Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens

DARIUS IVOŠKA Institute of the Lithuanian Language ORCID id: orcid.org/0000-0003-3898-0000 Research areas: Historical onomastics, Baltic-Slavic-German language contacts. DOI: doi.org/10.35321/all88-01 SOCIAL STATUS AND IDENTIFICATION OF WOMEN IN PRUSSIA IN THE 14TH–16TH CENTURIES ON THE BASIS OF DOCUMENTS OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER The social status of Prussian women and their identification in 14th–16th-century documents of the Teutonic Order ANNOTATION The naming and identification of women in historical sources, particularly in the medieval chancery documents of the Teutonic Order and the early modern period, constitute a phenomenon that requires research from the standpoint of many academic disciplines. The topic is not only an object of research in onomastics, but also concerns general linguistics, history, sociology, anthropology, and other fields. This article attempts to examine the issue from two perspectives. On the one hand, it is interesting whether women in historical documents can be identified through their names, where these happen to have been recorded; on the other hand, the question arises of how their social status correlates with the naming and/or identification of women. KEYWORDS: mention of women’s (names), naming of women, Middle Ages, social status. Straipsniai / Articles 11 DARIUS IVOŠKA ANNOTATION The naming and identification of women in historical sources, especially in the chancery documents of the Teutonic Order (hereafter – DO) of the Middle Ages and the early modern period, constitutes a phenomenon that is in need of research from the point of view of many academic disciplines. The topic is not only the subject of research in onomastics, but also concerns general linguistics, history, sociology, anthropology and others. In the present paper, it is attempted to approach this topic in two ways. On the one hand, it is interesting to see whether the women in the historical documents are identifiable by their possibly recorded names; on the other hand, the question arises as to how their social status and the naming or identification of women correlate. KEYWORDS: mention of women’s (names), naming of women, Middle Ages, social state. I. INTRODUCTION The subject of this investigation is the particular nature of women and the mention of their names as indicators of their social status in the historical documents of the Teutonic Order (DO). For pragmatic reasons, however, the investigation was not restricted to sources from the period of the Order, but also included a source from the period of the early Duchy of Prussia. On the empirical material and its sources For the investigation, handwritten and printed historical documents of the DO and those from the early ducal period of Prussia were deliberately selected. There is no need here for a special explanation of the reasons why the documents of the Order and ducal chanceries written in German and Latin were chosen, or of the role they play in onomastic research, because the early historiography of Prussia and Lithuania, as well as the languages in which the relevant materials were written, have already been discussed several times (Blažienė 2017: 63; Ivoška 2016: 209; 2019: 98–99; 2020: 133–135). The main corpus of the sources studied consists of the privileges of the DO issued at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries. They are predominantly handwritten handfestes, written in German and Latin, brief entries in financial registers, notes concerning impoverished residents of the city of Königsberg in the registers of the Order’s chancery, as well as the 12 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens entries concerning taxable inhabitants of the eastern part of the Duchy of Prussia in the Türkensteuer registers1. The character and purpose of the documents mentioned above indicate, even without special analysis, that they contain much information about the inhabitants of Prussia, their relations with one another and with the administration of the Order, and their residential and occupational circumstances. Such diverse bodies of information are of interest and importance for research in numerous fields. The purpose The title of the contribution already reveals that it will not essentially concern women’s names, but rather mentions of women and the resulting frequency of female-name mentions in the late Middle Ages and shortly thereafter. The author of the article arrived at the