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The House of Hemp and Butter: A History of Old Riga
Founded as an ecclesiastical center, trading hub, and intended capital of a feudal state, Riga was Old Livonia's greatest city and its indispensable port. Because the city was situated in what was initially remote and inhospitable territory, surrounded by pagans and coveted by regional powers like Poland, Sweden, and Muscovy, it was also a fortress encased by a wall.
The House of Hemp and Butter begins in the twelfth century with the arrival to the eastern Baltic of German priests, traders, and knights, who conquered and converted the indigenous tribes and assumed mastery over their lands. It ends in 1710 with an account of the greatest war Livonia had ever seen, one that was accompanied by mass starvation, a terrible epidemic, and a flood of nearly biblical proportions that devastated the city and left its survivors in misery.
Readers will learn about Riga's people—merchants and clerics, craftsmen and builders, porters and day laborers—about its structures and spaces, its internal conflicts and its unrelenting struggle to maintain its independence against outside threats. The House of Hemp and Butter is an indispensable guide to a quintessentially European city located in one of the continent's more remote corners.
The House of Hemp and Butter begins in the twelfth century with the arrival to the eastern Baltic of German priests, traders, and knights, who conquered and converted the indigenous tribes and assumed mastery over their lands. It ends in 1710 with an account of the greatest war Livonia had ever seen, one that was accompanied by mass starvation, a terrible epidemic, and a flood of nearly biblical proportions that devastated the city and left its survivors in misery.
Readers will learn about Riga's people—merchants and clerics, craftsmen and builders, porters and day laborers—about its structures and spaces, its internal conflicts and its unrelenting struggle to maintain its independence against outside threats. The House of Hemp and Butter is an indispensable guide to a quintessentially European city located in one of the continent's more remote corners.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
9 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 17, 2020
It's always nice to be the first to review a book here, especially if the book is really good. This one is really good!
If you've never been to Riga, I can violently suggest you go there. Or just the Baltics in general. But Riga is a wonderful town. This book covers the city's founding in the early 13th century up to 1710, a period during which I did not visit it, but still. You can feel the love here that O'Connor rightfully lets ooze onto the page, which makes the work even better. Books about cities are the closest thing to biographies of people. You have to let the story of the city live and breathe and even at such a remote distance, O'Connor succeeds. Everything is here you might want: Albert and the founding; William of Modena; the Northern Crusades; tantalizing but fleeting glimpses of pre-Christian pagan shit ('fleeting' not the author's fault, there just isn't much!); the Sword Brothers; the Great Northern War...Riga's encapsulates some of the most interesting bits of the European periphery's history, in some ways more interesting than the non-periphery.
If you've never been to Riga, I can violently suggest you go there. Or just the Baltics in general. But Riga is a wonderful town. This book covers the city's founding in the early 13th century up to 1710, a period during which I did not visit it, but still. You can feel the love here that O'Connor rightfully lets ooze onto the page, which makes the work even better. Books about cities are the closest thing to biographies of people. You have to let the story of the city live and breathe and even at such a remote distance, O'Connor succeeds. Everything is here you might want: Albert and the founding; William of Modena; the Northern Crusades; tantalizing but fleeting glimpses of pre-Christian pagan shit ('fleeting' not the author's fault, there just isn't much!); the Sword Brothers; the Great Northern War...Riga's encapsulates some of the most interesting bits of the European periphery's history, in some ways more interesting than the non-periphery.
August 23, 2021
This is the history of Riga from its founding in 1201 to its conquest by Czar Peter the Great in 1710. My knowledge of this period of history is weak and my knowledge of Riga was virtually non-existent. I had no idea how significant Riga was as an economic center during these centuries. I found this fascinating.
July 7, 2024
Dry, academic description of documented history of Riga from the beginning of time till 1710. Such a long time horizon didn’t allow any meaningful dramatisation of events or description of character development. The author made few attempts in both and in both failed miserably. The topic itself, unknown and yet close makes it worthy read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews