Estonia Archives - Medievalists.net

Environmental Crusading: The Teutonic Knight’s Impact After the Baltic Crusades

March 12, 2015 By Medievalists.net

Environmental archaeologist and Professor of Archeology at Reading, Dr. Aleks Pluskowski, examined Malbork and several other sites across Eastern and Northern Europe in his recent paper, The Ecology of Crusading: The Environmental Impact of Holy War, Colonisation, and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic. Pluskowski is keenly interested in the impact the Teutonic Knights and Christian colonisation had on the region. His ambitious 4 year project on the ecological changes in this area recently came to a close at the end of 2014.

Filed Under: Conferences, Features Tagged With: Agriculture, Archaeology, Baltic, Castles, Christianity, Commerce, Crossbow, Daily Life, Economics - Rural, Economics - Trade, Economics - Urban, Environmental, Estonia, Germany, High Middle Ages, Institute of Historical Research, Late Middle Ages, Latvia, Livonian Crusade, Medieval Food, Military History, Monasticism, Northern/Baltic Crusades, Paganism, Poland, Prussian Crusade, Religious Life, Saint Adalbert of Prague, Saint Bruno of Querfurt, Teutonic Knights, Urban Studies

To Be or Not to Be… a Christian: Some New Perspectives on Understanding the Christianisation of Estonia

July 31, 2014 By Medievalists.net

The Christianisation of Estonia has been a subject of extensive research already for a couple of centuries. Archaeologists generally agree that some elements of Christian religion were present in Estonia already prior to official Christianisation at the beginning of the 13th century.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Christianity, Conversion, Estonia, Livonia, Paganism, Thirteenth century

Estonian small towns in the Middle Ages: archaeology and the history of urban defense

June 3, 2014 By Medievalists.net

The purpose of the current article is to summarize the material gathered from the excavations of the medieval town walls from the Estonian towns of Viljandi, Haapsalu, and Narva, to discuss when they were erected, and to analyze what their place was in Old Livonian and Baltic contexts.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baltic, Estonia, Military History, Urban Studies

Scandinavian late Viking Age art styles as a part of the visual display of warriors in 11th-century Estonia

February 24, 2013 By Medievalists.net

Artefacts decorated in Scandinavian Late Viking Age art styles have been known for a long time in the Estonian archaeological material, and were first published as early as 1914 by Max Ebert; a more comprehensive overview was given in 1929 by Birger Nerman. The finds include silver-plated and sometimes partially gilded weapons, as well as belt and scabbard fittings, plaques, and only a few pieces of jewellery.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Eleventh Century, Estonia, Fashion, Gender, Jewellery, Military History, Scandinavia, Social History, Vikings

Fishing with Monks – Padise Abbey and the River Vantaanjoki from 1351 to 1429

December 17, 2012 By Medievalists.net

How did the Cistercian Abbey of Padise in Estonia first come into possession of fishing rights for salmon in the River Vantaanjoki in Finland?

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baltic, Cistercians, Economics - Rural, Estonia, Finland, Monasticism

Colonizing the Landscape: A Case Study of Medieval Livonia

June 10, 2012 By Medievalists.net

There are several impulses which led me to the history of medieval landscape, and particularly that of Medieval Livonia. When discussing with Gerhard Jaritz the availability of medieval primary sources on the Eastern Baltic landscape, I was obliged to point out the extreme scarcity of medieval picture images, illuminated manuscripts or maps of Livonia.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baltic, Crusades, Early Modern, Eastern Europe, Estonia, Fifteenth Century, Germany, Lithuania, Livonia, Poland, Renaissance, Sixteenth Century, Teutonic Knights

Frosts, Floods, and Famines – Climate in Relation to Hunger in North-East Europe A.D. 1100–1550

October 31, 2011 By Medievalists.net

This Master’s thesis examines the relation between climatic conditions and hunger in Northeast Europe in A.D. 1100–1550.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Agriculture, Baltic, Economics - Rural, Environmental, Estonia, Finland, Medicine, Russia, Scandinavia

When did the Dominicans Arrive in Tallinn?

July 23, 2011 By Medievalists.net

When did the Dominicans Arrive in Tallinn? Tamm, Marek Tuna, No.4 (2009) Abstract It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Order of Preachers in the history of Estonia’s Christianization. It was the first religious order to establish a permanent foothold on the territory of Estonia and spent centuries conducting its mission work among […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Christianity, Conversion, Crusades, Denmark, Dominican, Eastern Europe, Estonia, Historiography, King Valdemar II, Military History, Paganism, Papacy, Politics, Pope Honorius III, Social History, Thirteenth century

Medieval town wall of Tartu in the light of recent research

June 2, 2011 By Medievalists.net

Medieval town wall of Tartu in the light of recent research By Rivo Bernotas Estonian Journal of Archaeology, Vol.15:1 (2011) Abstract: The present study of the town wall of Tartu will try to summarize the results obtained so far during the archaeological investigations and discuss the condition of the town wall, the date of construction […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Archaeology, Baltic, Estonia, Urban Studies

Medieval Leather Footwear from Tallinn

March 13, 2011 By Medievalists.net

Medieval Leather Footwear from Tallinn By Krista Sarv Archaeologia Baltica, Vol.6 (2006) Abstract: Finds of footwear in the excavations in Town Hall Square and Vene, Vaimu, Sauna and Roosikrantsi streets reflect the medieval footwear fashion of Tallinn as well as of the whole of northern and Central Europe. Strap shoes, low laced shoes and high […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baltic, Daily Life, Estonia

From Saxo Grammaticus to Peter Friedrich Suhm: Danish views on medieval Estonian history

December 4, 2008 By Medievalists.net

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From Saxo Grammaticus to Peter Friedrich Suhm: Danish views on medieval Estonian history By Tyge Andersen and Priit Raudkivi Acta Historica Tallinnensia, Vol.11 (2007) Abstract: A line of early Danish historians, who wrote on Medieval Estonia in relation to Denmark, is presented. Each authors social background and the date of their contribution stand out through their […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baltic, Denmark, Estonia, Historiography