idea of viewing the historical-onomastic material from such a perspective after an extensive analysis of the extralinguistic context in which it occurs. Historical names themselves, their frequency of occurrence, variation, adaptation to the paradigms of a foreign language, and so forth are meaningful phenomena. There are, however, many cases in which a person is mentioned several times in historical documents, each time designated by different appellatives (probably partly for purposes of identification), but not named. It is precisely such phenomena that prompt an alternative research project, separating itself from the core of onomastic research. The aim of this article is to provide a critical overview and analysis of mentions of women as indicators of their social status in Prussia in the 14th–16th centuries. 1The description of the sources follows in the chapter “Mentions of women and women’s names in the documents of the Teutonic Order and the Duchy of Prussia in the 14th–16th century.” Straipsniai / Articles 13 DARIUS IVOŠKA II. MENTIONS OF WOMEN AND WOMEN’S NAMES IN THE DOCUMENTS OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER AND THE DUCHY OF PRUSSIA IN THE 14TH–16TH CENTURY With the intention of investigating chronologically the issue of mentions of women’s names as indicators of their social role, the oldest sources from the 14th century were selected first, followed by later ones from the 15th and 16th centuries. 1. ORDENSFOLIANTEN NOS. 105, 107 The earliest mentions of women or women’s names are considered to be the cases documented in the privileges of the DO. These concern Ordensfolianten Nos. 105 and 107 (hereafter – OF). Both folios are essentially collections of privileges. OF 105 also contains documents of a different character, such as internal and external descriptions of the borders of the Order’s state, treaties or agreements between the DO and the bishops of Samland and Ermland, etc. What is much more useful for onomastic research and was added to OF 105 is called the Hochmeisterregister. The handfestes (privileges) themselves are the best research objects for onomasticians, because they contain not only place names and personal names, but also provide a very valuable context with extensive additional data. In this way, relationships between the beneficiaries also emerge, such as kinship relations, which have been particularly useful for this investigation. It cannot be said in any way that mentions of women in OF 105 and 107 are numerous. In OF 105 there are at most two documented cases. The first mention concerns a very abbreviated handfeste, on the basis of which the marshal of the DO, Ruther von Elner, in 1373 granted 6 Hoken of land to the brothers Pიმenen, Wisselgin and their nephew at Lekeniken² (OF 105 106ᵛ, see Fig. 1) ² Löcknicken, Gerdauen district (Gerullis 1922: 87). 14 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens Figure 1, OF 105 106ᵛ The nephew is designated as fwest[er] Jon of Pიმenen and Wisselgin; his name is not mentioned, nor is his mother’s. The names of male persons are recorded in such documents almost always, with the exception of those of underage successors and heirs. It can therefore be concluded that the family of the sister of the two brothers had had no male, adult head of household. Since the nephew fulfilled at least one requirement of a future heir—he was male—he entered the handfeste as a beneficiary directly after his uncles. His mother was mentioned only to indicate the kinship between the uncles and the nephew for identification purposes. The woman, as a subject without hereditary rights, was not named, although she may have had to fulfill the role of head of household. OF 105 also contains an exceptional case in which a woman is mentioned and her name is documented as well. The document, dated 1392, was inserted for unclear reasons between the preceding document dated 1262 and the following one dated 1286, which are of an entirely different kind. Erfame froze Gerdrud, together with Irem Jone Wernher, promised to burn an eternal lamp in a Königsberg hospital on the day of Saint Gertrude zcu burnen (OF 105 29ʳ–29ᵛ, see Fig. 2) Figure 2, OF 105 29ʳ–29ᵛ The name of the honored woman is mentioned in this case because she was the direct contact person in the agreement with the alderman of the city of Königsberg. It is one of the earliest mentions of a woman’s name in the documents of the DO. No further mentions of women or their names are found in OF 105. Straipsniai / Articles 15 DARIUS IVOŠKA