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Danish Estonia

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Estonia was a dominion of Denmark during Middle Ages. Between 1206 and 1645 Denmark for several periods of time either held claims to, or ruled over, parts of present-day Estonia.

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Danish Estonia 1206 - 1346

Scandinavia in 1219. The realms of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Sword Brethren. In yellow, the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Ösel) claimed by Denmark (conquered by the Sword Brethren in 1227) and the territories conquered by Denmark in northern Germany.
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Scandinavia in 1219. The realms of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Sword Brethren. In yellow, the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Ösel) claimed by Denmark (conquered by the Sword Brethren in 1227) and the territories conquered by Denmark in northern Germany.

Denmark rose as a great military and merchant power in the 12th century. It had an interest to end the occasional Estonian and Couronian pirate attacks that threatened its Baltic trade. Danish fleets made attacks against Estonia in 1170, 1194, and 1197. In 1206 King Valdemar II and archbishop Andreas Sunonis made a raid to Ösel (Saaremaa) island. The islanders were forced to submit and the Danes built a fortress there, but they found no volunteers to man it. They burned it down themselves and left the island. However, they laid a claim to Estonia as their possession, which was recognized by the pope.

In 1219 Valdemar gathered a fleet of hundreds of ships against the Estonians, led by the archbishop, bishops and the army of Rugians under their prince Wizlav. They landed in Lyndanisse (Tallinn) harbor in the province of Revelia (Revala, Rävälä, later merged into Harria province) in northern Estonia. According to a legend, the first ever flag of Denmark fell from sky and helped the Danes to win the battle against Revelians and Harrians. The date of the battle, June 15th, is the annual holiday of Valdemarsdag in present Denmark.

The Order and Denmark agreed to divide Estonia but had quarrel over the exact borders. In 1220 King of Denmark agreed to submit southern Estonian provinces Sakala and Ugaunia that were already conquered by Sword Brethren. Bishop Albert submitted to Denmark the provinces of Harria (Harju), Vironia (Viru) and Jerwia (Järva). 1227 the Livonian Order conquered all Danish territories, but, according to the treaty of Stensby, returned Harria and Vironia to Denmark in 1238 while Jerwia was ceded to the Order. For their new colony, Danes compiled a taxation list called Liber Census Daniae (1220-1241), which is important geographic and historic document, containing about 500 Estonian place names and names of 114 local vassals.

The capital of Danish Estonia was Lyndanisse (Tallinn) from their invasion in 1219. Danes built a fortress there which is called Castrum Danorum in the chronicle of Henry of Livonia or 'Danish castle'. Estonians still call their capital "Tallinn", which according to one popular theory is a derivation from Taani linna, having exactly the same meaning. Danes built a big stone castle in the Domberg (Toompea) area. Lyndanisse became also the seat of a bishopric with was a suffragan to the archbishop of Lund. Around the castle, German settlers founded a major trading town. Reval (Lyndanisse) was granted Lübeck city rights (1248) and joined the Hanseatic League.

In Vironia, the main power centers were Wesenberg (Rakvere) and Narva, built on site on old Estonian fortresses known in Old East Slavic chronicles as Rakovor and Rugodiv, respectively. Wesenberg was granted Lübeck city rights on 1302 by King Erik Menved. Narva received these rights in 1345.

The rule of Denmark was not very strong in the province. Danish army was sent to the province only occasionally. In 1240-1242 Denmark went to war against Novgorod and tried to extend its rule to the land of Votians. King Valdemar sent his sons Abel and Canute to support the campaign of his vassals but did not gain any new territories. Danish king Erik Plogpennig visited Estonia in 1249. Danish fleet sailed to Reval in 1268 and 1270 against Russian and Lithuanian threat.

The local military power was based on powerful vassals of Danish king, who received big land grants in exchange of military service. Most of the vassals were Germans from Westphalia area but some (Clemens Esto, Otto Kivele, Odwardus Sorseferae etc.) were local Estonian elders. The chronicler Ditleb Alnpeke (1290) complains that king of Denmark accepts Estonians as his vassals. In 1248 the vassals and burgers of Reval already had a local legislative body ritterschaft.

While the province was split between pro-Danish party (bishop Olaf of Lyndanisse) and pro-German party (captain Marquard Breide), the Estonians of Harria started a big rebellion in 1343 (St.George's Night Uprising). The province was occupied by the Livonian Order as a result. In 1346, the Danish dominions in Estonia (Harria and Vironia) were sold for 10 000 marks to Livonian Order, ignoring the promise by Chistopher II of Denmark in 1329 to never abandon or sell its Estonian territories. The king of Denmark even made public statement about "repenting" for breaking that promise and asked forgiveness from the Pope.

Danish province of Ösel

In 1560 the king of Denmark bought the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek from the last prince-bishop. The possession was given as an appanage to the brother of the king of Denmark, Magnus Herzog von Holstein. Danmark ceded Wiek (Läänemaa) to Poland in exchange for Livonian possessions in Ösel. In 1572 Ösel was transferred to direct administration by Denmark. In 1645 it was ceded from Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Brömsebro.

Danish Governors of Estonia

Danish Governors of Ösel

See also

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