Mati Laur, Tdnis Lukas, Ain Vliiesalu,

Ago Pajur; Tdnu Tannberg

HISTORY OF ESTONIA
I The Ancient Times
 9

1. The Beginningof EstonianHistory:

Origins of the Ancient Times
T
It is estimatedthat humanshave lived in Estonia have been preservedfrom thesepeople or their
for nine and a halfthousand years. activities, as the return of the ice removed all
Considering the history of mankind (which tracgsof their existence.
spansroughly 2.5,mi11ionyears), it is a relatively T\
short period of time. Why then did the very first -l-levelopment of the Estonian landscape.
settlers arrive so late in Estonia? The reason for The Ice Age shapedthe Estonian landscapeto a
this was that this country was a part of northern considerableextent. Glacier sheetsone to two
Europe hit by the Ice Age. kilometres thick carried massesof sand, gravel
and clay in them, uncovered the limestone
T
I. he Ice Age. The Ice Age was caused by banks in northern and westernEstonia,polished
global climate changes. The universal cooling the rocks they had taken with them from the
can be explainedby various reasons:the weaken- mountainsand depositedthem later asboulders.
ing ofthe sun's radiation, changesin the location As the ice melted, lakes and deep river valleys,
ofthe Earth's magneticpoles, cosmic dust, atmo- south-eastemEstonian hills and central Esto-
spheric changes'andother natural phenomena. nian drumlins developed.
As the climate becamecooler, huge layers of One can feel the indirect influence of the ice
ice and snow accumulatedon the mountains. As age even today. Under the weight of the heavy
it gradually thickened, the layers startedto slide ice load the surfaceofthe earth sunk and, after
down to the surrounding plains. The ice that ac- the ice receded,the surfacegradually beganris-
cumulated on Estonian territory came from ing once again. In norlh-west Estonia the
mountains in Scandinavia. From here the gla- ground hasrisen by alreadysometen metresand
ciers moved even further inland bnd during the the process continues even today - by a few
most severeperiod the seemingly endlesssheet millimetres eachyear.Becauseof the rise, Esto-
of ice reachedcentral Germanv and evento areas nian territory has gradually increasedat the ex-
near Kiev. pense of the Baltic Sea.
The first accumulationof ice beganover a mil- The level of the Baltic Sea has also shifted
lion years ago and the retreat of ice from Esto- severaltimes within the last ten thousandyears;
nian territory happenedas lare as | 1,000-I 3,000 at times it rose and flooded huge territories,
yearsago.However,the Ice Age should not be re- while later the level ebbed again. All this oc-
garded as a uniform period. There were four or curred due to the rise of the earth's crust in
five cold periods or onsetsofice that alternated Scandinavia and the sinking on the southem
with warmer intermediateperiods. Some geolo- coast of the Baltic Sea and its connection with
gists believe Ihat at the presentwe are also living the ocean.
in an ice-free interval, and the return ofthe ice As the ice retreated,the Estonian mainland
could start in perhapsten thousandyears. was considerably smaller than today. The enor-
Howeveg during the ice retreats,human could mous Baltic ice sheet covered a great part of
have also arrived in Estonian territory. This is westernEstonia and the islands,while Vdrtsjiirv
quite probable since in the last ice-free interval, and Lake Peipsi formed one largebody of water.
about 120,000-130,000years ago, the climate The climate was severe,too. Reindeer, arctic
here was warmer than now and favourable for hu- foxes and rabbits wandered around in the plain
man habitation in every way. However, no traces landscapewhere vegetationcharacteristicof the
I0 fne Beginning of Estonian History: Origins of the Ancient Times

The retreatoficefrom Estonia began:a) about 13,000-11,000BC; b) about 8500BC.

fundra startedto g?ow. Encounterswith a mam- mer settlements, fortified settlements, burial
moth or a woolly rhinoceros were also possible. mounds, sacrificial grounds, helds, and places
From time to time groups of hunters could have where metal was worked, as well as tools and
come here by chance in pursuit of reindeer, but utensils, arms and ornamentsmade in the An-
no firm traces of them have been found. How- cient Times. All these - either immovable or
ever, such stopping places are known in neigh- loose are called antiquities. This contrasts
bouring regions - in Lithuania, Latvia and the with later periods,where written sourcebecome
Russiandistrict of Pskov. the primary tool of research.
Before 8,000 BC the waters of the Baltic ice
T)
lake broke through to the ocean in central Swe- L\-esearching the Ancient Times. The An-
den to the north of the Billingen mountains. As a cient Times are studied by archaeologistswho
result of this, the level of the Baltic Seadropped carryzout archaeological excavations. Science
20-30 metres. Estonian territory increasedby a and natural history alsoprovide important infor-
remarkableextent. mation for archaeologists.The amount of radio-
In the eighth millennium BC the climate in active carbon (carbon 14) in chaned timber can
Estonia becameconsiderablywarner. Birch and be measuredand, on the basis of this, the age of
pine forests appeared,elks, bears, beavers and the wood can be calculated.This method, called
other animals of the forest belt settled here. The radiocarbondating, doesnot give the exact date,
first known human settlement in Estonia also but a rough interval of +/- 25 years or more. At
datesfrom this period. the same time the age of some end-pieces of
logs can be calculated to the precision of one
A year. Also there is the dendrochronological
6.ncient Times. The oeriodfrom the ar-rivalof
the first inhabitantsto the loss ofancient freedom scale,which calculatesthe changesin the thick-
at the beginning of the thirteenth century AD is ness ofthe annual rings oftree growth. For ex-
called the Ancient Times. This majority of the ample, in Estonia this scale goes back to the
period can be studied primarily due to the re- eleventhcentury AD. By comparing the rings of
mains of human activities. Amone them are for- erowth of the trees from the excavationswith
 The Beginning of Estonian History: Origins of the Ancient Times ll

this scale,it is possible to find out the exact time on by oral tradition over generations.
East Sla_
of its growth and cutting. vonic chronicles mention some eventsthat took
Zoologists identi$z to which speciesthe exca- place in the last centuriesof the Ancient Times.
vated bonesbelong, and botanistsexamine from Among westerr and northern Europeanchroni_
which plants and trees the seedsor pollen found cles where entries on Estonia are rare, the
came. Chronicle of Henry of Livonia is the richest in
Anthropologists study the skeletonsobtained information. Although the Chronicle mainly de_
from burial places and identify the race, gender, scribesthe adoptionof Chnstianityby thepeo_
age and sometimes even the illnesses suffered, ple of Estonia and Latvia and its struggles, it
nutritional condition, and others. Numismatists also provides valuable data on the sociaforder,
examine the coins discovered among treasures intemal relations, fortified settlements"everv_
and from excavations. They identify the place day Iife and religionof the Estonians.
and time the coins were minted, as well as trade
relations by the composition of the treasures D
I eriodisationof the Ancient Times.The An_
found. Sometimes silver coins can reflect quite
cient Times cover a period of more than eishr
interesting details. For example, it was common
and a half thousandyearsin Estonianhisrory,
practice in the Ancient Times to examine by bit-
from the middle of the eighth millennium Bb
ing to see if the silver was genuine. Thus, by
until the end of the Ancient Fight for Freedom
carefully studying the tooth marks on the coins, it
in the first quarter of the thirteenth century AD.
is possible to identify in how many transactions
The HistoricatTimes havelastedfor only a lit-
the silver coin had been used.
tle longerthansevenand a halfcenturies,from
In all, representativesfrom many branches of the year 1227
untll today. Thus, the Ancienl
sciencecan contribute to the dating, identification Times make up the predominant parl of the en-
and study ofmaterials obtainedfrom archaeoloei- tire history of Estonia.
cal excavations'.In writing a survey of Estonilan During these centuries, significant changes
prehistory all ofthe above are used. In addition, took placeinpeople's
ways of life, of which can
the analysesofethnology, or the study offolk life be divided into distinct
periods. Archaeologists
are also considered,as.many of the buildings, distinguish between
the Stone Age, Bronze
artefacts,customs, method of work and others Age and Iron Age,
which in turn are divided
rvith roots in the Ancient Times have been ore- into sub-periods.
The periodisation is based on
served.Folklore that often depictsold traditionsis the primary materials
usedfor making tools and
also worth using. Even language can provide es- aftefacts.
i€ntial information on the Ancient Times. The The Palaeolithic Era or Early Stone Age
datafrom comparativeIinguisticson the develop- started with
the beginning of mankind and
ment of relatedlanguages,the etlmology of loan- ended with
the end of the Ice Age in northern
sords in the Estonian language and others gives Europe.
There is no evidence of human settle_
an estimationof earlier migration routesby tribes ment in Estonia
from that period.
and peoples,as well astheir contactswith peoples Duringthe Mesolithic Era or Middle Stone
trom other linguistic families. Age, which lastedfrom the first half of the ninth
Written sources of both close and distant millennium BC until the
end of the sixth millen_
neighboursgive some evidenceof Estonia in the nium BC in Estonia, tools
and artefacts were
-{ncient Times. Somehistorianshaveareuedthat made of stone,horn
and bone.
Estoniansare among the peoples livinj outside Thesetools of stone,horn andbone were still
the bordersof the Roman Empire who were men- used in the Neolithic
Era or Late Stone Ase
tioned by Roman historians and geographers. (from the first half otthe
fifth millenniumBt
Scandinavianand Icelandic sagasprovide more until the middle of the second
millennium BC).
reliable data on the ancestorsof Estonians.Al- However.at this time such lools were cralted
though they were written down only in the thir- better and new improved
tools came into use as
tcenth century AD, they depict the events of well. Potteryappeared
as a necessaryinnova-
ser.eralearlier centuries,the descriptionspassed tion at the beginning
of the Neolirhici'eriod.
12 fne Beginning of Estonian History: Origins of the Ancient Times

In the Bronze Age (from the middle of the man Iron Age (from the first to the middle of
second millennium until the fifth century BC) the fifth century AD); Middle Iron Age (sec-
bronze objects spreadto Estonia. As copper and ond half of the fifth century to the end of the
tin, componentsofbronze, are not found in Esto- sixth century) and Late Iron Age (from the
nia, stone and bone objects remained dominant ninth to the early thirteenth century AD).
aside from individually imported bronze tools. Attempts have also been made to periodise
The Iron Age is divided into four sub-periods the Ancient Times by otherprinciples, using so-
according to object types, burial customs and cial and economic relations, family structures
changesin lifestyle: Pre-Roman Iron Age (from and so forth.
the fifth century BC to the first century AD), Ro-

Periodisation of Estonian History (by percentages).

BronzeAge, Iron Age,

9%, .r55%,
about1000years about 1700 years

HistoricalAge,
7%,
about770years
NeolithicEra,
32%,
about3500years

MesolithicEra,
36.5%,
about4000years
 13

2. StoneAge
-t

Settlements of the Mesolithic Era. ln 1961in

the village of Pulli near the Pdrnu River, geolo-
gists discoveredunder a three-metre stratum of
sand and clay a thin dark vein containing pieces
of coal and animal bones. The Pulli settlement,
with remajns of an ancient settlement from the
first half of the ninth millennium BC, is the
oldest known human settlementin Estonia.
Before Pulli was discovered,the Lammasmigi
settlement in Kunda was thought to be the oldest.
The first inhabitants settledthere in the secondhalf
of the eighth millennium BC. At the time,
Lammasmdgi was a small island in the shallow
Lake Kunda. Many objects have been found in ar-
chaeological excavations of the settlement, espe-
cially from the bottomolthe former lake.
Today severalother settlementsas old as Kunda
or slightly more recent are known. The finds are
very similar to those from the Lammasmiigi settle-
ment.All the Mesolithic,settlements in Estoniabe-
long to the so-called Kunda culture. Kunda
culture was spread in all countries.on the eastern
coastof the Baltic Sea,from southemFinlandto Flint objectsfound in Pulli
the mouth of the Vistula in Poland. (arrowheads, as well as scraping,
The people of Kunda culture set up their settle- cutting and shearing tools)
ments near bodies of water, where they could
catch fish and hunt animals thirsty for water.
Lakes and rivers offered better opportunities forwell as wood, although wooden objects have
navelling than thick and barely permeable forests.
not been preservedto this day.
Although fireplaces have been found at the Among minerals, flint was used most of all.
settlements' excavations,no remains of dwell- After splitting the mineral, the sharp edges of
ings havebeendiscoveredyet. The people proba- flint can be used for cutting. As flint was quite
bly lived in conical tents consisting of some rare in Estonia, pieces of quartz were com-
covering over a frame of poles. The covering was monly usedas well.
madeof branches,skins, bark, and in wintertime, In the Mesolithic Era relatively small tools
rurf. In the middle ofthe tent therewas a fireplace
only a few centimetres long - were used to
surrounded by stones that provided light and abrade fat from animal skins, to smooth the sur-
n'armth during the dark season,as well as fire for
face ofbone and wooden objects, and so forth.
cooking. Hom and bone were worked and cut with carv-
T ing tools Ihat had strong protruding knobs.
I ools and ways of life. The tools usedby Stone Small sharp chips of stone were fastened to a
-\ge men were made of stone,bone and horn, as groove hollowed into the edge of the bone tool
14 StoneAge

with a special lute. Arrowheads were also

chipped out of flint.
Crystallite minerals, which were worked by
polishing, were used for making bigger tools.
They were not yet common in the Mesolithic
Age. The stoneaxesof thosetimeswere of irreg-
ular shapeand uneven surface,as only the blade
was polished.The axesdid not have an eye,asthe
blades were fixed to the wooden handles simply
with straps.Smaller axesor wedges were some-
times made with an axe-headmade of horn. A
hole was hollowed to one end of a thick horn for
the end of the wedge, and an eyewas bored to the
otherend for the handle.
The peopleof Kunda culture mostly usedbone
and horn for making various tools. They made
special carefully polished fishing spearsthat had
protruding barbs on one side. Strong ice picks
madeof long boneswere usedfor making holes in
the ice, giving evidencethat ice fishing was prac-
tised.In the secondhalf of the Mesolithic Era, fish
was also caughtwith fishhooksmade of bone, as Toolsnnde of bone and horn
well aswith primitive nets.Harpoonsthat had big- used by Kunda culture.
ger and stronger barbs were used for hunting
aquatic animals,most importantly sealsand bea-
vefs.
H u n t i n g w i l d a n i m a l sw a s i m p o r t a nat sw e l l .
The bones found from the settlementsindicate
that elks were caught most often (two-thirds of
all bones found in Kunda), though the amount of
beaverswas also quite big. Aurochs,bears,wild
boars and goat were game of less significance.
Dog bones found from both Kunda and Pulli in-
dicate that dogs were hunters' friends.