Another Ordensfoliant covering approximately the same period, namely OF 107, also preserves several pieces of evidence concerning women. First, it concerns a craftsman’s wife mentioned in 1396, who is listed together with her husband as a beneficiary, but whose name is absent. The craftsman’s family is said to have lived in Samland at Girmow³ and to have received 20 morgens of arable land from the Samland Vogt Johan von Lorich (OF 107 301ᵛ, see Fig. 3) Figure 3, OF 107 301ᵛ The name of the craftsman, Hermann, is the only documented name of all the beneficiaries. The names of the woman and the other heirs are not given. Particularly striking here is the fact that the wife is mentioned at all, and directly after the principal beneficiary—her husband. Usually, the handfestes mention only male heirs and descendants, of whom only those who were present at the issuing of the privilege and the act of granting it were recorded, e.g., in 1339 Item dedimꝰ fidelibus noſtriß nirwex et filio fratriß sui furtheyken none uncoß in campo Girdewitigen⁴ [...] (OF 105 240ʳ). In this excerpt it is apparent that no one besides the principal grantee was entered in the text of the handfeste. The mention of legitimate heirs and descendants belonging to the usual handfeste formula is also omitted. A genuine example of a typical handfeste in terms of naming the grantees would be 1376 [...] mit willen unſir metege b ite g[er] vorlien vn̄ gebin unſi[r]n getruwen Jacob Smalken vn̄ wiſſekant den brud[er]n vnd ſine rechten erben vn̄ nochkomelingen drie hacke czu gauladin⁵ [...] (OF 105 68ᵛ). The starkly male line of beneficiaries and descendants is very clear; the names of secondary heirs may be mentioned or omitted alike. Women are mentioned in such documents only exceptionally. ³ Germau, Fischhausen district, Germau parish (Blažienė 2000: 41). ⁴ Gerteniken, in Samland (PUB III 234), incorrectly read by Gerullis (1922: 40) as Girdenithigen. ⁵ Gaul ed en, Wehlau district (Blažienė 2005: 60). 16 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens OF 107 contains another peculiar entry, recorded in 1388, according to which [...] Bruder Johan von Lorich Voyt czu Samland haben gegeb[e]n Martyn eine frouwe czu Slakalaux6 with two Hoken of arable land lying there, and they did this because the woman was poor and destitute and the land would have become desolate, and no service would have been rendered to us from it, and they gave him two Hoken according to the same right as her handfeste states, which is issued concerning this property [...] (OF 107 183v, see Fig. 4). Figure 4, OF 107 183v Despite the woman’s poverty and distress, at that time she was the sole owner of the property and all rights connected with it. This, however, was no reason to state the former owner’s name when all ownership rights were granted to Mertyn. It must be emphasized that not only the property, but the woman herself also came under the possession of Mertyns after the granting of the handfeste. This is a plausible record of the social status of women around the end of the Middle Ages. The last sparse entries of the Order’s chancery in OF 107 concern a widow who was entered in a short register around 1400 and, together with her son, was designated as the owner of two Hufen of land for which she had no handfeste document (OF 107 1r, see Fig. 5) Figure 5, OF 107 1r 6 Schlakalken, Fischhausen district, St. Lorenz parish (Blazienė 2000: 144). Straipsniai / Articles 17 DARIUS IVOŠKA In view of this, it was planned to issue the handfeste text, with a title-like note Kyne wytwe mit Irem Jone (OF 107 3ᵛ, see Fig. 6), but the folio remained blank. Figure 6, OF 107 3ᵛ This case is extraordinary because the designation Ibidem Kyne evne wittewe mit Ire[m] Jone (OF 107 1ʳ) seems to contain the name Kyne, as may also be judged from the information provided by Reinhold Trautmann (1925: 45). Among other mentions of the name Kynne, the author also listed the supposed female name Kyne, but omitted any comments on its possible gender-specific use. Volens nolens, the question arises here whether Kyne is a male or female name. The question seems never to have been asked or addressed before. The only remarks and hints at its feminine nature are provided by the editor and publisher of the “Marienburger Tresslerbuch der Jahre 1399–1409,” Dr. Erich Joachim, and by the editor of the “Kontenführungsbuchs der Elenden Bruderschaft von Königsberg-Löbenicht (1477–1523),” Dieter Heckmann. On the basis of Joachim’s entries in the personal-name and