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39-414: Denmark rose as a great military and mercantile power in the 12th century. It had an interest in ending the frequent Estonian attacks that threatened its Baltic trade. Danish fleets attacked Estonia in 1170, 1194, and 1197. In 1206, King Valdemar II and archbishop Andreas Sunonis led a raid on Ösel island ( Saaremaa ). The Kings of Denmark claimed Estonia, and this was recognised by the pope . In 1219,

78-461: A viceroy ( 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. In Vironia, the main power centers were Wesenberg ( Rakvere ) and Narva , built on the site of the old Estonian fortresses of Rakovor and Rugodiv . Wesenberg

117-578: A high prow shaped like a dragon or a snakehead as well as a quadrangular sail. The superior god of Oeselians as described by Henry of Livonia was called Tharapita . According to the legend in the chronicle, Tharapita was born on a forested mountain in Virumaa ( Latin : Vironia ), mainland Estonia from where he flew to Oesel , Saaremaa. The name Taarapita has been interpreted as "Taara, help!" (Taara a(v)ita in Estonian) or "Taara keeper" (Taara pidaja). Taara

156-882: A pro-Danish party led by bishop Olaf of Reval and the pro-German party led by captain Marquard Breide . After the Estonians of Harria rebelled in the St. George's Night Uprising of 1343, the Teutonic 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

195-565: Is a historical name for the people who prior to the Northern Crusades in the 13th century lived in the Estonian island of Saaremaa ( Ösel ) – the Baltic Sea island was also referred as Oeselia or Osilia in written records dating from around that time. In Viking Age literature, the inhabitants were often included under the name "Vikings from Estonia", as written by Saxo Grammaticus in

234-601: Is associated with the Scandinavian god Thor . The story of Tharapita's or Taara's flight from Vironia to Saaremaa has been associated with a major meteor disaster estimated to have happened in 660 ± 85 B.C. that formed Kaali crater in Saaremaa. Henry of Livonia wrote about an encounter between the Oeselian pagans and a captured Christian missionary , Frederick of Zelle, during the 13th century. The Oeselians are quoted using

273-605: The Battle of Saule , the surviving members of the order merged into the Teutonic Order of Prussia in 1237. On 7 June 1238 the Teutonic Order concluded the Treaty of Stensby at a royal fortress in the south of Zealand 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,

312-570: The Hanseatic League . Even today, Danish influence can be seen in heraldic symbols: the city of Tallinn's coat of arms features the Danish cross, while coat of arms of Estonia depicts three lions, similar to the coat of arms of Denmark . In 1240, Valdemar II created the Bishopric of Reval but, contrary to canon law , reserved the right to appoint the bishops of Reval to himself and his successors as king of Denmark. The decision to simply nominate

351-469: The Kurs ( Curonians ), are surrounded by the sea and never fear strong armies as their strength is in their ships. In summers when they can travel across the sea they oppress the surrounding lands by raiding both Christians and pagans." The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia describes a fleet of sixteen ships and five hundred Oeselians ravaging the area that is now southern Sweden , then belonging to Denmark . In

390-611: The Livonian Order 's Master Andreas de Velven and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek in 1241, setting penalties for pagan rituals. The next treaty was signed in 1255 by the Master of the Order, Anno Sangerhausenn, and, on behalf of the Oeselians, by elders whose "names" (or declaration?) had been phonetically transcribed by Latin scribes as Ylle, Culle, Enu, Muntelene, Tappete, Yalde, Melete, and Cake. The treaty granted several extraordinary rights to

429-579: The Pope . The shift of sovereignty from Denmark to the Teutonic Order took place on 1 November 1346. The title of " Duke of Estonia " which had previously been held by the Danish kings, fell into disuse during the Teutonic Order era and was not revived until 1456 by the Danish King Christian I . The title was assumed by the Swedish kings after they gained control of Reval and northern Estonia in 1561. The title

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468-569: The Danish fleet landed in the major harbor of Estonia and defeated the Estonians in the Battle of Lindanise that brought Northern Estonia under Danish rule until the Estonian uprising in 1343 , when the territories were taken over by the Teutonic Order . They were sold by Denmark in 1346. During the Livonian 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 ,

507-514: The Duchy of Estonia. The first Duke of Estonia had been appointed by Valdemar II in 1220, and the title was now resumed by the kings of Denmark starting in 1269. Due to its status as the king's personal possession , the Duchy of Estonia was included in a nationwide Danish taxation list Liber Census Daniæ ( Danish : Valdemar Sejrs Jordebog ) (1220–41), an important geographic and historic document. The list contains about 500 Estonian place names and

