Language expertise in the Livonian Teutonic Order

The contribution discusses the knowledge of languages by members and officials of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. The topics of this paper are the presence and role of the (Old) Russian, and Livonian native languages in the Order. Russian was needed for diplomatic contacts with the Rus’ and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There were individual knights of the Order who were able to communicate in Russian. However, the Order mostly used hired interpreters and translators. They were of urban descent and had learned the language as young merchants. Some of them served the Order (the Master of the Order) for decades and received small holdings (a couple of peasant farms) as payment. In several cases the translators acted independently as diplomats and envoys. The Livonian Teutonic Order also needed special staff for communication with the natives. As indicated in the sixteenth-century sources, the Teutonic manors had interpreters among their staff. The intermediators could be members of Livonian local German nobility, and of the native (“undeutsch”) descent as well. The interpreters at a Teutonic castle belonged to the lower group of functionaries and became remunerated, for example, with a tavern or mill. The quality of the translations can be traced in the case of the communication with the Rus’, and it is in many cases remarkably low. All in all, the practical multilingual communication of the Teutonic Order in Livonia functioned seemingly quite well