place-name index of the Tresslerbuch—Judekynne = Jüdin (MTB 619)—there is no doubt that he regards both words as synonyms. See also Kuwerkynnen = Kurinnen, Curonian women (MTB 624). It appears that -kynne is regarded as a suffix or an independent morpheme supposed to carry the meaning ‘woman’. This also becomes clear later from many further mentions of women. Heckmann (2000: 25) clearly regards -kynne as a “foreign-language suffix,” which, according to him, “should have been used in women’s names, such as Prewschkynne or Lyttawekynne instead of Prewssche and Lyttawesche.” These remarks are highly accurate, as can also be confirmed by excerpts from the Tresslerbuch entries, such as 1407 frauwen Mackynnen Surwillen mumen (MTB 434). This is indeed credible, but it raises certain questions in connection with the entries in the “Scriptоres Rerum Prussicarum” (hereafter – SRP). 18 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens The chronicle of Wigand of Marburg also reports, among other things, a guide (female guide?) named Kynne: 1386 [...] Bunse, Rexa, Matryco, Kynne und Darge wellin fürem von Mislo czü Susükendorf [...] (SRP II 668–669), 1386 [...] an der Wisle czwe mile obinwendig Ragnit dy wege gancz os, als sy Eykint und syn bruder, Mase, Skotz, Bunse, Kynne, Darge, Rexa, Mateiko und Paül habin lasin zeichեն [...] (SRP II 671), 1393 [...] Desin weg haben gegangen Preiwus, des conturs dyner czu Ragnit, Zanda und Kinnen von der Balge, Claus, Wirsemund und Lailicke von Ragnit [...] (SRP II 673), 1394 [...] Zanda und Kinne vs deme cmirampt czu Synthen im gebite Balge haben dese wege gegangn in dem xciiij jare ken Weduckeln [...] (SRP II 678), Can one therefore assume that among the many men who showed the Order’s brothers the routes from Prussia to Lithuania, there was also a woman? This is hardly possible, because mentions of women in the documents of the DO always contained certain designations indicating their sex7. Whether, however, it is possible that a man bore a name whose appellative meaning was supposed to rest on ‘woman, wife’ is a question that still must be answered. 2. MARIENBURGER TRESSLERBUCH OF THE YEARS 1399–1409 AND THE GREAT RENT BOOK OF THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS 1414–1438 Another source that provides relatively numerous mentions of women is the “Marienburger Tresslerbuch der Jahre 1399–1409” (hereafter – MTB). This is the printed version of Ordensfoliant No. 140—one of the few collections of financial documents of the DO preserved to the present day. In the register of the DO’s income and expenditures, women are mentioned more frequently than before: In 1400 die frauwe zu Tzippelynsdorff im gebite zu Osterrode [...] mit iren kyndern gave the DO 15 marks (MTB 45). In 1403 Kunne Pauwil Ruszen wyp 7References to social or family status, as in the cases Kyne eyne wittewe mit Ire[m] /one (OF 107 1r), deß metc3eners hawß3ffraw (OF 89K 19v), der frauwen Mackynnen Surwillen mumen (MTB 434), and others, accompany almost all mentions of women in the medieval documents of the DO. Straipsniai / Articles 19 DARIUS IVOŠKA to Danczk8 paid 7 marks to the DO (MTB 207). As financial assistance (hulfe), 3 marks were given in 1405 der frowen Russynne zu Rszecz9 (MTB 367). In 1407 Marthan eyner frauwen von Sameland was given 1 mark (MTB 434). Furthermore, in 1408 and 1409 den Kuwewerkynnen zur Memel10 were paid 1/2 and 1/4 mark for delivered food products (MTB 487, 548). Six marks were also given eyner erbaren frauwen von Czhedelin (Dirsow)11 in 1408 (MTB 467). Another entry concerning eyner Judekynne mit 3 kindern sowie eyner frauwen, dy dem meyster lylyen brochte records a payment of ¼ mark, also in 1409. A further note concerning 4 marks paid to a frauwen adir wittewen zu Kellyonen12 also dates from 1409 (MTB 540). In the period of only nine years, nine mentions of women are documented, in which only two women’s names are given: Kune, wife of a Rus named Paul (1403), and a woman from Samland named Martha (1407). The manner in which women are identified is noteworthy. The tendency is still observed to designate a woman differently from a man for purposes of identification. In every individual case, direct reference is made to sex or to sex-marking attributes—a woman, a wife, an honorable woman, a Judekynne, a Russynne13, a widow, and so forth. If one were speaking of a typical mention of a man in the DO’s financial documents, the name (sometimes also an occupational designation, social status, etc.) would suffice: 1409 Item Hannos von Czechlaw im gebyte zu Slochow14 (MTB 518), 1409 Item her Jakub Bruwer (MTB 525), 1409 Item 10 m her Johannes Tuर्नиц dem pfarer zu Montaw15 (MTB 538). When it concerns a woman, however, in addition to the direct gender marker, reference to her relation to a man, family circumstances, origin, nationality, etc. is necessary: Kunne Pauwil Ruszen wyp, frauwen adir wittewen zu Kellyonen, erbaren frauwen Frau von Czhedelin, der frowen Russynne zu 8 Danzig, city, Poland. 