(Jrisin of the earliest inhabitants. There is

no satlsfactory answer as of yet to where the
original home ofthe people ofthe Kunda culture
was. Current theoriessuggestthey came from the
south. Some of the objects found in the Pulli set-
tlement are made of high-quality black flint, a
material not found in Estonia. Deposits of that
tlpe of flint are found in southemLithuanian and
Belarus. The Pulli people may not have origi-
nated from there, but it was likely that they
brought that type of flint with them while they
passedthrough the area.Anthropological analy-
sis of skeletons from a Kunda culture burial
mound in Latvia indicatesa Caucasian origin
A wedge in a horn axe head.
 S r r - , i i r - 1 . gI -.{

r)f most of the inhabitants,which also supports evenly worked. Several types of cars'firllr
the theory of their southern origin. However, polishedaxesand wedgesmade of cr-vsralline
thcseancientpeoplecannotbe linked to any con- mineralswere widespread.
lcmporaryEuropeannation. The burial customs of the comb-potten
Linguists show that some common words in people are also better understood.The dead
Estonian are not characteristic of either were now buried within the settlement,some-
Finno-Ugric or Indo-Europeanlanguages.It is times evenunderthe floor of the dwelling. The
thought that words like "meri" (sea), "miigi" dead were buried with some knives, scrapers
thill), "haug" (pike), "rddbis" (whitefish)."eile" and ornaments amuletsmade of animal fangs
tvesterday), "habi" (shame), "must" (black), andtusks,figuresmadeof bone,and alsoamber,
"sugu" (gender,kin) and others come from the probably for use in their "next life." In the set-
languageof so-called Proto-Europeanswho in- tlement of Tamula,a burial site was discovered
habited Europe before the lndo-Europeans- to with a boy holding the bonesof a crane'swings
u'hich the people of the Kunda culture could have in his handsalongsideotherobjectsin the grave.
belonged.According to ceftain data,the first rep- The finds indicatenot only a developedreli-
resentativesof Finno-Ugric tribes arrived here gion but also high artistic achievement.Small
.rlsoduringtheMesolithicAge. Somesuggestthat figuresof animals,birds, snakesand men, used
the entire Kunda culture belongedto Firmo-Ugric as omaments, were carved lrom bone and am-
tribes, but there is no firm evidence supporting ber.At the sametime, it is likely that the people
that hlpothesis. However, the first inhabitantsof believedthe figurespossessed magicalqualities
Estoniawere cerlainly one componentin the long and protected their owners, maybe even grant-
.levelopmentof the local population. ing the strengthsand abilities of such animals
.I' and birds.
I h eb e g i n n i n go t t h e N e o l i t h i cE r a .T h eu s eo l T
)ottery marked the beginning of the Early Stone I he spread and origins of comb-pottery
\ge (or Neolithic Era, spanningthe first half of culture. Antiquities from comb-pottery culture
:he fifth millennium to the middle of the second are found throughout the eastem coast of the
:rillemium BC). The first earthenwarewas made Baltic Sea, from northern Finland to eastem
,1'thickclay mixed with pebbles,shellsor even Prussia,as well as areaseast of Estonia.Con-
rlants.The shapeof thevesselsresembledbigket- tactswere frequent among different regions.For
:.r's with pointed bottoms, which were kept up- example, amber from the south-eastemcoast of
:'ruht by digging a hole into the earlh or by the Baltic Sea is found everywhere.even in the
'uround the basewith stones.It is not clear,how-
:r er, from where pottery skills came to Estonia.

Lomb-pottery culture. Aroundthe beginning

i the fourth miiiennium BC (or around 2500
:3C),a type of more elaborateearlhenwarear:rived
:r Estonia. Their outer surfaceswere decorated
,rth dimples and rows of small indentations.
: :'om such decorations the culture is called
comb-pottery culture. Most archaeologists asso-
.rretheemergence of comb-pottery culrurewith
.: arival of new tribes to Estonianterritory.
The new arrivals were hunters and fishermen,
.e the peopleof Kunda culture.However,their
.,,ills in making tools and utensils were much
rrreadvanced.Flint objectswere sharpenednot
:rlv at the edges, but their surface was also Potteryfrom comb-pottery alture
16 StoneAge

comb-pottery settlements in northem Finland. amygadaloid eyes, resembling those of

Tools made of slate from the Russian region of Finno-Ugrians living in Siberia.
Ladoga and Finland, as well as tools made of The spread of comb-pottery culture in ap-
flint from the upper course of the Volga River, proximately the same territories where
have been found.in ancient settlements in the Finno-Ugrians have lived or where place names
southernBaltic areas. are characteristicofthem supportsthe theory as
Archaeological culturesrelatively close to the well. Besides, there are no other later archaeo-
comb-pottery culture have also been discovered logical cultures with a similar territorial reach
further east up to the Ural Mountains. They are associatedwith Baltic Finns. However,the peo-
associated with early Finno-Ugric tribes. Ac- ple of the comb-pottery culture cannot be con-
cording to some linguists, the original home of sideredas Estoniansyet.
the Finno-Ugrians was located somewhere be-
T-r
tween the Kama River, its tributaries, and the
-Eloat-axe culture. In the beginning of the
Ural Mountains.
third millennium BC (or about 2200 BC\,
The people of the comb-pottery culture are
new tribes from the south arrived in Estonia.
considered to be direct ancestors of the later
The culture is known as boat-axe culture after
Baltic Finns: Estonians, Finns, Livonians,
well-polished battleaxeswith bored eyesthat re-
Karelians, Vepsians,Ingrians (or Izhorians), and
semble a boat. Pottery decorated by cord im-
Votics. Material found at comb-pottery burials prints and specific burial customs were
confirms this hypothesis. A reconstruction of a
characteristicof the new tribes aswell. The dead
skull found in the setilement of Valma shows a
were laid on their sides,huddled together,with
man with a broad face. hieh cheekbones and
their knees pressedagainsttheir breast and one
hand under the head, buried in graves dug into
the earth. Burial places were located usually
away from the settlementseither on a nearby
hill or by some body of water.
Objects placed into the graveswere made of
bones from domesticated animals. This indi-
catesthat the tribes ofboat-axe culture practised
animal husbandry, the raising and breeding of
goats,sheep,cattle andpigs. Somestudiesargue
that they akeady began cultivating the land.
Thus the beginning of agriculture in Estonia can
be associatedwith boat-axeculture.
The original territory of boat-axeculture was
located somewhere between the Dnieper and
Rhine rivers. They moved to the north in search
ofnew and better grasslands.Thesepeoplewere
Indo-Europeans. A reconstruction of a skull
found in a burial place in Ardu shows a man
with an oblong head, high face and thin nose,
supporting this theory.
For many centuriesthe tribes lived side by side
with the comb-pottery people. Their relations ap-
pearedto be peaceful, as available archaeological
data do not show armed conflicts. Unfortunately,
there is also no evidenceof the merging ofthe two
A manfrom comb-pottery culture cultures.According to someopinions, this process
(reconstructed"fro* a skullfound in Valma). finished no earlier than by the middle of the sec-
 StoneAge t7
ond millennium BC. In the last
forty years the dominant the-
ory indicated that descendants
of the boat-axeculture became
predominant south of the
Daugava River, becoming an-
cestors of the Baltic tribes:
Lithuanians,Latvians and Old
Prussians. Descendants of
the comb-pottery culture re-
mained predominant north of
the Daugava, laying the
foundations to the languages
and peoples of the Baltic
Finns.
Boat-shapedaxes.
Using the same theory
Baltic loan words like "hdrs"
(ox), "oinas" (ram), "hein" (hay), "hernes" (pea),
"seeme" (seed), "vagu" (funow) and "kiryes"
(axe) connects the Estonian language with
boat-axecultufe.

LI
I l-owever,seriousdoubts to whether boat-axe
culture actually played a crucial role in the devel-
opment of the Baltic peopleshave arisen. At the
same time, the influence of this culture in
ethnographical processescannot be denied ei-
ther. For example, characteristics of boat-axe
people exertedan influence on local inhabitants.
Blue eyes and light-coloured h4ir, regarded as
typical of Estonians, were not typical of the
comb-pottery people. The boat-axe people
placed a cerlain role in the developmentof such
characteristicsby Estonians;however,such char-
acteristicsdevelopedmore so from contactswith
Germanic tribes during the Ancient Times and
from close connectionswith Germans,LaMans,
Swedes, Danes and Polbs through the last few
centuries.

A manfrom boat-axe culture

(reconstructedfrom a skull found in the
Ardu burial site).
18

3. Early Metal Age and Roman Iron Age

T\
tsleginning of the Bronze Age (middle of the ever, horn hoes indicate that the activity could
secondmillennium until the fifth century BC). not be ofa large scale.
The first metal tools arrived in Estonia three and Hunting and fishing provided additional
a half thousandyears ago. While in many other food. On the islandof Saaremaa, sealswere the
places the introduction of bronze marked the be- primary game. Nine-tenths of the bones found
ginning of rapid developmentsin economic and belong to them. Sealswere usually hunted early
social relations, this was not the case in Estonia in spring when the food suppliesgatheredin au-
tumn dwindled. A successfulhunt brings plenty
during the first half of the period. Copper and tin,
necessary for making bronze, are simply not of meat,waterproofpelt, aswell as fat usablefor
found in Estonia. At first it was too expensiveto lighting.
import bronze objects in greatnumbers.Only the The inhabitants of fortified settlements al-
most necessarytools - first of all, axes- were ob- ready knew how to recast bronze. Broken or
tained. Most of the other objects were still made worn objects were used for this purpose. Com-
of stone, horn and bone, though the skills in plicated axes and spearheadswere made. Frag-
working those materials developedeven fui1her. ments of casting moulds for making jewel pins,
For example, at least from its outward appear- necklacesand braceletsindicate that there must
ance, bronze objects were imitated by horn or have been sufficient suppliesof bronze.
bone. Increasing amounts of imported metal indi-
T1 cate the development of trade. In the second
-F ortified settlements. During the middle of half of the BronzeAge, Estonia'scloseties with
the Bronze Age, local people began to fortift central Sweden, the island of Gotland and
their settlementsby building fences from lime- south-eastemFinlandbecameobvious.The ap-
stone and defensivewalls from logs. Four or five pearanceof pottery characteristicof Asva cul-
such settlementsfrom the ninth to sixth centuries ture in overseassettlementsgives evidence of
BC are known around coastalregions in Estonia. the active lifestyle and migration of the local
The culture of the time is known as Asva cul- people.
ture, named after the best-known forlified settle-
ment of the time on the island of Saaremaa.
The fact that settlementswere fortified shows
that valuables acquired by the people attracted
foreign attention and needed to be stored. Ar-
chaeological finds indicate that such valuables
included herds ofcattle and bronze.
In the secondhalf of the Bronze Age, cattle
breeding became the main source of subsis-
tence.About eighty per cent ofall bonesfound in
WWWW
fortified settlements came from bred animals.
Sheep,goats,cattle were bred at the time, aswell
as pigs and horses to a lesser extent. Traces of
grain on fragmentsof pottery indicate that tillage TypesofBronze Age stone axes.
was an additional source of subsistence.How-
 Early Metal Age and Roman lron Age l9

An
archaeological
excavationat
Jdekihtme,
displaying the
stone cist graves.

T
I he oldest iron tools. Comparedto bronze. metres and a cist in the centre, beanng a
iron was an even better material. Iron tools and north-south orientation, in which the dead was
weaponswere stronger,sharperand more dura- buried. The spacebetweenthe cist and circle was
ble. In the fifth century BC, the first iron objects
filled with smaller stonesand the cist itself was
arrived in Estonia. The oldest iron objects covered by a conical pile of stones.Sometimes
found in Estonia, including a sword, large therewere severalcistsin one circle, or the grave
knife and awl, are from a stone burial site_in could be surrounded by two or three stone cir-
Jdbara in Ida-Viru county. flowever, during the cles.As a rule, the man was buried in the central
Pre-Roman lron Age (fifth centur;,BC until cist, probably the headof the family asthe signif-
the middle of the first century AD) only occa- icance ofthat role increased.Ifthere are several
sional iron objects spread to Estonia from neigh- graves in the mound, then the others are sifuated
bouring areas.Rarely available and expensive,iron betweenthe centralcist and the stonecircle. One
object could not displace bronze and stone yet. ofEstonia's oldestgroup ofstone cist graves(36
Thus the Pre-RomanIron Age, comparedwith the graves)was discoveredin Jdeliihtmeadjacentto
Bronze Age, did not change the lives of people the Tallinn-Narva highway. Stone cist graves
were the predominant type of graves in Estonia
much. At that time, people lived in fortified settle-
until the first century AD.
ments and mostly lived on cattle breeding and
maintaining close ties with foreign lands. There- Some ship-shaped graves were also built in
Estonia, modelled after similar types from
fore both the Bronze Age and Pre-Romanhon Age
Gotland. The surrounding stonesin this model
are commonly called the Early Metal Age.
were laid out in the shapeof a ship. The dead
were buried in smaller stone cists in the
Brr.iut mounds and sacrilicial stones.Con- ship-shaped graves after cremation. The two
tacts with peoples from the west influenced the best-known ship-shapedgraves are located on
customsand beliefs of Estonia's inhabitantsto a the peninsula of S6rve on Saaremaa.
remarkable extent. While earlier the dead were Alongside the stone cyst graves some of the
buried in graves dug into the earth, during this most mysterious antiquities - small-dimpted
time the dead were laid to rest on the surfacein sacrificial stones - spread in Estonia. Over
stonecist graves.The burial mound consistedofa 1,750 ofthe erratic boulders are found, adorned
circle of boulderswith diametersof three to eisht on which are numerous dimples of five to ten
20 Early Metal Age and Roman Iron Age

ple leamedhow to smelt iron themselves.Bog

iron ore is found in many places. The ore,
which resemblesbrownish clods of rust, was
crushedand put with charcoalinto a conical re-
duction furnace made of clay and stone that
stood about a metre high. Air was pumped into
the furnace with bellows to keep the coals
smoulderingto providethe necessaryheat.Coal
also played an important role in reducing iron
from ore. One fumace-full of ore would usually
yield a few kilograms of iron, which had to be
worked several times before the smith could
forge it into a knife or axe. According to the
most recent data,iron smelting beganin Estonia
about 2,000 years ago.

