered on Sudovia

Yotvingians

Yotvingians or Sudovians were a Baltic people with close cultural ties to the Lithuanians and Prussians...

, in the North-West on river Minija

Minija

Minija is a river in western Lithuania and a tributary to Nemunas. It begins from small Lake Didovas, and hidrografically from lake Sydeklis, 14 km south of Telšiai...

, in the West on the Curonian Lagoon

Curonian Lagoon

The Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is . The Neman River supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of about 100,450 square kilometers in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast.-Human history:In the 13th century, the area around...

 and in the South-West on river Gilija

Nemunas Delta

Nemunas Delta is the Lithuanian name for the Neman River Delta, in Lithuania.When it reaches the Baltic Sea, the Neman splits into a maze of river branches and canals, forming polders and wetlands that make it a very attractive destination for eco-tourism. The four main distributaries are Atmata,...

. The center were the towns of Rusnė

Rusne

Rusnė is a town in Šilutė district, Lithuania, located on the Rusnė Island in the Nemunas Delta, 9 km south-west from Šilutė.Rusnė was first mentioned in historical sources in 14th century. In 1419 the first church was built in Rusnė, and in 1553 a Lithuanian parish school was established...

, Ragainė

Neman (town)

Neman is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the historic Prussia region, east of the town of Sovetsk, on the steep southern bank of the Neman River, where it currently forms the border with the Klaipėda Region in...

 and Tilžė

Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast

Sovetsk , known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: -History of Tilsit:...

.

Name

The meaning is uncertain: skalwa "splinter (living split off)" or skalauti "between waters."
According to Prussian

Prussia (region)

Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...

 legends, the tribe's name is derived from one of the sons of King Waidewuto named Schalauo.

History

The inhabitants can be traced back to burial grounds with cremated remains and occasional graves of horses. Judging from the diggings, Scalovians are assumed to have been related to other Western Balts such as Curonians and more distantly to Prussians. Typical Scalovian sepulchral relics are found in Strewa, Skomanten, Jurgaiten, Nikeln, Paulaiten, Wilku Kampas, Weszaiten, Greyszönen, Lompönen and Wittgirren.

The center of Scalovia was the castle of Ragnit. Peter von Dusburg told about a wooden castle which could not be conquered by force or starvation because the inhabitants of the stronghold had put in an artificial lake, stocked with fish. The conquerors had to burn down the castle.

In 1276-1277 Scalovia was subjugated 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...

. In the chronicles of the Knights were mentioned the nobles Sarecka (Sareikā), Surbantas, Svirdotas and Surdota. In 1281 Jondele Schalwithe got the first "Landesprivileg," and in 1289 the castle of order Ragnit was built. Between 1281 and 1383 privileges were made out: 1338 in Pleikischken near Plaschken, 1312 and 1333 near Sasavo in the region between Laugßargen and Tauragė

Taurage

Tauragė is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2011, its population was 26,444. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast, and not far from the Baltic Sea coast....

, 1307 in Sintine near Tilsit, 1307 Gigen (near present-day Pagėgiai

Pagegiai

Pagėgiai is a city in the south western Lithuania. It is located in the region of the former prussian tribe of Skalvians. It is the capital of Pagėgiai municipality, and as such it is part of Tauragė County.-Name:...

), 1309 Linkone, 1350 Linkonen (Linkuhnen) as well as Weinoten near Tilsit, Tusseinen near Ragnit and Linkuhnen. Lithuanian immigrants were Sipe (1339) and the brothers Pogins and Skirgaila (1359). In 1411 a campaign of the 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...

ns under their leader Rumbaudas against the castles of Ragnit, Tilsit and Splitter is testified.

The last mention of the Scalovians was between 1542 (inhabitants of the castle of Ragnit) and 1563 (inhabitants of Splitter).

Literature

• Balys, Jonas: Grundzüge der Kleinlitauischen Volksdichtung, in Tolkemita-Texte „Lieder aus Schalauen“ Nr.53, Dieburg 1997
• Eckert, Rainer/ Bukevičiute, Elvire-Julia/ Hinze, Friedhelm: Die baltischen Sprachen, eine Einführung, Langenscheidt 1994, 5. Auflage 1998
• Lepa, Gerhard (Hrsg): Die Schalauer, Die Stämme der Prußen, Tolkemita-Texte 52, Dieburg 1997
• Matulaitis, K.A.: Die Schalauer des Altertums, Tauto praeitis II, 2, 1965, in Tolkemita Texte, Dieburg 1997
• Salemke, Gerhard: Lagepläne der Wallburganlagen von der ehemaligen Provinz Ostpreußen, Gütersloh, 2005
• Salys, Anatanas: Schalauen, Lietuviu Enciklopedija, 1962, Boston, Band 27, S. 536-541, aus dem Litauischen in Tolkemita-Texte 52, Dieburg 1997
• Salys, Anton: Die zemaitischen Mundarten, Teil 1: Geschichte des zemaitischen Sprachgebiets Tauta ir Zodis, Bd-VI Kaunas 1930 (= Diss.Leipzig 1930)
• Tettau, v.: Volkssagen Ostpreußens, Litthauens und Westpreußens, Berlin 1837, S.10
• Trautmann, Reinhold: Über die sprachliche Stellung der Schalwen. Streitberg Festgabe Leipzig 1924, S.355 ff