9 Recz? Kuyavia-Pomerania Voivodeship, Poland. 10 Memel city, Lithuania. 11 Siodłonie, Stolp district, Pomeranian Voivodeship. 12 Unknown locality. 13 Regardless of the difficulties in interpreting Kynne or -kynne in the broad sense, it is certain that constructions of the form ethnonym + kynne always represent a feminine nationality designation. 14 Schlochow, district in Poland. 15 Mątowy Mate, Elbląg Voivodeship, Miłoradz municipality (Blažienė 2005: 368). 20 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens Rszecz. The period of nine years is too short to draw precise conclusions about the increasing frequency of mentions of women’s names. The only case of mentions of women in “The Great Rent Book of the Teutonic Order 1414–1438”16 (hereafter – GZB) must also be cited—1419 [...] Krusekyne czinset 1 m. [...] (OF 131 211). In the register of those liable to pay rent, which consists of more than 300 pages, only one mention of a woman is found. This must indicate that only in exceptional cases could a woman be the person responsible for and bearing responsibility for property. 3. THE ACCOUNT BOOK OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE POOR OF KÖNIGSBERG-LÖBENICHT (1477–1523) One of the best sources for investigating mentions of women and women’s names is OF 89k17, also known as “The Account Book of the Brotherhood of the Poor of Königsberg–Löbenicht (1477–1523),” a work edited by Dieter Heckmann and published in print in 2000. In this archival source, women and mentions of their names are no longer an exception or rarity, but the opposite. This may not necessarily be connected with a rapid change in favor of mentions of women resulting from changes in their social status or role in society, but rather with the character and purpose of the register. It is not concerned here with rights, duties, or responsibilities in the broad sense, but with a social group—persons suffering from life-threatening deprivation. Certain tendencies can be observed in the naming of women in OF 89k. 16 Also known as OF 131. 17 The archival source held in the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz (hereafter – GStA PK), shelfmark: GStA PK, XX. HA, OF, No. 89k. Straipsniai / Articles 21 DARIUS IVOŠKA 3.1. A woman’s name is given, followed by a determinant that embodies a certain affiliation with a man: 3.1.1. 18 Around 1477–1484 Anna [chaberß (OF 89k 1ᵛ) = Anna, Schaber’s wife. Schaber may probably be regarded at the end of the 15th century as the husband’s family name, which must have been based on the occupational appellative Schaber ‘scraping tool, scraper’. The fact that in such a case reference is made not to the husband’s family name but to his occupation is also entirely credible. Other cases of naming testify to this, such as around 1477–1484 Cecilia, Jons hawßfrawe (OF 89k 7ʳ), around 1477–1484 Anna, Peter Beckersche (OF 89k 2ᵛ), and others. 3.1.2. Around 1477–1484 Anna scholtijßche (OF 89k 1ᵛ) = Anna, Schultz’s wife. From other cases documented in OF 89k, one can conclude that the two-name designation of a woman, in which the second element displays formation with the suffix –(i)sche, points more likely to a personal name than to an occupation: 1490 Margarithe Schulers and 1491 Margarithe Schulersche (OF 89k 21ʳ, 22ᵛ) 3.1.3. Around 1477–1484 Lucia, deß metçgeners hawßffraw (OF 89k 19ᵛ) 18 Short excerpts from OF 85k (in the text, cases 3.2.1 to 3.3.4), which serve to illustrate entries, are not regarded as figures; therefore, they contain no numbering or titles. Each excerpt is followed by a transcription of the text contained in the excerpt. 22 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens = Lucia, Metzeners housewife. The husband’s name could be traced back to the appellative Metze ‘an old unit of measurement of varying size, especially for grain’. Furthermore, this mention must also be interpreted like those discussed above. 