D
I rogressin tillage. Progress was madein all
areas of life with the use of metal tools. They
were most important in the developmentof agri-
culture.While earlierpeoplepractisedhoe till-
age in small fields, now, thanks to metal axes,
slash-and-burnclearancespread.The treeswere
felled and wood was left to dry for some.time.
A small-dimpled sacrificial stone in Ashes from the burnt wood were good fertilis-
Tumala (on Saaremaa). ers.For someyearsthe burnt-over fields yielded
well, but as the fertility of the soil decreased
with use, the fields were abandonedfor a new
centimetres in diameter.The originalmeaningof forest to grow. Slash-and-burnclearance was
the dimples is not known. It probably has to do more widespread in southernEstonia, where it
with the cult of stonesoriginating in Scandinavia remained very impoftant for many centuries.
thal may have been connectedto the cult of an- In areas where the topsoil was thin, woods
cestors. grew slowly. Already in the Pre-Roman Iron
Age, rotating agriculture began to develop.
T
Iron smelting.Economicdevelopment acceler- Cultivated land was simply allowed to lay fal-
ated by a remarkable extend after the local peo- low over some years and used as a pasture.

Reconstructionof an
iron reductionfurnac e.
l) coal and bog iron
ores;
2) rocks;
3) clayfurnace;
4) ground;
ca
lm 5) bellow;
6) air passage;
7) openingfor
discharging slag.
 Early Metal Age and Roman lron Age 2l

Dung fertilised the soil and later it could be Merchants from the Empire and its provinces
ploughed again. also arrived at the south-easterncoast of the
The lands in western and northern Estonia, as Baltic Sea.
well as on Saaremaa,were most suitable for They were primarily interestedin amber and
primitive tillage, as the limestone subsoil was fur from forest creatures.A Roman historian
thin but ferlile. The oldest remains of such fields once mentioned that in Rome, one would pay
in Estonia, as well as on the entire eastemcoast "more than for a living man" for even the small-
of the Baltic Sea,were discoveredin Saha-Loo, est amber object. Nordic pelts were highly ap-
one kilometre west of Lake Maardu. The plots of preciated for their long and thick fur.
land, which were only a few squarekilometres, It was possible that grain grown in Estonia
were suffounded by oblong beds of stone piled was bartered with northem and eastem neigh-
up during stone-clearing or by round heaps of bours for fur, which in tum was resold. Trade to-
field stones.The age ofthe Saha-Loofields is es- wards the south operated through the Baltic
timated at two and a half thousandyears. tribes. The people of Virumaa (north-eastEsto-
The establishment of fieldsallowedpeopleto nia) had direct contacts with pegple flom the
build settlements. Dwellings were often built mouth of the Vistula River via the Baltic Sea.
adjacentto lands suitable for cultivation. Some goods from the Roman provinces were
Severalcontemporaryvillages in northem and also imported; for example, several brooches,
western Estonia may have had their origins in bronze coins, glassbeadsand even a bronze lamp
these early settlements.Therefore, the age of a was found in Kavastu, near Tartu. Local crafts-
number of Estonian villages exceedstwo thou- men developed ornament types that had spread
sand years. Intensive agriculture and long-term north, along with bronze,from the Baltic hibes.
settlementin one location shapedan intenseloy- Burial customs also changed remarkably.
alty and fondness of Estonian for their native Stone cist graveswere still built constantly,but
place. now their "inner structure" consistedofrectan-
r1 gular walls built from larger stones.Theseburi-
Uenturies of ascent.The period from the mid- als are called enclosure graves. A cist was
dle ofthe first centuryuntil the middle ofthe fifth usually a few metres wide and three to ten
century AD is called the Roman Iron Age, as at metres in length, laid out one at a time and
that time the huge Roman Empire exertedinflu- formed one grave.
enceall over northern Europe,including Estonia. The burials in the enclosuregraveswere cre-
It can be argued on the basis of the magnifi- mations. The remains of bones, together with
cent finds from burials that this period was a pe- numerous offerings of ornaments,were strewn
riod of ascent in the history of Estonian tribes. among the stones. As the bones and objects
Tillage and animal husbandry became the ba- were usually scattered,it is diffrcult to estimate
sic fields of subsistencefor the local inhabitants. the exact number of cists. An averageof ten to
This resultedin an increasein wealth andpopula- twenty remains were buried in each enclosure
tion. Central Estonian lands, where the soil was grave from approximationsmade on the basisof
less favourable for cultivation, were also taken found omaments.
into use. As a result, the population density in- I-r
creasedas well. llstonians first mentioned. Romangeogra-
Crafts, especially metalwork, flourished phers and historians also describedthe peoples
alongside agriculture. Bronze was at this point living on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The
rmported to Estonia in huge quantities and sev- "Aestii" people were first recordedby Tacitusin
eral intricate types ofbrooches, pendants,brace- 98 AD. It is generally believed that "Aestii" re-
lets,necklacesand rings were made. Someof the fers to the Baltic tribes. However, it is also pos-
ornaments were even decorated with multicol- sible that the ancestors of Estonians were
oured enamel. among them as well, becausethe areasettledby
Now the trading interests of Estonians were Baltic Finns reachedsignificantly further to the
directed southwards - to the Roman Emoire. south at the time. Another theory suggeststhat
22 Early Metal Age and Roman lron Age

The "walls" of
the Jaagup
enclosuregraves
after excavation.

Estonians could have been considered as the ready in the Roman Iron Age. At that time a
..Fenns" that was used to describe the Finns in large part of northern Latvia also belonged to
Roman sources. South Estonia as the same population lived
According to some characteristicburial cus- there. The fact that the Roman Iron Age was a
toms and the distribution of different ornament peacefulperiod without wars probably favoured
types, Estonia can be divided into three major the remarkable economic progress. In fact, no
culfural areas:West Estonia, Norlh and Central foftified settlementsare known and no weapons
Estonia,and SouthEstonia.Theirborders mostly either individually or as burial offerings have
overlap with respective groups of dialects, folk been found. Therefore there were probably no
costume and folklore known in later periods. major armed conflicts between the different
Thus ancienttribal areascan be distinsuished al- parts of the country, nor an external threat.
 23

4. Troubled Centuries
T
I he building of fortresses.In the Middle tron stone slabs without any binding material. Log
Age (from the secondhalf of the fifth century un- walls were erectedon the edge of the slope,but
til the late eighth century) peace became more also on the other sides ofthe fortress. In addi-
elusive. The settlers began to build fortresses. tion, a ditch was dug outside the earthwork.
They were built in particular abundancein about About 120 ancient fortresses used in the
the seventhand eighth centuries. The forhesses secondhalf of the first millennium or the early
remainedin conslantuseuntil the end of theAn- centuries of the secondmillennium are known
cient Times. in Estonia. According to their outward appear-
For the building of fortresses,hills with sharp ance they are divided into four major groups.
inclines and of suitable size were chosen.Artifi- Hill fortresses were erected on single hills
cial earlhworks fortifred the naturally naturally protected from all sides.
less-protectedslopesof the hill. In South Estonia Cape fortresses were built on the end of a
the eafthworks were mostly made of sand and hill ridge, which resemblesa cape.They offered
were held together by walls made of logs. In good natural defencesfrom three sides.An arti-
North and West Estonia the exterior and interior ficial bankwas laid onthe remaining side.From
of the earthworkswere laid as a drvwall of lime- above they usually resembledtriangles.

A reconstruction of a capefortress.
24 Troubled Centuries

The "Kalevipoeg's bed" of Alatskivi

Hill and cape foftresseswere the most com- had been bumt down as many as six times be-
mon fortress types and can be found throughout tween the eighth and eleventh centuries.
the Estonianmainland (excluding West Estonia). T\
The so-calledt'Kalevipoegtsbed" fortresses -Eiurials and hidden possessions. ln theMid-
were built on drumlins, usually on their higher dle Iron Age, burials in old-style gravescontin-
central parts. As they were naturally well pro- ued. New stone cist graves built in this period
tectedfrom the sides,banks and ditcheshad to be were simply piles of stoneswithout any intemal
built on the two endsonly. Seenfrom alar they structure.Adding weaponsin the grave was an
resemble a huge bed with high ends, hence the important change.They were consideredto be
traditional name after Estonia's mythical hero. necessaryin the afterlife,just as ifstill alive.
The "Kalevipoeg's bed" forlresseswere mainly
From the fifth and sixth centuries, omaments,
spreadin the northern part of the Tartu region.
weapons and tools were more frequent\ hidden.
Ring fortresses are characterisedby a high
Besidesbronze omaments,more valuable gilded
arlificial mound built all around the yard of the
or golden objects were found buried in silver
stronghold. The strongestringed fortresseswere
hoards. The biggestsuchfinds were from Kardla
built on Saaremaaand In West Estonia.
in Tarhrdistrict,wheresilverbrooches,a necklace,
The first three groups of fortresseswere typi-
a bracelet and a thin golden necklacewere hidden
cal of the eighth to the eleventh centuries. The
in a stone cist grave from an earlier period.
ring fortresseswere built mostly in the twelfth
Aside from treasuresthe finds also consisted
and thirleenth centuries,although similar strong-
of iron objects, mainly spearheads,fragments
holds with lower mounds may have been used
from swords and long blades (so-called battle
evenearlier.
knives) and sometimestools. Such finds usually
Until the middle of the eleventh century the
emergefrom swampy areas.
fortresses were constantly settled. The settle-
ments were also located in their immediate Ornamentsand weaponswere hidden mostly
neighbourhood,as the danger of military attacks in caseof danger.However,the collection found
and raids was great and foreign troops often ar- in swamps may also be sacrifices thrown into
rived out of the blue. The arms and burnt layers the water or bog pool.
ofearth found during excavationsrecall the bat- The building of fortresses,as well as the in-
tles fought. For example, the fortress of RSuge clusion of weapons in burials or in major ar-
 The Baltic tribesmay haveer-entric-dro I.L:.:.
""-6# fuilher north to the ter:ritoryof conrempor.Lr..
Estonia.The building of numerousfortressesin
&-
ffi the south-eastof Estonia in the seventh and
375- eighth centuriesindicatethis as well. The tbr-
a]* tressesevidentlyprovedeffective,as the border
'rr1 between the Baltic tribes and Estonians was
.{,$ 6' -ft fixed provisionallyjust southof the currentLat-
L € v # fl
vian-Estonianborder.

,:.W
,.14, Durr*". from the sea.In the Middle Iron
";tzq Age, contact with overseas lands livened up
again. Severalobjects of Scandinavianorigin
havebeenfound in Estonia,especiallythe mar-
vellous gilded items from the fifth and sixth
centuries discoveredin a stone cist grave in
Proosa near Tallinn. Peaceful trade contacts
contradict the descriptionsof military cam-
paignsto Estoniaby Scandinaviansagas.
Around the year 600, the King of the
Swedes, Ingvar, landed in Estonia with his
Silver and goldjewelleryJrom the treasure amy. A huge battle ensuedwhen a large Esto-
Jbund in Kardla. nian force confronted the invaders, and the
SwedishKing was killed in battle.Accordingto
r.rcological finds, indicates an upsurge of a saga,Ingvar was buriedon the Estonian
coast.
.rlf-are. This was not causedonly by minor hos- Ingvar's son,howeveqapparentlyled a victori-
:tresbetweenEstonianregions,but also by the ousretaliationcampaignthe following summer.
'i_:rration of tribes and peoplesin neighbouring ln the Viking Age (800-1050AD), contacts
::rons during the secondhalf of the first millen- with Scandinaviabecamecloser.Estonialaid on
which affected Estonia to some extent. the Viking trading routes to Byzantium and the
Orient, evidencedbv the discoveriesof silver
tr
l - r e n t s i n t h e s o u t h .A t t h a t r i m e E a s t S l a -
,,nic peoples began to exert influence on the
:'thempaft of eastEurope.In about the sixth
.l seventhcenturies,a part of them gradually
,r ed nofthwardsfrom their original home be-
,'en the Vistula, Dniestr and Dnieper rivers.
:.lr the mouth of the Dnieper and Daugava
"'rsthey encounteredthe Baltic tribes.A part
:hc latter was assimilatedinto the Slavonic
.rp.while otherswithdrew northward.
r. ntil then the Baltic Finns had lived in north-
' Latvia.Now a large number of Baltic
tribes
' '.ed in the region and in the following
centu-
- the natives merged with the newcomers.
.. the western part of Latvia remained the
..,'ssron of the Livonians. Some pockets of
:rrcEstonianswere preservedin northernLat- ArmsJbtmd at thejunctions o.fthe bortlet.s
..ntil the nineteenthcenturv. oJJcina, Alempoisand l,,lurmehmclresiort',
closeto Rikussaar.
Weretheyolfering.srn'.fr.trclerrotlti.g
\i,,ij
agreentettt.)
26 Troubled Centuries

Arab coins and spearheadsand swords made by ries, they had managedto merge with the native
Western forgers. population. This had great effects on the devel-
At the same time the sagas depict Viking opment of the northernpart of the East Slav pop-
military campaigns in Estonia, boasting of ulation. For example, several Fimo-Ugric
conquestsalong the eastem coast of the Baltic characteristics can be detected in the dialect,
Sea. However, archaeological finds fail to con- folk customsand even anthropology of their de-
fitm this. The Vikings did not achieve any last- scendantsin northern Russia.Place names from
ing success,and the sagaseven testify to their the Finno-Ugricperiodhavealsobeenpreserved
in those areas.For instance,many linguistsbe-
seriousdefeats.For example,Halfdan the White,
lieve that the names of rivers ending in Russian
son of the Norwegian King, was supposed to
with -va, such as the Moshva (Moscow), are
have been killed in Estonia, while Estonian pi-
Finno-Ugric in origin.
rates capturedNorwegian Queen Astrid and her
It is often suggested
that someEastSlavsalso
son Olaf and enslavedthem. In the first half of
tried to settle in Estonia. Sand barrows with
the eleventhcentury.severalrunic stonesdedi-
cremated remains found in the eastem oart of
cated to the memories of Vikings killed in Esto- SoutheastEstoniacan be associated wiih East
nia were erected. This shows that Estonians Slav migrants from the Middle Iron Age. How-
managedto standup to a strong enemy and even ever, the sand barrows were built already in the
conduct counterattacks. fifth-sixth centuries and have traits in cornmon
T] with a Finno-Ugric tribe closelyrelatedto Esto-
.F ateful centuriesfor related easterntribes. nians,sometimesevenwith the predecessors of
For many millennia the ancestorsof the Votics, the Setus(a Finno-Ugricpeople closely related
Vepsians,Karelians, Merya, Muroms and other to Estonians that live on both sides of the Rus-
Finno-Ugric peoples lived to the east and sian-Estonianborder around Pechory).Recently
north-eastofEstonia. In roughly the eighth and some Russian archaeologists have also sug-
ninth centuriesAD, East Slavsbeganarriving in gestedthat analogousmounds found in the Rus-
those areas. The newcomers mainly settled in sianregionsofPskov andNovgorodalsobelong
places like Old Ladoga, Novgorod and others, to the earlierBaltic Finns and Balts.
which were located at impoftant waterways and
D
were inhabited already by Baltic Finns, Balts, l\elations with Kievan Rus. AccordingLothe
and Vikings. More and more East Slavs arrived famous East Slav chronicle "Tales of Old
and by about the thirteenth to fourteenth centu- Times", some East Slavonic tribes invited three

