1. The pre-historic (Ancient) era. Invasion, conquest and Christianization (early 13th century)

Question 1

Stone Age 9000 BC

Answer 1

– oldest traces of human settlement

1) Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) period (9000-5000 ec) the first indigenous culture evolved from the Swidrian Culture. This was known as the Kunda Culture
 The Mesolithic Era (9000–4200 BC) Hunter-gatherers
 Production of earthenware since about 5500 BC
 Flint from neighboring areas

2) The Neolithic Era (4200–1800 BC)
 People of Finno-Ugric languages
Grain farming (barley and wheat)
Livestock breeding

Question 2

• Bronze Age

Answer 2

1) The Early Bronze Age (1800–1000 BC)
2) The Late Bronze Age (1000–500 BC)
Great changes in the coastal areas of northern and western Estonia

Question 3

• Iron Age

Answer 3

1) Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC – 50 AD)
 By the beginning ofthe Iron Age, social stratification had developed
2) Roman Iron Age (50–450)
 Hillforts were erected first in Lithuania in the early Roman Iron Age, in Latvia at the end of the Roman Iron Age and finally in Estonia during the sixth century.
3) Migration Period (450–600)
4) Pre-Viking Era (600–800)
5) Viking period (800–1050)
6) Late Iron Age (11th – 12th century)
 Main settlement units – villages with several households
The villages formed districts, which after the Christianization formed the basis of parishes
The districts formed lands Free peasants

Question 4

• Early 13th Century

Answer 4

 Historical era begins, with written records
Chronicle of Livonia by priest Henry (Henricus)
(Heinrici Chronicon Livoniae)
Estonian Middle Ages: Early 13th century – early 16th century
 Roman Catholic Church and feudal relations
Europe in late 12th century: The last non-Christians were on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea
 German merchants in the Baltic Sea area Lübeck and Visby
Henry the Lion, the Duke of Saxony, established Liibeck as the first German town on the Baltic coast in 1159. From Lübeck, German merchants expanded their activities to the north-east, establishing their most important trading centre at Visby in the 1160s on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland.
 Peaceful Roman Catholic missionaries
Change of plan: the crusade
In 1199 Pope Innocent III proclaimed a crusade to defend the converts in Livonia. The pilgrims who took up arms to fight the heathens would be granted indulgences equal to a pilgrimage to holy sites in Rome and, for those who fell in battle, the completg remission of their sins.

Question 5

• Powers involved in the fight for the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea:

Answer 5

The archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen
Albert, Bishop of Riga
German crusaders
The Order of the Knights of Christ (since 1202, also called the Swordbrothers,) and the Teutonic Order
The Danish Crown
The Swedish Crown
The papal curia
 The Livs – Livonia (Livland)

Question 6

13th century conquest

Answer 6

• Albert von Buxhoevden (crusader) founded Riga in 1201
  he also founded 1202 Order of the Knights of Christ, the Swordbrothers (Fratres militiae Christi Livoniae, Brethren of the Militia of Christ of Livonia)
  To protect and expand the mission after the crusaders had returned home, Albert needed a permanent military force. a The Swordbrothers were patterned after the Knights Templar, the order of monk-warriors, who took a vow of poverty and chastity
  Livonia as Terra Mariana, Mary’s Land (just as the Holy Land in Jerusalem)
   the Livs became the Swordbrothers’ first allies, their name - Livonia (Livland) - was extended to cover the entire region later conquered by the crusaders.
   The German expansion reached Estonian territory in 1208
   Danish king, Valdemar II, personally led a large force to northern Estonia in 1219. The Estonians almost overwhelmed the Danish encampment, but, according to legend, the king was inspired to victory by a red banner with a white cross falling from the sky: this became the Dannebrog, the oldest existing state flag in the world today.36 Valdemar built a castle (Reval) near the site of the vanquished Estonian fort at what later came to be known as Tallinn.
   The failed invasion of the Swedish crown in western Estonia in 1220
   The Swordbrothers merged with the Teutonic Order in 1237 → The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order
   Eastward expansion attempt against Russian lands (which were politically not united in the 13th century), but the Order was defeated in 1242. Novgorodian prince Alexander Nevsky ousted the order from Pskov and defeated the Livonian knights in the famous Battle on the Ice at Lake Peipus in 1242.
  End of German Drang nach Osten (“Drive to the East”)
   The crusaders’ advantages:
  Lack of a centralized political system among the Estonians Professional soldiers,
  good organisation and discipline
  Superior military technology