Barbara von Tisenhusen : Liivinmaalainen tarina by Aino Kallas
"Barbara von Tisenhusen : Liivinmaalainen tarina" by Aino Kallas is a historical novella written in the early 20th century. Cast as a 16th-century Livonian chronicle, it follows the noblewoman Barbara von Tisenhusen and the lower-born clerk Franz Bonnius, whose forbidden love collides with rigid class laws and family honor. Told by a pastor-narrator, it probes passion, piety, and the cruelty of patriarchal pride in a sumptuous yet decaying society. The opening of
the novella adopts the voice of Pastor Matthaeus Jeremias Friesner, who recounts Barbara’s upbringing as an orphan at Rõngu amid Livonia’s opulence and moral laxity. A humiliating moment in Tallinn—after she is paraded in a gold dress—sparks her rejection of vanity and sympathy for the local peasantry; she even condemns a brutal bear-baiting. When the new clerk Franz Bonnius arrives, an immediate attachment forms, and Barbara resolves to marry him despite the Pärnu pact forbidding such misalliances. Her family refuses consent, the lovers flee toward Riga, and Barbara is captured near Sigulda and tried by her kinsmen, where she defiantly acknowledges her bond and shields Franz. The excerpt closes with her brothers taking her onto the frozen Lake Võrtsjärv as an ice hole is cut, while the pastor, forced to attend, prepares her for death. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Kallas, Aino, 1878-1956 |
|---|---|
| Title | Barbara von Tisenhusen : Liivinmaalainen tarina |
| Original Publication | Helsinki: Otava, 1923, reprint 1995. |
| Credits | Tuula Temonen |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 34.0 (College-level). Difficult to read. |
| Language | Finnish |
| LoC Class | PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures |
| Subject | Historical fiction |
| Subject | Estonia -- History -- 16th century -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 76581 |
| Release Date | Jul 28, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 287 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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