Excavations of
sand baryows in
Suur-Rdsna.
 Trou blecl C ett t t rr i r',

Estonianfortresses
betw,eenthe years
700-t050.

brothers- Riurik, Sineus and Truvor - from his Christian name Yuri (George). However,
Scandinaviato rule the emergingstatein the year this was not the dateof the town's founding.Ar-
162. However,the history of Kievan Rus realiy chaeologicalexcavationsindicatethat an earlier
lcgins when Oleh, a friend of Riurik, captures Estonianfortressand extensivesettlementhad
Kiev and unitesmany East Slavonictribes. existedmany centuriesearlier.
In the ninth and tenth centuries,relationsbe- The EastSlavswere deleatedin anothercam-
:n een Estonia and Kievan Rus were oeaceful. paign againstthe Estoniansin the year 1054.
: . r s tS l a v o n i cc h r o n i c l e sc a l l e d E s t o n i a n a
snd Ostromir, a cilizen of Novgorod who led the
,therBaltic Finns living eastof Lake Peipsithe campaign,was killed. Subsequentlythe forlress
C'hudes.The Chudesplayedan imporlantrole in of Keavain Harju regionwas taken in a cam-
rievan Rus. They heipedOleh to conquerKiev, paign led by Prince Izyaslav.In the year 1060,
.rok part in campaigns
to Byzantium and served Izyaslav imposed duties on the Estonian tribes
:r fbrtressesestablishedon the southernborder called the Sossolsin the chronicles.However,
,gainstnomadic peoples.Mikula Chudin, a fa- the latter soon droverthe tax collectorsout, re-
rous Kiev aristocrat,compiled "The Code of capturedTartu the next spring and pushedas far
'r.rrroslav's
Sons" togetherwith his princes.Sev- as Pskov in battle. There a major battle was
-.:'alnamesof signatoriesof treatiesbetweenBy- fought where, according to the East Slavonic
'.rntium and Kievan Rus
in 911 and 944 are chronicle,a thousandEast Slavs and countless
. picai of Baltic Finns. Sossolswere killed
ln the late tenth century relations deteriorated The years 1030 to 1070were noteworlhy in
'-'t\\reen E,stoniansand Kievan Rus.
Vigorous t h e e n t i r eh i s t o r yo f E s t o n i as, i n c ei t s h o w e d
.i.rsprinces attemptedto extend their posses-
that Estonianshad become a force strons and
. rrnSat the expenseof Estoniaand tried to subju- organisedenoughro defendtheir lreedori and
-.:tethe local people.Accordingto EastSlavonic to fight successfullyagainstthe aggressions ofa
::ronicles,Yaroslavthe Wise conducteda victo- greatpower. The lact that there is no evidenceof
.\us campaign againstthe Estoniansin 1030, campaignsby East Slavs in the following half
-.:ilt a fortressin Tartuandnamed
it Yuriev after century testifiesto the influence ofthat victory.
28

5. Estoniansin the Late Ancient Times

T
I he early part of the secondmillennium was hen were bred. In West Estoniawhere meadow-
a period of remarkable development in the life lands were larger, more cattle were bred. In
of Estonians. The population increased greatly South Estonia a rather larger number of pigs
and the country soon becamedenselypopulated. were raised.
The majority of North Estonianvillages known in Hunting and fishing were also of some im-
later times akeady existed by the ear$ thideenth portance.However,among the bonesfound dur-
century. Only the more swampy south-western ing the excavationsof fortressesand settlements,
part of the country coastalareasand someislands, thoseof wild animalsmake up only someten per
remaineduninhabited.At the end of the Ancient cent. Elks, wild boars,goat, rabbits,beavers,er-
Times, at least 150,000people lived in Estonia. mines, pine martens and squirrels were the pri-
mary game. Fishing was done in fresh water
reas of subsistence.Cultivation of the land sourcesinland. On the seacoasttherewas no Dsr-
was the marn arca of activity, which by this time manentsettlement thatcouldhavefishedthesea.
had achieveda high level. Estonianshad become Wild apiculture was also of appreciableim-
one of the northernmostpeoples mainly subsist- pofiance. Honey was the only sweeteningagent
ing by tillage. Iron ploughs, which was intro- and there was great demand for wax in western
duced around the seventh and eighth centuries, Europeanmarkets.
contributed to the development of plough farm-
T\
ing. Different types ofploughs were usedaccord- I-fevelopment of crafts. Each family made
ing to the thicknessof the soil. With thin soils in most of the necessarytools and utensils,dwell-
North and West Estonia the single-bladehooked ings, clothes, and means of transport for their
plough was used, while with thicker layers of own use. In some fields, specialcraftsmenwere
earth in Central and South Estonia the two-blade employed.
forked plough was used. While barley was Iron smelting and iron working had be-
grown in earlier times, winter rye becamewide- come an important special craft. Local smiths,
spreadfrom the eleventhcentury.The proportion who used iron smeltedfrom bog iron ore, made
ofwheat, oats,peas,beansand other crops was most ofthe everydaytools, suchas knives, axes,
smaller. sickles and scythes.In the late Ancient Times,
Ploughland was the unit of land measure.A major iron smelting centres developed in
ploughland correspondedto a field that could be Virumaa regim and on northern Saaremaa,
worked with one plough. Usually one farming where hundredsof tons of iron were smeltedfor
family used one ploughland. In farming the local use and supply ofother regions.
two-field system was used. Every year one part The work of armourers was especiallyre-
of the field was sown and the other part lay fal- markable. They made quality spearheadsdeco-
low. Alongside the introduction of winter rye, a rated with silveq jewelled hilts of swords,and
more efficient three-field system began to probably evensomeblades.
spread. In one part of the field was the winter Some mastersspecialisedin bronze orna-
crop, in the secondparl the summer crop would ments, which were made in large numbers.
grow, and the third part lay fallow. The Women used to wear numerous ornaments
three-field systembecamepredominant and pre- long-linked chains,jewel pins, eleganthorse-
vailed until the nineteenthcentury. shoe-shapedbrooches, necklaces, rings and
Besidestillage, animal husbandry was also braceletsaround both arms. Clothes were inter-
practised.Cattle, horses,sheep,goats,pigs and laced with small bronze rings and.spirals,which
 Estoniansin the Late Ancient Times 29
:rnxed original pattems. In the late Ancient
- imes when silver ornaments came into fash-
.rn. silversmiths came to the forefront.
In connectionwith the introductionof the pot-
. ' " s w h e e l .p o t t e r y a l s o b e c a m ea s p e c i a l i s e d
, r'ilII.

E
l-xchange of goods. Trading betweenEsto-
.riansand their closestneighbours Livonians,
- inns,Karelians,Votics and the Baltic peoples-
','came more and more extensive.As trading
r..rutesthat linked the westem and southern
-oasts of the Baltic Sea with Russian towns
?w&,
ff*,*
...rssed throughEstonia,long-distancetrademis-
. ionsflourished.Tradingmissionsreachedas far
.,. Pskov and Novgorod, and traders from tn*.-, t'
\laremaa were often found on Gotland - the
:rost impoftant commercialcentrein the Baltic
\r'0 or€&.In the secondhalf of the twelfth cen-
'.Lrv, German merchants were
commonly en-
,,runteredon Estonianroads.
Bartering predominated.The main goodsim- Silver treasuresfrom thefortress of Muhu.
'.rfied to Estoniawere silver,btonze, iron, salt,
'ctter weapons, fine cloth and other luxuries fered their products lived there asweil. ln Tarlu
-,,r.ningmostly from the west. In return, fur and an early urban settlement startedto develop.
,.x. which were in high demandin westernEu- Taliinn becamethe most importanttrading cen-
.rpe,were exporled. Written sourcesindicate tre on the coast.However, in the late Ancient
:rlt Estoniansalso resoldpropertiesand prison- Times, there were no real towns with special
::': seizedon raids. town chartersin Estonia yet.
Becauseof their favourableoosition commis-
. i o n t r a d e p l a y e da n i m p o r t a nrt o l e l f o r e x a m -
T\
l - , f l e l l i n g s a n d r i l l a g e s .E s t o n i a nlsi r e d p r e -
' r..goodswere purchasednot only for personal
dominantly on the iand. Log cabins were di-
.."' but also for resale).Novgorod and its vast vided into a living room heatedby a stoveand a
,n-farming hinterlands were provided with front room. As grain usually do not ripen in the
-:'.rin.The fur, wax and other raw materialsre- field at this iatitude,it was dried in the heated
-.'rvedin return were sold in west and north Eu- room or bam. Gradually a universal granary
,lean markets. Probably a part of the goods cameinto use,which in the following centuries
rtainedtherewere resoidat a profit to Russia. becamea dwelling and workplace characteristic
Exchangeof goodswas a profitable activity as to Estonians.
- . idencedby numeroustreasures,consistingof sil- Farmswere usually locatedcloseto eachother
Jr coinsand omaments,hidden in the earlh in the and formed villages. The chronicler Henry of
:rrl centuriesof the Ancient Times. While thou- Livonia, whose attitude towards Estonianswas
..:rdsof oriental coins ar:rivedhere in the ninth to hostile,couldnot helpbutpraisethebeautyofio-
. -'renth cenfuries,westem Europeansilver coins cal villages.He mentionsthe village of Karedain
,nrinatedlater times. Silyer was alreadya gener- the Jdrva region as remarkably nice, large and
', recogrisedexchangeable commodity.Finds of populous.According to the particular landscape,
-.,les.pieces of omamentsamong treasuresand different types of villages sprung up in Estonia.
..r cs of coinsindicatethat the valueof goodswas ln West,Central andNorlh Estonia,aswell as on
- .essedon the basisof silver. Saaremaa,farms were locatedcloseto eachother
Tradingposts developedon the intersections in the middle of fields, forming huddled vil-
:rajor roads where central forlressesand set- lages. On the drumlins of East Estonia,farms
.:-rentswere situated.More craftsmenwho of- were establishedin a line" formins a linear r il-
30 Estonians in the Late Ancient Times

lage. In South Estonia there were dispersed vil- was still relatively united. Free individuals
lages, where farms were scatteredfar away from formed the majority ofthe population. The most
eachother. important issueswere discussedtogether at as-
semblies. Fortresseswere built together, while
f) pastures and highlands were public property.
I arishesand regions.Villagesin a localised
region formed a parish, which was the most im- However, it is thought that field were used indi-
portant administrative unit in Estonia. In the vidually by families.
early thirteenth century there were about 45 par- The increasein private property was accom-
ishes in Estonia. Parisheswere united into larger panied by material inequality. Those already
units called regions, basically due to external wealthier increasedtheir wealth even more by
threats. There were eight regions in Estonia: trading or by loot from military campaigns.
Virumaa, Rdvala, Jawa, Harju, Laanernaa, They used prisoners taken during campaigns
Saaremaa,Ugandi and Sakala. In Central Esto- were enserfed, though usually as servants in-
nia, where extemal danger was less of an issue, steadof slaveswithout rights.
some parishes(sometimescalledmini-regions) In most caseswiser andmore influential men
like Alempois, Nurmekund, M6hu and Vaiga, with higher social positions in the villages and
which did not join any region, were preserved. parishes became elders. The nobility, callecl
By the end of the Ancient Times, some nota- "elders," "the rich" or "the better" by Henry of
ble tendenciesof co-operation between regions Livonia, also beganto develop.They were more
indicate the development of elements of state- numerousin South Estonia.The authority of in-
hood. According to the Chronicle of Henry of dividual nobles was so greallhat entire villages
Livonia, even annual joint consultations of were named after them. For example, Henry of
county elderswere supposedlyheld in Raikkilla. Livonia on severaloccasionsreferred to the vil-
The development of the Estonian nation had lage of Lembitu, one of the most influential el-
started.The people themselvesand their neigh- dersofSakala.
bours usually used the names of the regions. At
the same time, written sourcesalready used the MtU,u., standard. Relations with neigh-
common names "Estonia" and "Estonians." bours remained peaceful for the most part. Once
in awhile mutual raids and campaigns occurred.
A ssemblies and noblemen. In the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, Estonian population
The situation became more serious as statelile
the unions developedin neighbouring areas.These

Ancient regions of
Estonia.
 Estonians in the Late Ancient Times 3r
new groupingscould raise
larger military units for
their campaigns, which
poseda threatto Estonia's
freedom. A serious at-
tempt had been made al.
ready by Kievan Rus in
the middle of the eleventh
century.Thus the needlor
arrangementsto meet the
changed circumstances
arose.
In the middle of the
eleventh cenfury several
smaller forhesses were
abandonedfor larger and
stronger ring fortresses.
Especially strong for-
tresses were erected in The excavated gateway of thefortres s of Varbola
West Estonia and on (z3+-
Saaremaa.For example, :r:,.ytz-'tiil
in order to erect the 580
metre-long and 8-10 -t/
a
metre-high wall of the z" {15
fortress in Varbola
trvhich stands partially
today), more than
32,000 horse-loads of
limestone were needed
- which had to be
chipped.carriedto rhe ?R\
lortress
site,andplaced ,;,7
s ith precision. The i
',!
gates of the fortresses
- ,,
n'ere fortified with spe-
'-ial care. For some for-
,(rl,M
./
Nii.R
tresseslong gatewayswith
multiple gates were built
The gate of thefortres s of Varbola (reconstruction)
ro defend the entrance.ln
these sections hieher de-
t-ensivetowers were also built. A district army consisted of both cavalry
Spearswere an important component of the and infantry. Primitive siege crafr was alsb
Estonians' weaponry. Smaller and lighter jave- known. At sea,the men of Saaremaawere skil-
lins, as well as bigger and stronger spears,were ful on their speedyships, which resembledVi-
used. Quite a few men, mainly horsemen, also king ships.Until the Ancient Fight for Freedom,
u-sedswords,battle-axesand clubs. Bows and ar- the military level of Estonianswas sufficient for
rows were used somewhatless.Armafure mainly repelling the attacksofclose neighbours.
consistedof shields,though some wealthier men D
r-ouldalso afford chain mail made of iron links. l \ e l a t i o n s w i t h n e i g h b o u r sT
. o t h e s o u t ho f
Tlere is, however, no evidence of helmets used Estonians lived the ancestors of Latvians:
bv Estonians. Lettgallians, Selonians, Semigallians and
Couronians.An extensiveareabv the Gulf of
1Z Estonians in the Late Ancient Times

Estoniansand
their neighbours.

