Balthasar Russow
Balthasar Russow (1536–1600) was a Livonian chronicler and Lutheran pastor, born in Reval, now Tallinn. Educated in Pomerania, he served from 1566 until his death as pastor of the Estonian congregation at the Holy Spirit Church in Reval.
He is famous for his Low German Chronica der Provinz Lyfflandt, which relates the decline of the Livonian Order and the Livonian War of 1558–1583. First printed at Rostock in 1578, the work denounces the immorality of the Livonian nobility and the superstitions of Estonian peasants, while praising Swedish rule.