3.2. Women’s names are still not mentioned: 3.2.1. Around 1477–1484 [...] Hans Jomptretrir cu[m] ux[ore] [...] (OF 89k 15r) 3.2.2. Around 1477–1484 [...] Iorghe Grunaw cu[m] ux[ore] [...] (OF 89k 17r) 3.2.3. Around 1477–1484 [...] Iacob Krawle cu[m] ux[ore] [...] (OF 89k 17r) All entries containing the formulation cum uxore (Latin: with the wife), except one – around 1477–1484 [...] Hennrich Kruger cum uxore Girtrude [...] (OF 89K 15r), do not provide women’s names. 3.3. The woman’s nationality is used as an identifying determinant: 3.3.1. Around 1477–1484 Grythe preußkynne (OF 89k 13r) 3.3.2. Around 1477–1484 Katerina taterkynne (OF 89k 18r) Straipsniai / Articles 23 DARIUS IVOŠKA 3.3.3. 1478 Marthe reʒkynne (OF 89k 21r) 3.3.4. Around 1477–1484 Katherina Lyttawekynne (OF 89k 18r) The woman-naming construction – a given name as component 1 and an ethnonym + suff. -(k)ynne as component 2 – is a very interesting case. Here, the second component can hardly be considered a personal name, but only a means of identifying a person – Grytte, a Prussian woman or Prussian, Katherina, a Tatar woman or Tatar, Marthe, a Russian woman or Russian, Katherine, a Lithuanian woman or Lithuanian. It follows that in many cases this generally involves two-part woman-naming, but may, for example, Anna ſchaberß, Anna ſcholt[i]ſche and Katherina Lyttawekynne or Marthe reʒkynne be equated? It is also noteworthy that no difference can be observed in the naming of German women and women of other nationalities: around 1477–1484 [...] Kriſtina Irregangeſche [...] (OF 89k 18r); [...] Margəritthe Heydenreichß [...] (OF 89k 22r); [...] Margəritthe Tydekyɳne [...] (OF 89k 22v). 4. DIE TÜRKENSTEUER IM HERZOGTUM PREUSSEN 154019 The last source, covering the 16th century, is the so-called “Turkish Tax” register. It was selected with the intention of determining possible changes in the tradition of naming women at the transition from the Roman Catholic Order State to the secular state, where Protestantism gradually displaced Catholicism. However, the results reveal no new developments in the naming of women. The same possessive 19 For this study, the printed version published by Hans Heinz Diehlmann in 2006 was used. 24 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens The same means of identification is still observed in 1540 [...] Anna, des Dargus Myscheken tochter [...] (Diehlmann 2006: 79), [...] Dyalte Wagersche [...] (ibid.: 126), [...] Katherina ist bey Matz Kurschinne, hot keyn vihe, sall derwegen 3 β geben [...] (ibid.: 128). Classical naming with the given name followed by a description of social status or kinship relations was also predominantly the case in 1540 [...] Patzschullin ein arme witwe, erlassen [...] (ibid.: 229). III. CONCLUSION The status of women established in medieval society and continuing thereafter did not allow them to possess any rights to property or to make decisions about important events in their lives. On the one hand, this may have been one of the main reasons why women and their names were rarely mentioned in the privileges and similar documents of the DO. On the other hand, the circumstances of the Order State, its administration and chancellery must also be taken into account. Perceptions of the world and of gender roles in an existence shaped by Christian-Catholic doctrines also influenced the conduct of DO officials toward women. It seems that they were neglected wherever and to whatever extent this had been possible. The reasons for and frequency of mentions may also have been partly related to the purpose or character of the documents in question. Women are mentioned relatively more frequently in the accounting documents of the 15th century, where women themselves had participated in fulfilling certain obligations (the presentation of certain gifts, payment of debts, delivery of agricultural products, etc.). The privileges, however, constitute the opposite: even beyond the 16th century, they remained concerned with the affairs of heads of families – men. SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Blažienė Grasılda 2000: The Baltic Place Names in Sambia (= Hydronymia Europaea, Special Volume II), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. Blažienė Grasılda 2005: Baltic Place Names in East Prussia (= Hydronymia Europaea, Special Volume III), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. Straipsniai / Articles 25 DARIUS IVOŠKA Blažienė Grasilda 2017: Old Prussian proper names as a source of Old Prussian lexis. – Incontri Baltistici in Pisa. Studi e saggi, Pisa: Joker, 63–85. Diehlmann Hans Heinz 2006: The Turkish Tax in the Duchy of Prussia 1540/2, Memel – Tilsit, Hamburg: Verein