546-461: The Oeselians. The 1255 treaty included unique clauses concerning the ownership and inheritance of land, the social system, and exemption from certain restrictive religious observances. In 1261, warfare continued as the Oeselians had again renounced Christianity and killed all the Germans on the island. A peace treaty was signed after the united forces of the Livonian Order , the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek ,

585-403: 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 19,000 Cologne marks to the Teutonic Order , notwithstanding the promise by Christopher 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

624-504: The Republic of Estonia ( Estonian : Eesti riigivapp ) is a golden shield which includes a picture of three left-facing blue lions with red tongues in the middle, with golden oak branches placed on both sides of the shield. The coat of armes was derived from the 13th century royal coat of arms of Denmark , as the Duchy of Estonia (1219–1346) in what now northern Estonia was part of Denmark at

663-495: 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. First mentioned in 1240, the duchy was locally governed by

702-628: The Sword and the bishop Theodorich joined forces and invaded Saaremaa over the frozen sea. In return the Oeselians raided the territories in Latvia that were under German rule the following spring. In 1220, the Swedish army led by king John I of Sweden and the bishop Karl of Linköping conquered Lihula in Rotalia in Western Estonia. Oeselians attacked the Swedish stronghold the same year, conquered it and killed

741-500: The XIVth book of Gesta Danorum , Saxo Grammaticus describes a battle on Öland in 1170 in which the Danish king Valdemar I mobilised his entire fleet to curb the incursions of Couronian and Estonian pirates. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle describes the Oeselians as using two kinds of ships, the piratica and the liburna . The former was a warship, the latter mainly a merchant ship. A piratica could carry approximately 30 men and had

780-541: The castle and killed all the defenders. In February 1344, Burchard von Dreileben led a campaign over the frozen sea to Saaremaa. The Oeselians' stronghold was conquered and their leader Vesse was hanged. In the early spring of 1345, the next campaign of the Livonian Order took place that ended with a treaty mentioned in the Chronicle of Hermann von Wartberge and the Novgorod First Chronicle . Saaremaa remained

819-694: The coats of arms of the Duchy of Estonia , the Estonian Knighthood , the Governorate of Estonia , and incorporated into the greater coat of arms of the Russian Empire . The Riigikogu (parliament) of the newly independent Republic of Estonia adopted the law which confirmed it as the national coat of arms on 19 June 1925. During World War II , following the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia in June 1940,

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858-483: The display of the coat of arms, as well as of any other national symbols of Estonia, was banned by the new Stalinist regime. The symbols were replaced with Soviet-inspired emblems . The Soviet authorities persecuted anyone using the coat of arms or the national colours of Estonia . After World War II the coat of arms remained in use in the Western Bloc countries by a number of surviving diplomatic representatives of

897-488: The entire Swedish garrison, including the Bishop of Linköping. In 1222, the Danish king Valdemar II attempted the second conquest of Saaremaa, this time establishing a stone fortress housing a strong garrison. The Danish stronghold was besieged and surrendered within five days, the Danish garrison returned to Reval , leaving bishop Albert of Riga ' brother Theodoric and few others behind hostages as pledges for peace. The castle

936-566: The exact borders. In 1220, the King of Denmark gave up his claim on the southern Estonian provinces of Sakala and Ugaunia , which had already been conquered by Brothers of the Sword. Bishop Albert ceded to Denmark the Estonian provinces of Harria , Vironia and Jerwia . In 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquered all Danish territories in Northern Estonia. After their defeat in

975-475: The forces of Danish Estonia including mainland Estonians and Latvians defeated the Oeselians by conquering the Kaarma stronghold. Soon thereafter, the Livonian Order established a stone fort at Pöide . On 24 July 1343, during St. George's Night Uprising , the Oeselians killed all the Germans on the island, drowned all the clerics and started to besiege the Livonian Order 's castle at Pöide. The Oeselians levelled

1014-464: The greater coat of arms of Tallinn (Reval), the centre of Danish government in Estonia, and the fiefdoms ( German : Ritterschaften ) of Harria and Viru . In 1346, the king of Denmark sold his Estonian dominion to the State of the Teutonic Order . The three lions, however, remained the central element of the greater coat of arms of Tallinn. In later centuries, the motif of the three lions transferred to

1053-506: 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. In 1248, the vassals and burgers of Reval already had a local legislative body or ritterschaft . The Danish army only visited the province occasionally. In 1240–42, Denmark went to war against Novgorod and tried to extend its rule to

