Chapter 2: The Livonian Crusade (1208-1227)

Estonians were the last pagans in Europe. For that reason, the area in modern day Estonia and Latvia were of particular interest for Christian missionaries in the 12th century. There were some converts, for example there was a monk called Nicolaus in Norway, who was of Estonian origin, but generally the missionary efforts fell in vain.

The archbishop of Lund consecrated munk Fulco as the “bishop of Estonians” in 1170, but it is unknown if Fulco ever made it to Estonia. The pope Alexander III made the first call for a crusade against the Estonians around that time, but it is also unknown if that call had any traction.

Back then, the land around the Gulf of Riga was not populated by Latvians as it is today, but instead by Livonians, a Finno-Ugric people very closely related to Estonians who have unfortunately gone extinct. Missionary efforts among Livonians were a little more successful, but when the monk Meinhard became the bishop of Livonians in 1186 and established a bishopric, there was resistance against new taxes that had to be paid to the bishop. The second bishop of the Livonians Berthold brought a crusader force from Germany, but fell in a battle in 1198. The third bishop Albert arrived in the spring of 1200 with an even bigger force of crusaders (also from Germany), and Livonians reluctantly accepted the power of the bishop. Albert founded Riga, the capital of Latvia, in 1201 as a base of operations for the crusade against local pagans. The mouth of the river Daugava became the earliest core territory of the German colonisers. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Christian military order, was established in 1202 to unite the local crusaders and they managed to conquer most of modern day Latvia rather quickly. However, not everything was going great for the crusaders, as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword quickly fell out with the bishop. This created a dual system of power, which would also shape mediaeval Estonia.

Some converted natives, most importantly the Livonains of Turaida but also Latgalians (one of the ancestors of modern day Latvians) formed an alliance with the Germans.

The Order and the bishop initiated the war against Estonians in 1208.

Warfare mostly consisted of raids to one another's territory. The crusaders only attacked Sakala and Ugandi at first, but in 1210 warfare also moved to Läänemaa and in 1212 to Central and Eastern Estonia. Saaremaa was first raided across the ice during the winter of 1216. The crusaders besieged several important forts like Otepää and Viljandi several times.

The war was not continuous as there were several ceasefires. In 1212 the opposing sides signed a peace treaty for three years because of a plague.

The Estonian counties started to cooperate almost immediately after the war began. For example, a joint force of Ugandi, Sakala and Jogentagana raided Northern Latvia in 1210. One of the more notable battles of the war took place during that raid. Estonians broke off the siege of the castle of Cēsis when they heard that a large force of Livonians led by Kaupo was heading towards them to relieve the besieged. Estonians hastily retreated to the banks of the Ümera river and set up a trap. When the crusaders arrived there, the hidden Estonians began a surprise attack and decisively defeated their opponents. It was the biggest victory for Estonians during the crusade.

A joint coordinated attack took place in 1215, when Oeselians tried to unsuccessfully besiege Riga and Läänemaa, Sakala and Ugandi raided Northern Latvia.

The most important Estonian leader was the head of Sakala Lembitu of Lõhavere, one of the few Estonians mentioned by name in the chronicles. He was captured in 1215 by the crusaders, but two years later he was exchanged for prisoners of war. In 1217 Lembitu organised a huge coalition of warriors from Sakala, Läänemaa, Harju, Järva, Revala and Virumaa to conquer Riga. There were more than 6000 men in the coalition. They were promised help from Novgorod, an Orthodox Christian country in Russia, and because of that, they camped in Sakala waiting for them. The help never arrived. Meanwhile, a crusader force 3000 strong and of mostly German knights was formed and came to meet the Estonians. A battle ensued and the technologically disadvantaged Estonians lost. Lembitu was killed in action.

That battle was a major blow for Estonians. Southern Estonia fell quickly. The people accepted being baptised and started to pay a tax to the bishop. The focus of the war now moved to Northern Estonia.

In 1219, a force led by king Valdemar II of Denmark arrived at Lindanise in modern day Tallinn. They captured the old Estonian fort on top of Toompea, demolished it and started to build a castle. The Estonians of Revala and Harju attacked the Danish invaders, initiating the Battle of Lindanise. An interesting myth is tied to this battle. It goes as follows: at first the Danes had big troubles and were losing badly to the Estonians. The Danish king was accompanied by several bishops. When they saw how the battle was going, they started to pray for help from God. Some time later a miracle happened! A flag with a white cross on a red background fell from the sky as a sign. Luck turned around and the Danish managed to defeat the Estonians. Following the battle Valdemar II made the holy flag into the national flag of Denmark. (There is a meme about Estonia not being a Nordic country despite REALLY wanting to be. One of the reasons given is the fact that the Estonian flag does not have a Nordic cross. However, according to the myth, the Danish flag fell from the sky in Estonia, and because all other Nordic countries adopted the Nordic cross from Denmark, one can say that the Nordic cross is in fact from Estonia :))

A painting depicting the event.

Whilst the myth is most likely not true, Estonians did lose the battle and most of Northern Estonia with it. Valdemar II quickly conquered the rest and by 1220 all of mainland Estonia was occupied.

The last vestige of resistance was Saaremaa. Valdemar II also made an incursion there in 1222 and started to build a stone castle. But when the king left, the Oeselians took the castle and kicked out the Danish. A wave of uprisings in mainland Estonia followed, which were put down in 1223-1224.

The crusaders conquered the island in 1227. With all of Estonia conquered and most Estonians baptised, the Livonian Crusade was finally over.