für Familienforschung in Ostund Westpreußen. Diehlmann Hans Heinz 2008: The Turkish Tax in the Duchy of Prussia 1540/3, Ragnit – Insterburg – Georgenburg and Saalau, Hamburg: Verein für Familienforschung in Ostund Westpreußen. Gerullis Georg 1922: The Old Prussian Place Names, Berlin, Leipzig: Vereinigung wissenschaftlicher Verleger Walter de Gruyter & Co. GZB – The Great Rent Book of the Teutonic Order (1414–138), ed. P. G. Thielen, Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag, 1958. Heckmann Dieter 2000: The Account Book of the Brotherhood of the Poor of Königsberg – Löbenicht (1477–1523), Cologne, Weimar, Vienna: Böhlau Verlag. Ivoška Darius 2016: Remarks on the problem of Baltic place names west of the Vistula. – Acta Linguistica Lituanica 74, 208–225. Ivoška Darius 2019: Lithuanian historical personal names in the Marienburg Tressler Book of the Years 1399–1409. – Acta Linguistica Lituanica 81, 97–109. Ivoška Darius 2020: On the question of the Baltic proper names of the Ragnit and Tilsit area in the Order documents of the 14th–15th centuries. – Acta Linguistica Lituanica 83, 132–150. MTB – The Marienburg Tressler Book of the Years 1399–1409, ed. Archivrat Dr. Joachim, Königsberg in Prussia: Verlag von Thomas & Oppermann, 1898. OF – Order Folios from the Secret State Archives “Prussian Cultural Heritage” (in the text – OF 105, OF 107, OF 89k). PUB III – Prussian Book of Documents, vol. 3, issue 1: 1335–1341, published on behalf of the Historical Commission for East and West Prussian Regional Research, ed. M. Hein, Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag, 1944. SRP II – Scriptores Rerum Prussicarum, Historical Sources of the Prussian Past up to the Decline of the Order’s Rule, vol. 2, ed. T. Hirsch, Dr. M. Töppen, Dr. E. Strehlke, Leipzig: Verlag von S. Hirzel, 1863. Trautmann Reinhold 1925: The Old Prussian Personal Names, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 26 Acta Linguistica LXXXVII Sozialer Stand und Identifizierung von Frauen im Preußen des 14.–16. Jhs. aufgrund der Dokumente des Deutschen Ordens The Social Status and Identification of Women in Prussia in the 14th–16th Centuries in the Documents of the Teutonic Order SUMMARY The naming and identification of women in historical sources from the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, especially in the chancellery documents of the Teutonic Order, is a phenomenon of interest to more than one field of scholarship. The article examines not only the naming of women by name but also the relationship between a name and a woman’s status during the period under study. The empirical material selected makes it possible to observe the dynamics of the issue in question clearly and consistently. It was observed that no fundamental changes in the naming or identification of women occurred during the 14th–16th centuries. As the chronological study showed, women’s names as the principal means of identifying them were relatively rare, especially compared with mentions of men’s names. More frequent mentions of women’s names in certain documents do not indicate a change in the trend over time; rather, they depend on the circumstances of the mentions and the purpose of the documents. It was observed that women’s names are mentioned more often in financial documents, especially those recording obligations and debts, than in privileges or acts of payment and donation. In general, women are mentioned in documents when they are the sole defendants, or when their names help to identify men in descriptive references, for example, in 1373, when land was granted to the nephew of the brothers Pimenен and Wisselginbei, he is identified as the son of their sister ƒwest[er] Jon von Pimenен und Wisselgin OF 105 106v. The analyzed material allows the conclusion that women, like men, are mentioned when their responsibility is conditionally the same as that of men, for example, a widow managing property belonging to her, or the mother of a minor (male) heir, and the like. In other cases, men were the principal parties to transactions or defendants, and therefore they alone are named in these documents. It should also be borne in mind that women’s social role in medieval society and the Catholic Church’s attitude toward women at the time also contributed to the relatively restrained mention of women in historical documents. Submitted on 22 May 2023. DARIUS IVOŠKA Institute of the Lithuanian Language 5 Petro Vileišio St., LT–10308 Vilnius, Lithuania [email protected] Straipsniai / Articles 27