1092-443: The land of Votians . King Valdemar sent his sons Abel and Canute to support his vassals' campaign, but they did not win any new territory. The Danish king Erik Plogpennig visited Estonia in 1249, and the Danish fleet sailed to Reval in 1268 and 1270 against Novgorodian and Lithuanian threats. In August 1332, King Christopher II of Denmark died and Denmark fell into political turmoil. The province in Estonia became split between

1131-574: The late 12th century. The earliest known use of the word in the ( Latinised ) form of "Oeselians" in writing was by Henry of Livonia in the 13th century. The inhabitants of Saaremaa (Ösel) are also mentioned in a number of historic written sources dating from the Estonian Viking Age . On the eve of Northern Crusades , the people then residing in Saaremaa were described in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle : "The Oeselians , neighbors to

1170-538: 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. In 1219, Valdemar gathered his fleet, joined forces with the navy led by prince Wizlav of Rügen , and landed on the northern coast of Estonia in the Lindanise (now Tallinn) harbor in the Estonian province of Revala . According to the legend, the national flag of Denmark Dannebrog

1209-411: The names of 114 local vassals. The capital of Danish Estonia was Reval (Tallinn), founded at the place of Lindanise after the invasion of 1219. The Danes built the fortress of Castrum Danorum at Toompea Hill . Estonians still call their capital "Tallinn", which, according to an urban legend, derives from Taani linna (Danish town or castle). Reval was granted Lübeck city rights (1248) and joined

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1248-427: The time. The coat of arms depicts a golden shield , which includes three slim blue lions passant gardant with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these oak branches. The three lions on the national symbol of Estonia originate from the arms of King Valdemar II of Denmark who conquered northern Estonia in 1219. The lions became part of

1287-590: The vassal of the master of the Livonian Order , and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek. In 1559, after the fall of the Livonian order in Livonian War , the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek sold Saaremaa to Frederick II of Denmark, who resigned the lands to his brother Duke Magnus of Holstein until the island was taken back to the direct administration of Denmark and in 1645 became a part of Sweden by the Treaty of Brömsebro . Coat of arms of Estonia The coat of arms of

1326-413: The words "Laula! Laula! Pappi!" (Sing! Sing! Priest!) when torturing the missionary. This Finnic expression has been suggested to support the identification of Oeselians as a Finnic language group at that time. In 1206, the Danish army led by king Valdemar II and Andreas, the Bishop of Lund landed on Saaremaa and attempted to establish a stronghold without success. In 1216 the Livonian Brothers of

1365-591: Was born at this time, falling from the sky during a critical moment in the fight and helping the Danes to win the Battle of Lindanise against the Estonians. The date of the battle, 15 June, is to this day celebrated as Valdemarsdag (the national "flag day") in Denmark. The order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword had conquered southern Estonia whilst Denmark had taken the North, and the two agreed to divide Estonia but quarreled over

1404-610: Was given as an appanage to Magnus, Duke of Holstein , the brother of Frederick II , who landed on Ösel ( Saaremaa ) with an army in 1560. Denmark ceded Wiek ( Läänemaa ) to the Polish-Lithuanian Union 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 . 59°26′N 24°45′E  /  59.433°N 24.750°E  / 59.433; 24.750 Oeselians Oeselians or Osilians

1443-554: Was granted Lübeck city rights in 1302 by King Erik Menved . Narva received these rights in 1345. The vassals of the Danish king received fiefs per dominum 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 from Westphalia , 18% were probably Danes , and only 2% had distinctly Estonian names (Clemens Esto, Otto Kivele, Odwardus Sorseferæ, etc.). The chronicler Ditleb Alnpeke (1290) complained that

1482-558: Was leveled to the ground by Oeselians. In 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, and Bishop Albert of Livonia organized a combined attack against Saaremaa. After the destruction of Muhu Stronghold and surrender of Valjala Stronghold , the Oeselians formally accepted Christianity. In 1236, after the defeat of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Battle of Saule , military action on Saaremaa broke out again. Oeselians accepted Christianity again by signing treaties with

1521-562: Was then transferred to the Russian emperors after their victory in the Great Northern War (1700–1721) and continued to be a subsidiary title of Russian emperors until the Romanov dynasty was overthrown in 1917 . In 1559, during the Livonian war , Frederick II of Denmark bought the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek from Prince-Bishop Johannes V von Münchhausen for 30,000 thalers . The possession

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