Riga and in northern Couronia belonged to the into smallerparts.At that point, only minor con-
Livonians and Kurelians, kindred Finno-Ugric flicts with the nearby feudal republic of
peoples to the Estonians.According to Henry of Novgorod occurred. At times the rulers of
Livonia, disputesand armedconflicts eruptedquite Novgorod organisedraids that mostly affected
often between Estoniansand Lettgallians, with the EastEstonia.During the years 1111-1116,Esto-
Lettgallians apparently suffering more. In the nia had to fight the army of Prince Mstislav of
south, Lithuanians were a much stronger enemy, Novgorod three separatetimes. Hi successor,
evidencedby severaldesolatinglooting raidsto Es- PrinceVsevolod, also organisedthree campaigns
tonia. In the twelfth centurJ, Swedish and Danish during the years 1130-1134.The threecampaigns
state and church authorities continued their at- did not bring any lasting conquests.This is con-
tempts to subjugate Estonia and christen the peo- firmed by East Slavonic chronicles,which also
ple. However, there was no decisiveoutcome.At depictedcounter-raidsby Estonians.In the second
the sametime, Estoniansthemselvesbecamemore half of the twelfth century, Estonians apparently
active in organising military and looting raids to becamethe initiator of conflicts.
other areason the coastofthe Baltic Sea. Thus in the year 1777"Estoniansof the entire
In the year 1170,the nar,y of the Danish King country" organised a large campaign against
fought a battle against the Estonians and Pskov,though that was followed by a counterat-
Kurelians, who were raiding the coast of the is- tack. In 1190the shipsof"seasideChudes"also
land of Oland for two days.In the year 1187, the came under attack on Lake Peipsi, perhaps in
"pagansfrom the EastemSea"capfuredand bumt anticipation of a major campaignplannedby the
down Sigtuna, Sweden'smost important town at Estonians. Subsequently the troops of
the time. Estonians,Kurelians,Kareliansor ajoint Novgorod and Pskov conquered Tarlu in the
army of peoplesliving on the eastemcoastof the winter of I I 9 1-1192 and the fortress of Otepiiii
Baltic Sea are thought to be responsiblefor the the following summer. However, the invading
sacking of Sigtuna, which remained in ruins. army quickly departedthus the victory did not
HoweveqEstonians,especiallythoselMng on the bring south-easternEstonia under Slav rule.
coast and on Saaremaa,had good relations with In the late Ancient Times, a relative balance
Kurelians, Finns, Karelians and the people of of power reigned over the easterncoast of the
Gotland. Baltic Sea.Although the Estoniansdid not have
The danger from the east diminished in the a stateyet, they were organisedwell enough to
twelfth century as Kievan Rus had disintegrated repulse conquestattemptsby neighbours.
 JJ

6. Ancient EstonianReligion

D
l\eligion was the most important as-
pect of the spiritual life of ancient Es-
tonians. However, there was no single
ancient Estonian religion nor fixed cus-
toms characteristicof the entire Ancient
Times. In the course of the long period,
religious views underwent several
changes.New customs came about due
to changesin areasofactivity. The reli-
gion of Stone Age hunters and fisher-
men certainly differed from that of Iron
Age peoplepractising tillage and animal
husbandry. Close contact with neigh-
bouring tribes and peoples also resulted
in changesin religious views. Although
the Estonian territory is small, quite a
few regional peculiarities developed in
religious practice. This also supportsthe
theory that there was no single religion
with defined rules. Unfortunately, there
is only a vagueidea ofthis aspectofthe
lives of ancient Estonians, as very few
sources reflecting ancient beliefs and
thought have been preserved.There are
mere allusions in some older written
sources, but most of the information
were obtained from folk traditions and
folklore collected at the end ofthe nine-
teenth and beginning of the twentieth
centuries. Sorting out information that
comesfrom the Ancient Times is an ex-
The Palivere sacrificial tree.
tremely complex task. Unfortunately,
the examination of ancient cult sites by
archaeologistsfailed to yield consider-
able resultsas ofyet. places,and in the sky. The latter becameclearly
evident durine thunderstorms.
tr Words also could contain force. Using
I'orce.Forcewasoneofthecentralnotionsand words, spells could be cast, cursescould be
elementsof ancient beliefs. It was believed that placed,and illnesses could be cured. The indi-
people, like all other living creatures,possessa viduals able to do so had to possessa special
special force or power besides their physical force themselves.Such individuals were called
body. There was also force in certain objects, wizards or sorcerers.Thesepeople usually un-
34 Ancient Estonian Relision

Sacrificial
stone.

derstood nature better and could "direct" its Sakala captured the Danish bailiff of Jdrva re-
forces.The wizards passedtheir knowledge from gion, Hebbe. The Chronicle describedhow the
generationto generation,which included knowl- warriors "plucked out the heart of Hebbe, who
edge ofherbal qualities and sensitivity to natural was still alive, and roastedit over a fire, divid-
phenomena,which allowed them to predict the ing it amongst themselves and eating it to be
future with some accuracy.Estonian wizards, as strong againstthe Christians."
well as those of their easternneighbours, were -t
very famous.According to East Slavonic chroni-
5oU. The soulborethe uniqueness of an indi-
cles, "Chude" wizards were usually preferred vidual and was very important in keeping the
above their own. physicalbody alive. While sleeping,a person's
Force was not distributed evenly. The exis- soul could escapethe body temporarily, move
tence of force must havebeena reasonwhy some around, and sometimeseven settling in another
stones,springs and trees were consideredsacred person's body. In the caseofdeath, the soul left
while others, some more spectacularin appear- permanently. Opinions differed on where the
ance,were not. departedsouls end up after death.In some areas
Animals and human beings held most of their it was believed that the soul of dead people
force in their heads,hearts,blood, nails, hair, fln, could be transferred to insects,thus it was for-
and teeth.The teethand tusks of beastswere wom bidden to kill "animals of the soul" like beetles,
around the neck or attached to clothing from the spiders,ants,and others.However,the predomi-
StoneAge to the end of the Ancient Times,proba- nant belief at the time was that the soul simply
bly for the bearerto take possessionofthe force of continued in a new "home," such as a sacred
the animalsor evenjust for protection. grove or cemetery.
A slain enemy was often beheadedor had his Belief in the afterlife was important as well,
heart removed,in order to destroyhis force. Hair which affected burial customs. Omaments,
of slaveswas choppedoffto take away their force tools, utensils, weapons, and even food, were
and break down their resistance.Young women put into graves for the dead. Food and drinks
also had their hair cut offwhen they married, to were also taken to the burial sites later, some-
ensuretheir total submissionto men. times for commemorationmeals.
It was alsopossibleto take hold of an animal's The Setupeople,a kindredFinno-Ugricpeople
force by eating its organsand drinking its blood. living in south-eastEstonia, have preserved this
The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia depicts a star- custom eventoday. Once a year,relativesgatherin
tling example. In the year 1223, warriors from the cemetery sit down by the nearest grave and
 Ancient Es toniart ReI i gi,,i :

r.rvea meal after commemoratingthe dead.Some Somefairies also lived in the larm or nc.irl''.
-:ecesof meat are placed at the edgeof the grave areas.As late asthe nineteenthcentury.Tdnn. .r
.:rda drop of alcohol is pouredon the cross. home fairy was still kept in many placesarountl
The soulsolthe deadcontinueto influence the Pdrnu and Viljandi, while the Setupeople kept
ics and destiniesof their families. In late au- Peko in their granaries.The latter was taken out
..mn,betweenSt Michael's Day and St Martin's on festive occasionsconnectedwith fieldwork
).rv, it was the time of souls. At that time the andcattlebreedingonly.Home fairieswere usu-
. 'Lrisof the deadroamed,possiblyvisiting their ally more imporlant and have been considered
..,mes.To treat them, a table was set offering the demigods.
','st food, as during the autumnharvestandbutch- Compared with the ancient religions ol
::'rng time fresh foods, such as meats, bread, neighbouringpeoples,Estonianshad few domi-
:.rn-rplings and ponidge, were available.In many nating so-calledgreaterdeities.This is the most
'.-rces,food was taken behind the farmhouseto characteristic feature of ancient Estonian reli-
gion. However, the notion of a god itself was
:r.'loft, onto the poles for drying grain in the bam
known a long time before.
: to the sauna.The saunawas heated for them
.:rtlwater,soapand birch whisks were readiedfor Henry of Livonia namedonly Tarapitha as a
.,.ing a traditionalsauna.The time of soulswas deity. The namehasbeeninterpretedat times as a
.:o a euiettime, as noisedispleased them. war cry or prayer, "Taara, help!" (in Estonian,
"Taara avita!"). According to the Chronicle,
{ Taara was born in Mrumaa and later flew to
-_1.ttitude towards nature. Nature was con- Saaremaa,where he became a deity. Some ex-
-'cted closely with the lives of ancient Esto- pefis in ancientreligions think that Taarais a bor-
..rns.Peoplebelieved that they were a parl ol rowing from the ScandinavianThor, the god of
.:tufe,ord also believedthat animals,birds, in- thunder. At the sametime, easternFinno-Ugric
-,'its, plants,trees,aswell asbodiesof water,the
peoples the Khants and the Mansi have gods
...n. and the moon, had souls.Such attitudeto-
with similar soundingnames.Thereforesomere-
,rrdsnatureis calledanimism. In fact, animism searchersarguedthat the Cult of Taaramay have
. lharacteristicto all peoplesat a certainstageof
come from a more distantpast and may not have
-'rclopment. been a Germanic borrowing. It is also possible
.\ncient Estoniansin their relationswith natu- that the later cult of Uku, anotherknown deity,
. objects followed the maxim, "treat others as could have spannedthe Ancient Times.
..r expect them to treat you." If someone According to a description by Henry of
.:rned or destroyed anything, the respective Livonia, Estoniansevenhad "statuesand faces
,rl could exactrevenge;for example,the forest ofgods" on a hill (probablyEbavere)in a beau-
,rld misguide the traveller, water could drown tiful forest near the border with Virumaa that
-' swimmer, the earth could infect the healthy were cut down by Christianpriests. However,
:h disease. Therefore a friendly attitude to- religious expertsbelievethat thesewere proba-
.,:'dsnature prevailed. A11 aspectsof nature bly not statuesdepicting deities,but rather in
-':'elegardedas equal and respectedas such. memorial of dead companionsin order to pre-
.:r;ientEstonianswere far from actingas if they serve their force. The E,stonianswho witnessed
-'rc the mastersof nature. the destruction of the figures were quite sur-
prised to seethat no blood flowed from them.
This reflects the belief of the times that a statue
) pirits, fairies.gods.To theancientEstonians.
could entirely replacethe personit depicts.
,'r'ewere also spirits and fairies that guarded
-: plotectednature, such as forest "fathers" and T)
:others,"meadow"fathers" and "mothers," as .Flaces of sacrifice.Spirits.lairiesand gods
- l as field and water spirits. In North Estonia were neitherwell nor ill disposedtowardspeo-
:. \\'€reusually called fairies,probably a loan ple by nature. However, it was necessaryto be
:'J from ancient Germans. on good termswith them. Sacrihcesor offerings
36 .lncient EstonianReligion

u'ere brought to pleasethem. There were special dicting success for the endeavour. However,
cult or sacrificial sites for this purpose, such as falling on its left side was a bad omen,which in-
sacredgrovesor a singletree,springs,stones,or dicateddivine opposition.
rarely hills, lakes and rivers. Oaks and linden Sometimesthe choosing of sacrificial vic-
were regardedas sacred trees. The ground under tims fell upon the gods. For example in Tartu,
the treeswas sacred,thus cattle were not allowed during the Ancient Fight for Freedom,the gods
to go there and branches,leaves or berries were were called to choosewhether the victim would
not picked. Brancheswere often decoratedwith be a fat German priest or the stout ox on which
ribbons, yarn and strips of cloth. he rode by which leg the ox crosseda spearlaid
On the surface of some sacrificial stones on the ground. In the Tartu case,as well as an-
there were dimples with diameter 0.2 to 1 metre other similar situation documented from the
of either natural origin or man-made. In some Livonians, the gods "chose" the animal.
places some so-calledsmall-dimpledsacrificial Magic was basedon the belief of a mutual re-
stonesfound widely in the Early Iron Age were lationship between objects and phenomenalhat
still used in the late Arcient Times. could be influenced. For example,it was neces-
Sacrificialspringshave various names:sa- sary to clean the "weather spring" to bring rain
cred, health, life, weather, eye, and more. The during a drought. In case of heavy and
name often signified the characteristics of the long-lasting rain, the samespring was plugged.
spring or the water from it. Healing magic was also very important.
Sacrificing usually took place on festive days, Severalhealing springs were known in Estonia.
as well as before and after major endeavours. The water of the eye spring was supposedto
Thursdays, which was a "sacred day" for Esto- cure eyesight, while corresponding springs
nians,was consideredthe most suitableday.Milk, cured skin troubles, ear problems, and others.
meat, blood, wool, grain,
and on important occa-
sions, animals, were the
o{ferings. There is also
evidence that people
usually captured enemies
- were sacrificed some-
times.

f)
I rophecy sorcerv and
magic. Prophecy,sorcery
and magic were important
componentsof sacrifices.
They allowed for the pre-
diction of the outcome of
a coming raid or some
other endeavour, as well
as influencing the out-
come by sacrifice or sor-
cery. According to Henry
of Livonia, the will of the
gods was revealed during
animal sacrifice.Ifthe an-
imal fell on its right side,
it indicated acceptanceby
the gods or fairies, pre-
The Saula sacrificial spring.
 Ancient Estonian Reli':i,'t

SomeStone
1gependants
ittadeof bone
and horn.

