Hanulas (Riga merchant)¶

Summary¶

Hanulas, a Riga merchant of Vilnius, led the townspeople who took the castle for Jogaila on 12 Jun 1382 and became first elder of Vilnius (1382-87); in the saga he is Henė’s first mask.

Hanulas (Riga merchant)


Type	character
Years	c. 1340–1418
Status	Historical record
Note	Riga merchant who led the townspeople in taking Vilnius castle for Jogaila on 12 Jun 1382; Jogaila’s deputy (first elder) in Vilnius 1382-87; died in Kraków c. 1417-18 (en.wikipedia, VLE). Saga: Henė’s first mask (1380-82).

Appearance & tells¶

A prosperous burgher in good German furs, ink-stained fingers and a merchant’s ring; a pleasant, forgettable face. People remember the voice, which sounds like their own. In Book I ch. 5 Jogaila carries silver that is “Hanulas’s promises, smelling of Western power and the new gods” and never once sees the Riga merchant and the jester Henė in one room. In Book VI ch. 27 the Shadow-Seller’s ledger lists him as a Riga silver-trader, “owing a little; still free”.

Want · Need · Lie · Truth¶


Want (external)	The Shadow-Seller’s mask: to open the gate for Jogaila and to place Riga and Order silver where it will do most harm.
Need (internal)	For the real man (Hanul): to be a respected burgher; for the mask: to find a customer.
Lie they believe	That a merchant can trade without being owned.
Truth they learn (or refuse)	That every coin he gives is warm and every gift carries a thread (the golden chain, Book I ch. 9).

Arc by book¶

Book VI (c. 1375): a name in the Shadow-Seller’s ledger as a Riga silver-trader still free (ch. 27).
Book I (1382): takes the Vilnius castle with the townspeople and hands castle and city to Jogaila on 12 June while Kęstutis is away (ch. 1, 2); his Riga-made golden chain is the “gift” that kills Kęstutis (“Hanulas said it was worthy of your honour”, ch. 9); his silver reaches Jogaila (ch. 5).
Book II (1387): Hanulo “wagon-man” is whispered to be the jester Henė’s origin (ch. 1).
Book V: the chain-line is repeated in Žygimantas’s Krėva night, again on the lips of the hired killers (ch. 19).

Power & magic¶

Not a mortal practitioner: he is a mask of a Force, a shard of Velnias, outside the tier ladder (Shadow-Seller / Henė). As Hanulas he never casts; he trades. Every coin he hands over is warm. He carries the golden chain, Riga-made, which holds the Breath of the Void. He is a real man, possessed 1380-82, who never remembers it, because the historical Hanul keeps acting after 1382.

Record vs saga¶

[Historical record]: Hanul of Riga (Hennecke, Hannike): took the castle and handed castle and city to Jogaila; Jogaila’s deputy in Vilnius 1382-87; took part in the missions before the Act of Krėva; died in Kraków c. 1417-18.
[The saga’s invention]: Henė’s possession of him 1380-82; the sack of Riga silver is only a rumour in Book I.

Pronunciation¶

HA-nu-las (/ˈɣaːnʊɫɐs/), English respelling HAH-noo-lahs; stress on the first syllable. Also written Hannike, Hennecke or Hanco in the German sources.

Appearances¶

Book I: ch. 1, 2, 5, 9. Book II: ch. 1. Book V: ch. 19. Book VI: ch. 27. The jester Henė is his second coat from Book I ch. 5 onward; the merchant is not shown again.

Relations

Mask of: Šešėlių Pardavėjas / Henė (1380–1382)

Took part in: Hanulas and the townsfolk take Vilnius for Jogaila

Timeline¶

Year	Event	Book
1382-06-12	Hanulas and the townsfolk take Vilnius for Jogaila	I · The Wolf’s Exile

Connections¶

graph LR
  ev_vilnius_retaken["Hanulas and the townsfolk take Vilnius for Jogaila"]
  hanulas["Hanulas (Riga merchant)"]
  shadow_seller["Šešėlių Pardavėjas / Henė"]
  hanulas -->|Mask of| shadow_seller
  hanulas -->|Took part in| ev_vilnius_retaken
  style hanulas stroke-width:3px