Adolescence

By mid 16th century, the branch of the Teutonic Order controlling what we today identify as Latvia and Estonia, known then as the Livonian Confederation (the Livonian Brothers of the Sword had seized the lands from the Danes in the beginning of the 13th c.) had been weakened especially after the secularization of its assets and properties by several Protestant princes. In 1555 the two main cities of Livonia, Riga and Reval (Tallinn) declared Lutheranism as their official religion of preference.

It wasn’t just the religious reshuffling that changed the face of Europe in the 16th century. The old world was changing fast and some couldn’t keep up. The outdated ships of the Hanseatic League couldn’t match with the modernized navies of Denmark and Sweden or compete in equal terms with armies of rising superpowers like Russia. In 1558 in a clash of Northern Titans, the Tsardom of Russia entered a war against the Kingdom of Sweden, the Dano-Norwegian realm and the Polish-Lithuanian Union for the control of the Baltic trade. The Livonian War would last until 1583. The nobility of Livonia promptly recognized the Swedish crown (a defender of Protestants) as its overlord so Tallinn became part of the Swedish kingdom in 1561. The Swedish Era of Estonia would open a new chapter in the city’s history that would last until 1710.