rtteringswere given to the spring for its water. the Chronicle of Adam of Bremen, Archbishop
.'rirnarilysilver coinsor ornamentswere offered, Adalberl of Bremen appointed the monk
-rt poorer peoplejust gave small silver scraps. Hiltinus to be bishop (Bishop Johames) of the
ommon offerings could also be thrown into peoplesofthe Baltic Seaaroundthe year 1070.
.,-rtresprlngs. However, the missionary work spanning two
years failed to yield any results and he retumed
T
I n f l u e n c e so f C h r i s t i a n i g . A l t h o u g ht h e a n - his crosier. Around 1167, the French monk
-.s'ntbeliefs were predominantduring the late Fulco was ordainedthe Bishop of Estonia.Later
'incientTimes, Christianitywas not completely the Pope allowed Nicolaus, an Estonian-bom
..:rknowneither. Estonians had close contacts monk living at the StavangerMonastery in Nor-
,.ith neighbouring Christian peoples like way, to be his assistant.Fulco is supposedto
.nedes, Danes and Slavs. The influence of havevisitedEstonianin the early 1170s.
hristianitycan be seenin the changesof some The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia evenmen-
- -rstoms.Starting in the eleventhcentury,burials tions a few baptisedEstonians,suchas Tabelinus,
,t' bodies became more common than crema- the elder of Pudiviru, who was baptised on
L)ns.In the new type of burial, the deadlay with Gotiand.
:reir heads pointing west, similar to Christian Someelementsof Christianityalso spreadto
.:n'ial customs.Among the omamentswom ln East Estonia from the Russian principalities.
:re twelfth century, there were even some This is confirmed by the appearanceof Slavic
, r'oss-shaped bronzependants. religiousterminologyin Estonian,suchas"rist"
Since merchants from Scandinavia,Gotland, (cross),"raamat" (book) and "papp" (priest).
,nd the Russian principaiities visited Estonian Apparently the attitude towards the baptised
,'gularly,the existenceof churchesor chapels and the new religion in generalwas not hostile.
, aspossible. The fierce and uncompromising fight against
From the secondhalf ofthe eleventhcentury Christianity in the early thirteenth century was
rc Catholic Church alreadyshowedgreatinterest causedby the fact it was forced upon the native
:: spreadingChristianity in Estonia.According to population.
38

7. First Period of the Ancient Fight for

Freedom (1208-1212)

A
fLntecedents. In the l2th centurythe German In I186, he was ordainedasBishop of Livonia.
invasion to the east ("Drang nach Osten") started, Theoderich, a monk and Meinhard's assistant,
which at a later time began to influence the futrue became known as well. At first they hied to
fate of Estonians to a considerable extent. At first make the impression that spreading the faith
the Germans crossed the Elbe River and {eached was their only aim. A church and a stone for-
the southem coast of the Baltic Sea.In 1143,the tresswere built in Uexkiill (Ik5\ile in Latvia to-
town of Liibeck was founded in the territory of day). The latter was offered to the Livonians on
the subjugatedWestem Slavs,which also served the condition that they adopt Christianity. Some
as a starting point to eventsthat followed. Livonians were baptised. Among the baptised
At that stage German traders began to move was Kaupo, elder of Turaida, who became an
on the Baltic Seaand soon achieveda significant enthusiasticsupporterof the Germans.
position on Gotland. From there they travelled In the summer of ll9l Meinhard sent
to Russian towns by famlliar trading routes via Theoderich to Estonia, likely as a missionary.
the Daugavafuver or the Gulf of Finland. On the According to the Chronicle, the "pagans"
way they met and traded with Estonians, threatenedthe monk becauseof a solar eclipse,
Livonians and other Baltic peoples. as the Estoniansbelieved that he would eat up
On the advice of merchants. Meinhard. a the sun. Astronomical data indicates that on
chorister of the Augustinians, came to the Midsummernight,23 June1191,a solareclipse
Livonians living at the mouth of the Daugava and reallv did take olace.
beganpreaching Christianity there around I 184.

Military
campaigns
in the years
I 208-1212.
 First Period ofthe Ancient Fightfor Freedom (1208-1212) 39
Soon the real plans of the Germans became
er.ident to the Livonians. The baptised men
* ashedthemselvesin the DaugavaRiver and de-
clared that thereby they retum their christening
to Germany. After Meinhard's death, Berthold
*'as named the new Bishop of Livonia. At once
sharp conflicts arose between him and the
Livonians,thus the Bishop returnedto Germany.
T-|
.[)eginning of the invasion. Backed by the
Pope,Berthold gathereda strong army of crusad-
crs and came back to Livonia in the summer of
1198.However,he was killed in the first battle
held against the Livonians, despite the German
r ictory.
Albert, the Canonof Bremen,an energeticand
oower-hungry man, was ordained as the next
Bishop of Livonia. He becamethe main organiser
rnd leaderof the war of conquest.Albert gathered
.r powerful army of crusaders,sailedto the mouth
of the Daugava,and in 1201 founded the town of
Riga on a Livonian settlement.Riga becamethe
rishop's residenceand the main basefor the ensu-
:ng conquest.The entire territory plannedfor sub-
'ugation was dedicatedto the Virgin Mary thus Seal of the Order of the Sword Brethren.
Estonianand Latvian territories were then called
) Iary's Land (Maarjamaa). coastalreadyearlier. Encounterswith men from
In 1202a specialreligious order ofknighthood Saaremaahad also taken place, but these were
the Brotherhoodof the Knights of Christ - wasjust occasionalskirmishes.Ugandi becamethe
:ounded.Professionalsoldiers became members ftrst victim of an ongoing onslaught.According
of the Order.They wore long white coatsbearinga to the Chronicle,this was motivatedby an inci-
Jesign ofa red sword and a cross.Therefore the dent from long ago. Even before the town of
.-rder was called the Order of the Sword Riga was founded, the inhabitants of Ugandi
Brethren. The Master of the Order was at the were accused of attacking German merchants
read of the organisation.The membersof the or- travelling to Russianlands and of stealing their
Jer were divided into different categories. goods. Now demandswere made for the repay-
inight-brothers, whose duty was fighting, were ment of stolen goods. The Germans were sup-
:he most important. Priest-brothers dealt with pofied and encouragedby the Lettgallians, to
:hurch issues.Among servant-brothers therewere
whom Estonianswere supposedto have caused
.quires,arnourers, cooks and other craftsmen. great harm from military campaigns.The Esto-
By such a strong military force the Germans nians rejected the demands. According to the
::ranagedto subjugatethe Livonians living at theChronicle, severalrounds of negotiationsfailed
-)augavaand Gauja rivers and convert them to to yield any results and finally the envoys left,
. hristianity. It was even easier to subjugatethe
"threateningeachotherwith very sharpspears".
-ettgallians as several of their chiefs handed In the autumn of 1208, the Germans
::eir lands over to German rule without any re- punished Ugandi with their allies. The plunder-
::'.arkableresistance. ing of the land, buming of the villages and kill-
I ing the people started at once. One of the most
I nr asioninto Estonia.The strugglefor Estonia important centres of Ugandi the fortress of
-.'gan in 1208. In fact, the Germans,as well as Otepdd- was set on fire. Then the inhabitantsof
r-.' Danes.had conductedraids on the Estonian Ugandi, togetherwith those from Sakala,retali-
40 First Period ofthe Ancient Fightfor Freedom (1208-1212)

Knights and bowmen of the Order of the Sword Brethren

ated with a counter-raid on the lands of the help the defendersof the forhess. Without wait-
Lettgallians. Thus, the ancient fight for freedom ing for the arrival of the reinforcements, the
had starled for Estonians,the victims and results men of Cesis together with their allies -
of which no one could yet imagine. Livonians and Lettgallians - began following
al the Estonians.
Si"g" of Cdsis.In 1210,anothercounter-raid T)
by F.stoniansinto Latvia tookplace. A greatjoint -Elattle of Jumara. The Estonianscrossedthe
army laid siegeto the fortress of Cesis (Wenden Gauja River and, on the next day, prepared a trap
in German), which had become one of the most by its tributary the JumaralUmera in Esto-
important strongholds of the Order. Estonians nian). The pursuing force thought that the "pa-
were quite eagerand successful.They tried to set gans" had rashly fled. Scoutshad confirmed this
fire to the fort with big stacks of wood and as well. The German group led the expedition,
erected a tall siege tower. The defendersof the followed by the Livonians and the Lettgallians.
fort had a difficult time trying to repel attacks In the forest on the banks of the Jumara,the
from aboveand below. The chronicler boaststhat hidden Estoniansdelivered an unexpectedblow
many Estoniansdied from bowmen's arrows,but on the enemy.The ambushwas successful.Sev-
at the sametime concedesthat soearsfrom Esto- eral men of the Order were killed, and the
nians killed some of the Cesis defenders.The Lettgallians and Livonians also suffered losses.
battle for the fortresslastedthree daysand the de- At first the Germans tried to regroup around the
fenders could not have held their positions for battle flag, but when the allied troops fled, they
much longer, but on the fourth day the besiegers had to withdraw as well. The Estonians fol-
suddenly left. The Estonians had received word lowed their enemies,killing someand capturing
that a major army from Riga was approachingto others. Of the hundred prisoners taken. some
 First Period of the AncientFightfor Freetlon rl )tt,t_j) i )

-l

'{{t
, "1

Estonian warriors and their v)eaponty.

G=i
,'re killed at once and otherstaken back to the mans, caustngthem great iossesand aliowins
.nrara.According to the Chroniclesomeof the them to loot the enemy's equipment.The bel
Llrteenmen were burned alive, while crosses slegersbuilt a siegetower, filled the moat with
.'re cut on the backsof otherswith swordsbe_ treesand pushedthe tower againstthe fortress.
,rethey were kilied.
From there they threw spearsand shot at the de_
The victory in the battle of Jumara save ooti- fenderswith bows. The Estoniansin turn tried
ism for the future. Although the numb"erof der_ to setthe siegetower on fire. Here the Germans
.rnswho took parl in the battle was small, the also used catapultsfor the first time in their
rtory addedto the self-confidence ofEstonians. campalgn.It was used for firing stonesat the
rre announcementof the Germans' defeat was forl day and night, causingquite seriousdam_
,':rtto all districts,with the promiseto be like ',a age.Finally the Germanssucceededin destroy_
:rgleheaftand spirit againstthe Christians." ing one wall, but therewas anotherwall behind
a
J iegeof Viljandi.
rt. The Estoniansalso managedto put out the
Craduallyrhestruggleinten_ fire in the parts of the fort that were ablaze.Thev
:led.In theearlyspringof 1211,the biggestmili_ even restoredthe lorrificalionsbv the next
:'r operation pursued by the Germanswas the moming.
.icge of the fortress of Viljandi. At first nearbv
Unable to conquerthe fort in five days. the
Js wereplundered. food wastakenand people C e r m a n ss l a r l e dt o n e g o r i a toen t h e s i x i h d a v .
ro had remainedin the villageswere kiiledor As the fort suffered from the lack of water" and
)tured. Some prisoners were taken to the forl t h e r eu e r e a l s om a n yw o u n d e do r k i l l e di n s i d e .
.'r'ethey were kilied to threatenthe defenders. the eldersmadepeaceu irh rhe besiegers.
: rlrebodiesweretossedinto the moar. Onlv
priests were allowed into the fort, wh-othan be_
In the first encounternear the gate ofthe for_ gan sprinkling holy water on the fortress.
,.>. the defendersmanagedto repulsethe Ger_ h o u s e sm. e na n dw o m e n .A g e n e r acl h r i s t e n i n g
42 First Period ofthe Ancient Fightfor Freedom (1208-1212)

still did not take place; it was postponed"due to organised new campaigns into Estonia. Some
the tremendous bloodshed." Having taken the reachedover the Emaj6gi River and even once
sonsof the eldersand noblemenhostage,the for- to Jdrvaregion. In addition to the horrors of war,
eign troopshunied back. the Plague had broken out. It spread conta-
-r giously in the territories of the Lettgallians and
I he offensive bv Estonians. Estonianssoon the Livonians, as well as in Sakalaand Ugandi.
respondedto the siegeon Viljandi with a seriesof Both camps clearly neededa breather, thus fa-
counter-raids. Besides inhabitants from Sakala vourable conditions for peacetalks developed.
and Ugandi, the men of Lidnemaa and Saaremaa At first peacewas made betweenEstoniansand
also took part in theseraids. The territories ofthe the Livonians and Lettgallians. In the spring of
Lettgallians and the Livonians - allies of the Ger- l2l2,the Estoniansand Germansalsoreacheda
mans - were plundered "so that one army after mutual agreement.The Turaida armistice was
another, one left and the other came." By the to last for three years.
summer of l2ll, a plan for a serious oflensive
was composed.The aim of the offensive was to Rturron, with Russians. Tense relations
conquer the fortress of Turaida belonging to with the Russian principalities apparently also
Kaupo, the ally of Germans, and, after lhat, at- forced the Estoniansto sue for peace.In 1210,
tack Riga. According to the co-ordinated plan, the troops of Prince Mstislav the Brave of
the army ofmainland Estoniansof the Ridala and Novgorod and Prince Vladimir of Pskov laid
Rdvala regions and the naly of Saaremaagath- siege on the fort of Otepiiii for eight days. Be-
ered at Turaida on a set day. The fort was be- causeofa lack ofwater and food supplies,the
sieged and the offensive began. The besiegers Estonianshad to seekpeace.Paying 400 marks
promisedto stay thereuntil the fortresswas taken in silver (about 80 kilograms), they bought
or when the Livoniansagreedto join them in an themselvesoff the siege.
attack on Riga. Inl2l2, Mstislav the Brave once again came
Soon Germiin reinforcements arrived from to Estoniawith a big army, this time heading for
Riga and a fierce battle broke out betweenthem the Jdrva region. Henry of Livonia wrote that
and the besiegers.Livonians and German bow- since they found no Germansthere, they moved
men also rushedout of the fort. The Estoniansre- on to the Harju region and laid siegeon the for-
mained between the two attackers. They were tress of Varbola, which belonged to Estonians.
forced to withdraq but still managed to gather After a couple of days the defendersoffered sil-
on a hill betweenthe fortress and the Gauja. The ver and for 700 marks the Russianarmy tumed
battle lasted from dawn to dusk and finally the back and headedhome. However, an unpleasant
Estonians had to sue for peace, as their losses surpdse was waiting in Pskov. With the army
were great, and agreed to be christened.But at gone, Lembitu stageda raid on Pskov with his
night they boardedtheir ships insteadand tried to unit and began killing local people. But when
flee to the Baltic Sea by the Gauja. Unfortu- the Russiansbeganmaking noise,the Estonians
nately, the Germanshad built a bridge with de- fled quickly with loot and captives.Thus, in the
fensive towers on the banks of the riveq and the first period of the fight for freedom,the relations
Estonianswere met with arrows and spears.The between Estonians and Russians were rather
following night the Estonians abandonedtheir tense. To a certain extent Pskov was even the
ships and fled by foot. Germans' ally, since the daughter of Prince
The Estonians suffered great losses, but the Vladimir married the brother of Bishop Albert.
Chronicle has exaggerated them; 2,000 men According to the Chronicle, a "big group" of
killed. about 2.000 horsesremained for the Ger- Russians took part in a German raid into
mans and over 300 ships seemto be very serious Soontaganaat the turn of 1210 and 1211. This
exaggerations. information is confirmed by arrowheadsused
The opposite camp now felt more confident. by Russiansthat were found at archaeological
Germans,as well as Lettgallians and Livonians, excavationsin the stronghold of Soontagana.
 t 1
+-1

