Duchy of Estonia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1219–1346 1559–1645 | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Flag  Seal of KingValdemar II of Denmark (1219) | |||||||||||||||
 Territories that were part of theKingdom of Denmark from 1219 to 1645 | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Direct dominion of theKing of Denmark | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Reval (Tallinn) | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Danish,Estonian,Low German | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||||
| King of Denmark | |||||||||||||||
• 1219–1241 | Valdemar II | ||||||||||||||
• 1340–1346 | Valdemar IV | ||||||||||||||
• 1559–1588 | Frederick II | ||||||||||||||
• 1588–1645 | Christian IV | ||||||||||||||
| Viceroy | |||||||||||||||
• 1344–1346 | Stigot Andersson | ||||||||||||||
| Governor of Øsel | |||||||||||||||
• 1562–1567 | Heinrich Wulf | ||||||||||||||
• 1643–1645 | Ebbe Ulfeld | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 1219 | ||||||||||||||
| 15 June 1219 | |||||||||||||||
• Tallinn joinsHanseatic League¹ | 1248 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1346 | ||||||||||||||
• Danish Ösel | 1559–1645 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Today part of | Estonia | ||||||||||||||
1Wesenberg (Rakvere) was granted Lübeck city rights in 1302 byKing Erik Menved.Narva received these rights in 1345. | |||||||||||||||
TheDuchy of Estonia[1] (Estonian:Eestimaa hertsogkond,Danish:Hertugdømmet Estland[2]Latin:Ducatus Estoniae[3]), also known asDanish Estonia, was a direct dominion (Latin:dominium directum) of theKing of Denmark from 1219 until 1346 when it was sold to theTeutonic Order and became part of theOrdensstaat.
Denmark rose as a great military and mercantile power in the 12th century. It had an interest in ending the frequentEstonian attacks that threatened its Baltic trade. Danish fleets attacked Estonia in 1170, 1194, and 1197. In 1206, KingValdemar II and archbishopAndreas Sunonis led a raid on Ösel island (Saaremaa). TheKings of Denmark claimed Estonia, and this was recognised byPope Honorius III. In 1219, the fleet of Valdemar II landed in the harbor of Lindanise (Tallinn) and defeated the local Estonians in theBattle of Lindanise. This brought northern Estonia under Danish rule until theEstonian uprising in 1343, after which the territories were taken over by theTeutonic Order. They were sold by Denmark in 1346.
During theLivonian crusade in 1218,Pope Honorius III gave Valdemar II a free hand to annex as much land as he could conquer in Estonia. Besides,Albert of Riga, the leader of the Teutonic crusaders fighting the Estonians from the south, visited the king and asked him to attack the Estonians from the north.[4]
In 1219, Valdemar gathered his fleet, joined forces with the navy led by prince Wizlav ofRügen,[4] and landed on the northern coast of Estonia in theLindanise (now Tallinn) harbor in the Estonian province ofRevala. According to the legend, the nationalflag of DenmarkDannebrog was born at this time, falling from the sky during a critical moment in the fight and helping the Danes to win theBattle of Lindanise against the Estonians. The date of the battle, 15 June, is to this day celebrated asValdemarsdag (the national "flag day") in Denmark.
The order ofLivonian Brothers of the Sword had conquered southern Estonia whilst Denmark had taken the North, and the two agreed to divide Estonia but quarreled over the exact borders. In 1220, the King of Denmark gave up his claim on the southern Estonian provinces ofSakala andUgaunia, which had already been conquered by Brothers of the Sword. Bishop Albert ceded to Denmark the Estonian provinces ofHarria,Vironia andJerwia.
In 1227, theLivonian Brothers of the Sword conquered all Danish territories in northern Estonia. After their defeat in theBattle of Saule, the surviving members of the order merged into theTeutonic Order of Prussia in 1237. On 7 June 1238 the Teutonic Order concluded theTreaty of Stensby at a royal fortress in the south ofZealand with the Danish king, Valdemar II. Under the treaty, Jerwia stayed part of the Ordenstaat, while Harria and Vironia were ceded back to King of Denmark as his direct dominion, the Duchy of Estonia. The firstDuke of Estonia had been appointed by Valdemar II in 1220, and the title was now resumed by the kings of Denmark starting in 1269.[5]
Due to its status as the king's personal dominion, the Duchy of Estonia was included in a nationwide Danish taxation listLiber Census Daniæ (Danish:Valdemar Sejrs Jordebog) (1220–41), an important geographic and historic document. The list contains about 500 Estonian place names and the names of 114 local vassals.
