= Reval (Tallinn) =
The origins of Reval lie in the wodden castle (on the dome hill) and a supposadly Estonian trading place, which was established in the middle of the 11th century. At the same time the harbor of Reval was put in place. The name of Reval is deduced from the name of the historic Estonian district, which the city was the center of, and was only used for the castle and the later city by the Danes and Germans (in Estonian also Rävälä, according to Henry of Livland Revele and according to Waldemar-Erdbuch Revælæ).
[c] Danish rule [c]
In the year 1219 the Danish king Valdemar II. conquerd the Estonian castle (battle of Lyndanisse) on the dome hill and rebuilt it and began with the construction of a dome church for the Bishop of Estonia, who was establisched in 1167 by the Danes for the proselytisation and was a sufragan of the archbishop of Lund. However Danmark could not hold the castle for long against the insurgent Estonians and the encroaching Germans. In 1227 the Livonian Brothers of the sword captured Reval with the papal approval and recieved the castle and a large part of today's Estonian country for administration by the hand of the papal governor in Estonia.
Probably to fortify the postion gainst the rural lieges the Livonian Brothers of the sword hired 200 westphalian and lower saxony merchants from Gotland in 1230. They settled feoffed with land and free from duties below the castle. Though there is no deed of foundation this probably marks the founding of the city of Reval.
When the brotherhood refused to pass back the castle and the fiefdom three years later to the papal Legate the Danish king reclaimed for Reval and Estonia again. After the destaterous defeat in the battle of Schlaulen in the year 1236, the Livonian Brothers of the sword strived for the union with the Teutonic Order, which the pope only agreed on for the return of Reval. Thereby the Livonian Brothers of the sword became part of the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Order in 1237, and Reval went to Denmark. In this context Reval was mentioned for the first time as civitas (citizenship, city).
Under the renewed Danish rule until the year 1346 the city quickly gained in popolation and economical importance. In the year 1248 the city achieved the Lubish town privilidge by the Danish king, which was valid till 1865. However the Lübeck privilidge did not count on the dome hill. With the same deed the first city cousilors wer named. The city gained more and more privileges that made it in large parts independent from the terretorial suverign. The official language in reval was German till 1889.
Although Reval was under the more and more lax rule of Denmark, the cities upper class was German. As they were mostly merchants a close rapport was established with the Hanseatic League. The fact that Reval saw itself as part of the Hanseatic League is documented already in 1252 and is attested more clearly since latest 1285. The Danish decision from 1294 to allow all German merchants access to the trade route to Novgorod via Reval and Narwa brought economical success to the city. Thereby Reval became a node in the Hanseatic trade in the Baltic sea.
[c] Reval and the Teutonic Order [c]
After the defeat of a large estonian revolt with the help of the Teutonic Order, the Danish king dismissed his Estonian vasals from their oath of loayality and sold his rights and privileges in Northern Estonia to the Teutonic Order. Reval, which had attested its old and new privileges by the Danish king before the sell, got all the privileges attested by the new terretorial suverign and could enforce its legal and indipendent position during the change.
Reval, part of the Livonian Third of the Hanseatic League, gained in 1346 the staple privilege together with Riga and Pernau, which obligated all merchnats trading with Russia to call at one of the three cities and offer their goods for sail on the local market during a period of three to eight day. Several exclusive trading privileges for Reval merchants set an end to the till then open trade with the city. The till then most important trading town, Visby, was unable to regain its prior predominace after the pilages of the Danish king in 1361 and the following years of war, and when during the turn of the century the Vitali brotherhood was banished from the Baltic sea, Reval became the most important trading city for the Hanseatic trade in the Baltic area.
The trade with Russia was not always undiluted. After several unsecure years the trade with Novgorod stoped completly in 1471 because of Attacks from Moskau. Int 1478 the till then independent principality was finally conquered by Moskau. The Archdukedom of Moskau waged ware with Livland which which they now had a common border. The foray of the Moskau Rus in Livland in 1481 cased a severe pest epidemie in the city filled with many refugees. Further hard plague years were 1464, 1495/96 and 1519/20. After a short period of piece, during which the trading office in Novgorod was reopened and again closed, followed a succesful war by the Teutonic Order against Moskau, which was followed by peace that lasted thill 1558.
The wars against the Moskau Rus cased heavy casualties and economical loss for Livland and Reval. Only in 1514 a renewed trade relations between the Livonian cities Reval and Dorpat with Novgorod caused an new economical florish which lasted till the 1550-ies. During the 16th century the city had about a population of 6000–7000.
The Reformation reached Reval in 1523/24. Its final breakthrough was achieved when in July 1524, delegates of the Livonian cities and knights came together in the town hall of Reval and decided to stick with the Protestant doctrine and to defend it at all costs. In September of the same year there was a iconoclasm which the endowments of the churches fell pray to. The loss was commensurate low because the council could already restore public order the next day and took care that the stolen art treasures were returned. Overall one can say that the reformation in Livland and Reval was without bloodshed. On Spetember 9th 1525 the new doctine as Lutherian church order was decreed officially by the city council and the guildes.
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallinn#Geschichte, 2016-05-09]