8. The Strugglein the years 1215-1221

I
l - o o t i n g r a i d s i n t o R i d a l a a n d S a k a l a .I n Lembitu. The Estoniansin the fofiress bravelv
-'-irly 1215, the Germans together with allied resisted the first attackersand "put the fear in
,rces undertook a major campaign into Ridala
them."The besiegers. however,managedto set
.:r norlhem Lddnemaa.This came as a comolete the foft on fire on the fourth day. The Estonians
. . r r p r i steo t h e E s t o n i a n sa,sl h e p e a c eo l T u r a i d a
could not extinguish the fire and thus were
, . . r :r a l i d u p t o s p r i n gT
. h eG e r m a n a s r g u e dt h a t forced to come out and surrender.But durins
' r l . vt h e U g a n d i a n d
S a k a l ar e g i o n sa n d t h e the christening the foreign army forced theii
-.,uthernparishesof Lddnemaahad participated
way into the fort and robbed it clean. Lembitu
:r thepeacedeal.This, of course,was a violation and other elders were taken prisoners.but were
: the truce. Having arrived at Ridala, the foreign released aftergiving their sonsas hostages.
.-ntywas dividedinto groupsand beganto ,r]d
:arby villages. Merciless killing and looting T
I he manoeur.reof three units. After theraid
.isted for three days. On the fourth day thev
':rned back of Ridala and the capitulation of the forlress of
to Livonia "with greatjoy,,'together
' .r t hh o r s e sc.a t t l ea n dp r i s o n e r s . Leole, the Estoniansinitiateddecisiveaction.A
large-scaleplan for a counter-attackwas drafted
In the spring of the sameyear, anarmy of Ger_
with the final aim of fully destroying the local
:rans and their allies arrived at Sakala. At first
':revmade German colony. According to the plan, men
raids in the northernparts of the dis_
lrom Saaremaa were to closethe mouth of the
: ct. Alter that they convergedat lhe fortressof
DaugavaRiver and sumoundRiea. The task of
- irhavere (Leole), of which the elder was

.VIilitary
.ultpatgns
in the
years
:15-1221

Sobntaqana

i !.?,

- -+ R u s s i a nc a m p a i g n s
, 4 a - G e r m a na n d a l l i e d
campaigns
-------->
Estoniancampaigns
D - - -> D a n i s hc a m p a i g n s
s - - - -7> )Swweeod li s hnccaammp a
p iaglncs
ii' '-
I e othercampaiqns
44 TheStrugglein the Years1215-1221

Ldhavere
fortress
mound
(fortress of
Leole).

men from Lddnemaawas to attack the Livonians At the same time the units of other regions
of Turaida, while those from Sakalaand Ugandi were active in the territories of the Livonians
had to hold down the Lettgallians to prevent the and the Lettgallians. They did not achieve any
latter, as allies of the Germans, to go and help remarkable successbecausethe people had al-
Riga. ready taken shelter in forts. The planned joint
In late April or early May 1215, men from operation did not yield the results that had been
Saaremaaclosedthe mouth ofthe Daugava.They expected.The participating forces were simply
brought old ships with them andbuild logjams at not sufficient.
the sameplace filled with stones,through which
German ships could not pass. Some of the men NT
rowed to Riga and camped on a plain near the l- \ aval battle in the \ew Port. Afler the Esto-
town. When the enemy's strong army charged nians'joint operationfailed,somecrusadersre-
out of Riga, they withdrew to the mouth of the turned to Germany.In June 1215, nine ships
Daugava to wait for reinforcements. Suddenly began theirjourney. However, upon encounter-
two crusaders' ships came into sight from the ing a storm the next night, they had to seekshel-
sea.As the pursuing army from Riga had also ar- ter in the New Porl (Uus-Sadam)on Saaremaa.
rived, the two forces trapped the Saaremaamen. When the Estoniansfound out that the ships
Considedng their lesser numbers, they were came from Riga, they immediately responded.
forced to break for the sea away from the Ger- They called for help to all of Saaremaaand sent
mans. messagesto all Estoniandistricts.They closed
the narrow harbour mouth quickly by sinking
 The Strugglein the Years1 215-l 22 I -+5
'''.\
oodenconstructions"filled with stonesto the the old claim to return the properlies taken
-,)ttom of the sea.The Germanslanded
secretly from German merchants- was once again put
:r Saaremaa,cutting foliage with their swords, forward. The Estoniansansweredthat since the
-,ir the people of Saaremaamanaged
to take Lettgallianshad killed the thievesof theseprop-
J:cht of them prisoners. erties,they could not possibly retum anything.
The Estonianssunoundedthe German shios Finally the Estoniansagreedto be christened.
. rh 200 of their own boarsand shins.Wirh rire Those in Sakala, frightened by the fate of
- l p o f t h es o u t h e mw i n d .t h eb e s i e g e rdsi r e c r e d Ugandi, also made peaceand askedpriests to
.:r_se boats,on which dry wood was buming, to- come and completethe christening.The chris-
',.rrdsthe enemy's ships.When the fire, which tening of Ugandi and Sakala that followed re-
'.e higher than the enemies' ships, reached mained incomplete,as the priests did not dare
-r'm,the wind suddenly stay for a longer time and hurried back.
tumed eastand carried
:.' burning boats away to the sea.The Estonians The christeningat Ugandi arousegreat indig-
'ued around the enemies' ships and wounded nation in Pskov. Prince Vladimir not only
'r.rny of them with spears
and arrows, but could threatened. but in fact madea lootingraid intb
)t take any of the ships. Only after two weeks Ugandi in the autumn of 1216. After that, the
...r1the Germansmanagedto break out of the people of Ugandi, with their new allies - the
- irckadeand escapeto the
open sea. Germans * started to fortify Otepriri. On the
.|- Epiphany (6 January) 1217a jointraid into Rus-
I h e S u r r e n d e ro f U g a n d ia n d S a k a l a .l n t h e sian landswas made.The time was suitableas,
...:nmer of 1275, Girmans and especiallv accordingto the Chronicle,the Russianswere
- r t e a l l i a n us n d e r t o o ks e v e r adl e v a s t a t i nrga i d s rejoicing with feasts and celebrations at that
:o Ugandi. According to the Chronicle, they time. Forces from Ugandi came home from the
. -'reso frequent that foreign troops were looting counter-raidwith prisoners,cattle, horses and
:nost without break. The enemy promised to other loot.
:ht until the Estonians adopted Christianity or
\/
,'r would be exterminated. The situation of V ictory at Otepiiii.Only now did Pskovand
-:andi was now hopeless.There was no help Novgorod begin to realise the danger from the
.rilableand the dangerfrom the Russianprinci- German side. They decided to move against
,.itieshad to be consideredas well. Therefore them togetherwith the Estonians.First of all,
.: \ oys were sentto Riga suing for peace.There they fomed an alliance with Saaremaa.The lat-

utepaa
| 0rl reSS
trtound.
46 The Struggle in the Years1215-1221

ter had planned alreadyjoint action againstRiga middle, the Livonians on one side and the
in 1216 with another Russian principality, Lettgallians on the other wing. On St Mat-
Polotsk. However, the sudden death of Prince thew's Day (21 September) 1217, the two ar-
Vladimir cancelledthat joint endeavour. mies met 10-11 kilometres from Viljandi,
In February 1217, a big Russian army arrived probably near the site of the Risti chapel. The
at Otepiiii. Men fiom Saaremaa,Harju and even Estonian unit were waiting in the woods and
those previously baptised from Sakala joined from there it sprang on the enemy in three
them. The besiegers of the forhess of Otepdd groups.
were estimated at 20,000 men. The naturally Fierce fighting ensuedfor many hours. The
well-protected fort was strongly fortified and Estonianswere most successfulon the Livonian
thus the siegelasted for seventeendays. wing, forcing them to retreat.However,the Ger-
Some3,000men, headedbythe Masterof the mans decidedto break through the centre of the
Order, travelled from Riga to help the besieged Estonianunit, which eventuallydecidedthe out-
Germans.Near the fortress abaltle broke out be- come of the battle. Stepby step they succeeded
tween them and the besiegers. The Germans in doing this and the Estonianshad to retreat. A
managed to force their way into the fortress, part of the Germans then went to help the
though losing many men in the process. Inside Lettgallians on the side "fighting bravely and
the situation had become critical. The extended holding out for a long time" against the men
siegereducedfood and fodder suppliesto a mini- from Sakala, according to the Chronicle. Now,
mum. Horses even ate each other's tails due to surroundedby enemieson both sides,they tried
hunger. On the third day after the arrival of the to withdraw and regroup.The force from Sakala
Germanreinforcements,negotiationsbegan.Ac- suffered heavy lossesand Lembitu and several
cording to the peace heaty, Germans were re- other elders were killed. The Estonians that
quired to departfrom Otep6d,but also from all of startedto attack on another front met the resis-
Estonia. This was their greatestdefeatin the cru- tance of the Livonians and a new group of Ger-
sadeso far. mans who had just arrived, forcing the
Estonians to retreat as well. According to the
T Chronicle, the Germans chasedthe fleeing Es-
I he battle of St Matthew's Day. Estonians
tried to advance the victory at Otepiiii further. It tonians into the woods and swamps,and killed
up to a thousand of them. The enemy's losses
was considered impodant to maintain the alli-
were not recorded, but the Livonian elder
ance with the Russiansand envoys were sent to
Kaupo was mortally wounded in the battle.
Novgorod with many gifts. Novgorod indeed
promised to help. Estonians themselves also After the battle, foreign troops camped in
startedraising troops. Lembitu becamethe main Lembitu's village and looted nearby territories
organiser. In the few years, the Germans had for three days. The elders of Sakala that were
made campaignsand looting raids to the regions still alive made peace again and offered hos-
of Harju, Ldnnemaa, Jdwa, and even Saaremaa. tages.The battle of St Matthew's Day was a se-
Therefore Estonians from all over the country rious defeat for the Estonians,but this did not
joined the army. The chronicler Henry of Livonia break the resistance.The Germans did not feel
mentioned that warriors from Sakala, Ridala, secure either. Bishop Albert even realised that
Harju, Viru, Riivala and Jdrva- altogetherabout they could no longer cope with the situationon
6,000 men - gatheredat the Paala(now Navesti) their own. In the summer of 1218, he met King
River in Sakala.There they waited for the troops ValdemarII of Denmark and askedfor his help.
from Novgorod.
T\
Having heard of the Estonians' plans, the en- I-f anesconquer northern Estonia.Denmark
emy hurried to stall the arrival of troops from had made attempts earlier to conquer some Es-
Novgorod. Some 3,000 selected warriors soon tonian territories, but up to that point Estonians
arrived at Sakala. From there the army moved had managed to repulse these attempts. In the
forward, ready for battle, with the Germans in the summer of 1219, after careful planning, alarge
 The Struggle in the Years1215-i221 11

Seal of Danish King

ValdemarIL

. ).rnishnavy arrivedat the porf of Tallinn. King in 1220.The chroniclerHenry of Livonia com-
. .rldemarII himself led of the campaign.Several plained that Danish priestssent
their assistants
:her high state and church officials also took further into areasin Virumaa and Jdrva and let
-,rrt in the campaign.The Danes
took the Esto- them erect wooden crossesin villages as ifthe
r::ns' forlress without meeting any resistance. christening had already taken place. The Danes
- .rcaleldersand envoyseven appearedfriendly were also rumoured to have forbidden the oeo-
,u ardsthem. p l e o f V i r u m a at o a d o p tC h r i s r i a n i tfyr o m G e r -
Actually the Estonians secretly organised a man priests.The chroniclerwrites that because
'rce and, after three days (on the evening of 15 of this, the Danes
hung Tabelinus,the most fa-
..ne),attackedthe Danish camp from five fronts. mous elder of Virumaa. Such disnutesclearlv
't first the Estonianswere successful.They even s h o w e dt h a t s p r e a d i n C g h r i s r i a n i tw
y asonly a
..rnagedto reachthe tent of Theoderich,who had pretext for conquering the country.
-,'en named the bishop
of Estonia.Theoderich
:s killed and the enemy was forced to retreat. T I h e S n e d i s hr o y a l a r m y i s s m a s h e dl.n r h e
.-:ddenly, approachingfrom a distance,a unit of
summer of 1220,the Swedisharmy headedby
, rstem Slavs,headedby Prince Vitslav, attacked
the young King Johan and his bishops invaded
:: Estonians.The Danes regroupedtheir forces Lddnemaa.
They settledin the forlress of Lihula
.:rdsecureda victory. According to somelegends, and tumed
it into their stronghold. The Swedes
:'edbanner with a white cross,which fell from moved
around in Lddnemaa,baptisedthe people
-. sky during the battle,had actually brought the and starled
to build churches.Having left his es-
.'tory. Later it becameDenmark's national flag: cort in Lihula,
': Dannebrog. King Johanreturred to Sweden.
In the eariy moming of 8 August when it
After the victorious battle, the Danes built a dawned,
a big army from Saaremaaanived,at
::ong stonefortressin Tallinn. The christening Lihula.
The fort was encircled and set ablazein
: the people of Rdvala region followed this, the course
of the fierce battie.The Swedishin-
rrch was a year-longstruggle.The Danestried vasion
endedin completedefeatand the fort fell
subject other northern Estonian regions as into the hands
of the Estonians.Accordins to
-'ll, which arousedprotestsfrom the German t h e C h r o n i c l e ,
a l m o s ta l l o f ' t h e 5 0 0 S w e d e s
.:np.In late l2I9 and early 1220,theylaunched were killed
and only a few escapedand reached
-,ting raids into Jdrva, Virumaa and Harju re- Tallinn. For
Estonians,this was a very important
,rnsand baptisedpart of the local population. victory raising new hope and belief in their own
Sincebaptismwas the outer sign of subjuga- strength.The
Swedishelite army was smashed
n. a peculiar victoros christening took place and thus
the entire attempt at conquest fell
through.
48

