Videvut, Bruten and Prussian Archeology of the Beginning of the Merovingian Era

Abstract

Starting from the 1st century AD various groups of Germans appeared on the Amber Coast in the hope of participating in the amber trade. This fact is restored according to the numerous archaeological realities of German origin, recorded in the funeral rite and the inventory of burials at the burial grounds of Sambia. In the Vth century AD, Vidivarias arrived at the southwestern border of the Estonian range. Finally, in the beginning of the VIth century, prestigious artifacts were found in the funeral antiquities of the Prussians, testifying to the appearance of leaders from the western coast of the Baltic on Sambia. This aspect echoes the information of Simon Grunau about the arrival of the legendary leaders Videvut and Bruten in Prussia. It is possible that the basis for this message was a real historical fact. The most important monument of Prussian folklore is a set of data on the legendary Prussian prince Videvut and his brother Bruten, known to us from the multivolume “Prussian Chronicle” of the monk Simon Grunau. For more than a century, European historical science believed that the text of the initial volume of the Chronicle by Simon Grunau, which tells about the life and work of the first Prussian princes, was completely created by the author and had no historical basis. Analysis of Prussian archeology data allows us to conclude that the real activities of military leaders, one of whom was called Videvut in Prussian legends, can be attributed to the middle of the Vth century. It is obvious that in the minds of the Prussian storytellers, who formed the source of the “Prussian Chronicle” that had not reached us, the images of Vidya/Videvut and Hama/Bruten from the Old English and Prussian legends merged into one and, in the end, appeared on the pages of the manuscript by Simon Grunau.

Keywords

• videvut
• bruten
• simon grunau
• vidivarii