The capital of Danish Estonia wasReval (Tallinn), founded at the place ofLindanise after the invasion of 1219. The Danes built the fortress ofCastrum Danorum atToompea Hill.[6] Estonians still call their capital "Tallinn", which, according to an urban legend, derives fromTaani linna (Danish town or castle). Reval was grantedLübeck city rights (1248) and joined theHanseatic League. Even today, Danish influence can be seen in heraldic symbols: the city of Tallinn's coat of arms features the Danish cross, whilecoat of arms of Estonia depicts three lions, similar to thecoat of arms of Denmark.
In 1240, Valdemar II created theBishopric of Reval but, contrary tocanon law, reserved the right to appoint the bishops of Reval to himself and his successors as king of Denmark. The decision to simply nominate the See of Reval was unique in the whole Catholic Church at the time and was disputed by bishops and the Pope. During this period, the election of bishops was never established in Reval, and royal rights over the bishopric and to nominate the bishops were even included in the treaty when the territories were sold to Teutonic Order in 1346.[7]
First mentioned in 1240, the duchy was locally governed by aviceroy (Latin:capitaneus) appointed by the king and functioning as his plenipotentiary. The viceroy had administrative powers, he collected the taxes, and he commanded the vassals and the troops in case of war. Most of the viceroys were either of Danish or Danish-Estonian nationality.[8]
In Vironia, the main power centers were Wesenberg (Rakvere) andNarva, built on the site of the old Estonian fortresses ofRakovor andRugodiv.[9] Wesenberg was granted Lübeck city rights in 1302 byKing Erik Menved. Narva received these rights in 1345.
The vassals of the Danish king receivedfiefs perdominum utile in exchange for military and court services. The vassals' oath to a new king had to be sworn for a "year and a day". One researcher has estimated that 80% of the vassals were Germans fromWestphalia, 18% were probablyDanes, and only 2% had distinctlyEstonian names (Clemens Esto, Otto Kivele, Odwardus Sorseferæ, etc.).[10] The chroniclerDitleb Alnpeke (1290) complained that the king of Denmark was accepting Estonians as his vassals. Danish rule was more liberal in this respect than that of the Brothers of the Sword, in whose territories no natives were allowed to become lords of fiefs.[10] In 1248, the vassals and burgers of Reval already had a local legislative body orritterschaft.
The Danish army only visited the province occasionally. In 1240–42,Denmark went to war againstNovgorod and tried to extend its rule to the land ofVotians. King Valdemar sent his sons Abel and Canute to support his vassals' campaign, but they did not win any new territory. The Danish kingErik Plogpennig visited Estonia in 1249, and the Danish fleet sailed to Reval in 1268 and 1270 againstNovgorodian andLithuanian threats.
In August 1332, KingChristopher II of Denmark died and Denmark fell into political turmoil. The province in Estonia became split between a pro-Danish party led by Bishop of Reval,Olaf of Roskilde, and the pro-German party led by captainMarquard Breide. After the Estonians of Harria rebelled in theSt. George's Night Uprising of 1343, theTeutonic Order occupied the territories. The overthrow of the Danish government came two days after the Order had put down the Estonian revolt, and the Danish viceroy was imprisoned in cooperation with the pro-German vassals. The castles in Reval and Wesenberg were handed over to the Order by the pro-German party on 16 May 1343, and the castle at Narva in 1345. In 1346, Estonia (Harria and Vironia) was sold for 19,000Cologne marks to theTeutonic Order, notwithstanding the promise byChristopher II in 1329 never to abandon or sell Denmark's Estonian territories. The king of Denmark even made a public statement repenting breaking that promise and asking forgiveness from thePope. The shift of sovereignty from Denmark to the Teutonic Order took place on 1 November 1346.[11]
The title of "Duke of Estonia" which had been held by the kings of Denmark was not used by any subsequent rulers of the Teutonic Order. The title was revived only in 1456 by the Danish KingChristian I. In 1561, it was assumed by the King of Sweden as he had gained control of Reval and northern Estonia. After the Russian conquest of Estonia during theGreat Northern War (1700–1721), the title of the Duke of Estonia was transferred to theEmperor of Russia. It continued to be a subsidiary title of emperors until theRomanov dynasty wasoverthrown in 1917.
In 1559, during theLivonian war,Frederick II of Denmark bought theBishopric of Ösel-Wiek fromPrince-Bishop Johannes V von Münchhausen for 30,000thalers. The possession was given as anappanage toMagnus, Duke of Holstein, the brother ofFrederick II, who landed on Ösel (Saaremaa) with an army in 1560.[12] Denmark ceded Wiek (Läänemaa) to thePolish-Lithuanian Union in exchange forLivonian possessions in Ösel. In 1572, Ösel was transferred to direct administration by Denmark. In 1645, it was ceded from Denmark toSweden by theTreaty of Brömsebro.[13]
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