9. Final Stageof the Fight for Freedom

(1222-1227)
-t
J""."-uu on the offensive.The Swedishde- posedof men from all villages andparishes,and
feat at Lihula incited men from Saaremaato con- requestedassistancefrom Lddnemaa.Represen-
tinue their fight. ln 1221,they made an attemptto tatives of Saaremaawent to Varbola where a
conquer Tallinn together with warriors from catapult, presentedby the Danes, was located.
Rdvala, Harju and Virumaa. They laid siege on They studied its construction carefully, which
the forhess for fourteen days and repulsed all al- allowed them to build seventeensuchweapons.
lies of the Danes.Unexpectedly,four ships came They were set up in front of the Danish fortress
into sight at sea,to which the attacking force be- and a serious siege began. For ftve days they
lieved was the Danish King's army. They ended fired stonesinto the fortress with the catapults.
the siege and left. The defenders suffered great losses. Arrows
ln 1222 the Danish army, lead by King shot by bowmen also killed some of the men
ValdemarII, landed on'Saaremaa,where they be- from Saaremaa,but this did not stop the siege.
gan to build a stoneforhess. The island's inhabit- Finally the Daneshad to acceptthe proposals
ants immediately attempted to hinder the of the besiegers. The fortress surrendered to
building of the fort, but their attempts were re- Saaremaa.Most of the Danes were allowed to
pulsed this time. Whenthe building of a prelimi- leave, but sevenofthem and the brother ofthe
nary wall to the fortress was finished, Valdemar Bishop of Riga were taken hostage.The victori-
II left Saaremaa,leavinghis men there. ous side also destroyedthe fort to such an extent
that not a sinele stonewas left in its walls.
Saaremaa's inhabitants immediately organ-
ised a counteraltack. They raised a force com-

Military
campaigns
in the
years
I 222-1227.
-I- The strongholdswere reinforced. catapult:
I he generaloffensiveby the Estonians.En- were built everywhereand the handling of bou s
-.,uragedby the victory, the men of Saaremaa taken from the Germanswere taught to one an-
.,rr plannedto push their enemiesout of the en- other.Soon foreign troopsundertooknew raids
:.,' country. The messageof their victory was into southem E,stonia,to which the Estonians
-,'ntall over the country,inviting all Estoniansto
respondedwith counter-raids.In the spring of
,llow in their example.Envoys hurried to the 7223,EsIonianforceslauncheda major looting
'rrinland where they instructed others on the
raid in the district of Jumara.A strongGerman
-,,nstructionand use of catapultsand otherarms. force hur:riedthere upon learning about it. They
',,i first the fort of
Varbola was liberated, where made an unexpectedattack on the Estonians
. ,r.neDanes and their priests were killed. The while they were crossingthe JumaraRiver.Al-
:r-nof Viru and Jdrvawere more reserved.They though the E,stonianforces "bravely resisted,"
:.itheredtheir priestsand sentthem to Tallinn. accordingto the Chronicle, the Germanswon
Thosein Sakalawere considerablymore mili- the secondbattle of Jumara.
.:nt. On Sunday,29 January1223, they forced
In the summerof 1223,an 8,0O0-strong army
:eir way in the fortress of Viljandi during a
of Germansand their auxiliary forcesarrivedat
-:rLrrchservice.Brothers of the Order. servants.
the fortressof Viljandi. A violent siege lasted
:.rclesmenand even a bailiff were killed. The
for two weeks.Both sidesusedcatapults,bows
::rer Germanswere put in chains. Some men
and other effectiveweapons.The enemy could
-'nt further to the fortress of Leole, where they
not completelyconquerthe fortress.The Esto-
d the local men to act in the sameway. Subse-
nians, however, were forced to surrender be-
..entlythe same Sakala force anested Hebbe,
cause of numerous failen men and a lack of
-' bailiff of Jdrva, and took him to Viljandi.
water, and were obliged once again to adopt
::bbe's heart was tom fi'om his chestwhile he
Christianity.
.,s still alive, roastedit on a fire and eatento-
-'ther ritually "to become strong against the
:rristians". L o - o p e r a t i o n w i t h R u s s i a n s .A l r e a d y i n
The eldersof Viljandi sent a messageof vic- 7222, Estonians realised that their own forces
:'r to Otepddand Tar1u,inviting all Estoniansto were not sufficient.So they quickly established
.low in their example.To the men of Tarlu they contactswith PskovandNovgorod.The negoti-
Jnt swordscoveredwith the blood of Germans, ationswere successful.This time their renewed
. nell as horsesand clothing gained from the allies did not confinethemselvesonly to future
.'tory. Soon Otepii?iand Tartu were also free. promises,but also sent an auxiliary force. The
::ebodiesof their deadenemieswere left, as in allied warriorsrnerestationedat Tartu,Viljandi
..,ka1a,scatteredover fields upon which birds and some other forlresses,where afins?money
J dogspreyed. and other belongings taken from the Germans
T h r o u g h o uEt s t o n i at h e r ew e r ea c t i o na g a i n s t were distributedto them.
-' enemy.By quick and decisive action the en- The eldersofSakalaevensenttheir envoysto
'; country was liberated. Only the attempts to Suzdal with money and numerous gifts. The
.erate Tallinn failed. Everything that symbol- Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal sent his
.-'d Christianity was destroyed and ancestral brother, Yaroslav, to Estonia tn late 1223. The
.>tomswere revived.The dead,buried accord- men from Saaremaawho had cometo meethim
-: to Christian tradition, were exhumedand cre- invited the 20,000-strongallied army to take
.,tu-d accordingto ancientcustoms.Individuals, part in the siege of Tallinn. While passing
- * ell as housesand fortresses,were washedto through Sakala,Yaroslavheardthat recently the
- urovethe christening.Thoseprisonerstakenby Germans, after conquering the forl of Viljandi,
.:onianswere exchangedfor hostagesheld by hung the Russiandefendersofthe fortress.This
-' Germans.The envoys of Sakalawere sent to filled the Duke with rage that he exacted"great
:a with a messagedeclaringthat peacewould punishment" on Sakala.Togetherwith the E,sto-
r itppreciated,but "the Christian faith would nians,the army of Yaroslavlaid siegeon Tallinn
- . !'l' be acceptedas long as there is a single for four weeks,but could not conquerthe town.
,'-\'earold or one-ell tall boy in the country." According to the Chronicie, Yaroslav's forces
50 Final Stageofthe Fightfor Freedom(1222-1227)

on 15 August. They once again tried to

persuade Prince Vyachko to break off
from the Estonians, but the Prince re-
jected the proposal,hoping for the arrival
of reinforcementspromised to him.
A serious siege began. Bigger and
smaller catapults were built that were
usedfor throwing stonesand hot iron - or
so-called fire-pots - into the fortress. In
eight days a tall siegetower was built and
was gradually pushed closer to the for-
tress.By digging from beloq the besieg-
ers also hollowed the earth surrounding
the fortress.Theyplaced stacksofwood
together and set them ablaze, allowing
the flames to reach the fortress. The de-
fendersfired stoneswith their catapults.
and attacked the besiegerswith arrows.
Even at night the two sides did not let
each other rest, as war gameswere held
and men shouted at one another, struck
swords against shields, banged drums
and blew whistles and trumpets.
Finally the Germansdecidedin favour
of storming the fortress.The soldier who
Catapult. breaks into the fortress first was prom-
A - loading position, B -firing position. ised great honours and prizes of horses
and the most important prisoner with
the exception ofVyachko. They already
decided to hang Vvachko.
left angrily and returned to their homeland, The Germans indeed succeededin storming
though looting villages in Rdvala on their way the fortress. About a thousand Estonians,both
back. men and women, were killed. At the sametime
Inlate 1223, Prince Vyachko arrived in Tartu many Russians,including Vyachko, were also
with two hundred men. Vyachko had been slain. According to the Chronicle, only one
granted from Novgorod the right to govern in man) a vassalof the Grand Duke of Suzdal,was
Tartu and all other districts in which he could left alive. He was sent back east to give an ac-
subjectto his power. This was, in fact, an attempt count ofwhat had happenedin Tartu.
to establish a Russian principality in Estonia. With the fall of Tartu, the entire Estonian
The people of Ugandi were forced to endure ev- mainland fell under foreign rulers. Only
erything since assistanceto the fight againstthe Saaremaaremained free for the time beins.
Germanswere neededurgently.The districts that
refusedto pay tribute to Vyachko fell under loot- T
I he finale on Saaremaa.ln January1227,
ing raids.
when the sea was covered with thick ice, the
Germansraised a strong force. According to the
D"t*rr"" of Tartu. The Germans gradually Chronicle 20,000 men set off for Saaremaa.
succeededin extending their power in Estonia From the mouth of the Pdrnu River they moved
and by the summer of 1224, Tartu had remained on the frozen sea. As the ice was supposedto
the onlypoint of resistanceon the Estonianmain- have been very slippery they reached the for-
land. The town had withstood two sieges. The tress of Muhu only on the ninth day. Seeing
Germans made thorough preparations and ar- such a big army, the men of Muhu offered peace
rived at Tartu with a great force for the third time and promised to adopt Christianity. Most of the
 Final Snge of theFight.for Freedom (I 2: : _I : : - )

J:ntansdid not agreewith this, thereforethey conquered the land

with systernaticloorir:s
r 5iegeto the fortress.The first artemptat r a i d s .E s t o n i a nhsa d
t o s u r v i r ef i f t v s u c h. l e . , r _
:rtiing the fortresswas repulsedby stonesand l a t i n g c a m p a i g n sa n d
- 'u s.The besiegers t r y r o r e s p o n dr o r h e r e
firedsronesinio thefort bv campaignswith counter-raids.
. : . r p u l re
s .r e c t e a
d s i e g et o w e ra n dh o l l o w e dt h e The odds were in their enemies'favour.The
: .:'rharoundthe fortress.
knights of the Order wereprofessionalwaniors
The men of Muhu fought bravely and only on with good
training and experience.They could
-' sixth day did the superior forces succeedin u s et h e
b e s ta n d m o s ta d v a n c e w d eapono s lthc
..hing their way into the forl, where a massacre t i m e .T h e y
a l s oc o u l dr e c r u i mI o r em e nc o n t i n u _
,'r ensued.The forlress'sproperties,horsesand ously. In
addition to the Germans,Estonians
.:rlewererobbedandthe forlresswasbumt down. also
had to fight againststrongmilitary powers
From there the foreign army proceeded to like Denmark
and Sweden.The most imoofianr
\ rljala, which was the biggestand strongestfor_
a n dm o s li n f l u e n t i al lo r c ei n E u r o p et,h e R o m a n
-'rS on Saaremaa.Looting raids were under_ C a t h o l i cC h u r c h .
a l s o s t o o d b e h i n dr h e c o n _
.\!'n to nearbyvillages and the ill-gotten goods querors.The indulgence
promisedby the pope
-':e collectednear the forlress.Catapultswere and the hope for quickly
becoming rich con_
. ,Jied and preparations were made to erecta stantly attractednew crusaders.
-'getower. Estimating the situation that had de_
The conquerorswere good diplomats.They
-.oped,especiallythe fact that the fortresswas
subjugatedthe Livonians, Lettgallians and Es_
, . ofpeople and that the fortressdid not offer
toniansone by one and madeuseof and intensi_
r:lter from stonesand arows! the leadersof
- ..iremaaopted for peace.The Germans. fied the disagreements amongthem.
figur_ The united actionsby Estonians,the organi_
_-that a siegewould result in more casuaities sation
.:nthe taking of Muhu, agreedto negotiate. of the army and armamentwas adeiuate
f o r s i n g l ec a m p a i g n sU. p t o r h e ni t h a db e e ns uf _
\t first, the Germansdemandedthat the sons
ficient, but this was no longerthe caseagainsta
:iders be given as hostages.They were bap-
. - ' Ja t o n c e .H a ri n g c o n s e c r a t et hde w e l l i n t h e systematic conquest.However,in the courseof
the struggle Estonians improved themselves
.:rtyardof the fortress,a numberof priestsbe_
quickly: they took new affns into use.learned
: b a p t i s i n gm e n . w o m e na n d c h i l d r e n .S o o n
how to lay siegeto strongFortresses, andfought
,oys from other forts and parishes on
, .,fcfi.litd field battlessuccessf,ully. For a long time rhley
beganto arrive, asking to be chris-
were able to meet their enemiesequally.One of
-.1.Thusthe priesrsbaptisedrhepeopleon the
t h e e n e m i e sS . w e d e nw . a s e \ e n d e f e a t e dB. u t
::rc island.
the long war exhaustedthe people,despitehav_
The Estonians' Ancient Fieht for Freedom
rng sacrificedeverything.Finally, the Estonians
- c o m er o a n e n da n dt o g e t h ewi i r h t h i st h ea n -
sufferedprimarily from the lack of manoower.
j:tt times or the ancient independenceperiod
.: alsoended. T h e E s t o n i a nhs a d n o t d e v e l o p e rdh e i ro w n
s t a t ey e t a n d t h e c o n l a c t sb e t w e e ni n d i v i d u a l
D districtswere loose.This preventeda united re_
l \ e a s o n s f o r t h e d e f e a t . F o r a b o u t t w e n t y sistance.The lack
of co-operationwith nearbv
. , - : . E s t o n i a nhsa dd e f e n d e tdh e i r . o r n t r uu r r i n e i g h b o u r s- ( h e
L e t r g a l i i a n sL,i v o n i a n ,u n d
. r p e o p l ea s w e l l a s t h e yc o u l d .T h e i re n e m i e s Lithuanians- was
also a weak point. In the ini_
. 'ossbow
'lfbty mechanism of
"te crossDow
:rrows/bolts
'lre stock
"ltebow
'lte cord
:lte safety disc
'ite saJbty
lever
';te
steel spring.
52 Firul Stageofthe Fightfor Freedom(1222-1227)

tl
) : l,lr:

; '
Aview ofthe courtyardfrom the ruins ofthefortress ofValjala.

tial stage of the fight for freedom, forces from their agreementsand this seriouslyhinderedthe
Russian lands were a serious problem as well. Estonians' plans for action.
Although later some joint operations were ar- Although the Estonians were finally forced
rangedwith Pskov and Novgorod, the,Estonians to surrender,the ancientfight for freedom occu-
had to offer concessions- enticing them into pies an important place in its history. Indeed,ev-
frghting with money and gifts, enduring their erything was done to preserve freedom. The
looting raids, and in a senseacknowledgingtheir brave resistanceoftheir ancestorsinspired the
pretensionsfor supremacy in some districts. In Estonian people to continue the fight for free-
addition, the Russians did not always adhere dom and indenendencefor cenfuriesto come.