Põhja-Eesti kirikuelu arengujooni 13–14. sajandil 57

Northern Estonian Church Life in the of the Middle Ages. The Tallinn bishop re- Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century: mained the suffragan to the Lund archbishop The Religious Environment in Which until the arrival of Lutheranism, and the Tal- the Pirita Monastery Emerged linn Dominican friary belonged to the Domini- Tiina Kala can province of Dacia. For the upkeep of the Summary Tallinn bishopric, the King of Denmark had, in 1240, donated 120 plough-lands. Most of Abstract: In 1346 the King of Denmark the privileges of the Tallinn diocese monas- sold northern Estonia to the Teutonic Order, teries and all privileges of the Dominican fri- whereupon the Tallinn diocese experienced ary date from the Danish period. problems brought about by the Order’s Ignoring the canon law, the king nomi- power. The biggest problem was the inter- nated the Tallinn bishops himself. In 1277, dict of 1354 declared on the Order territo- Queen Margareta gave up the right to appoint ries. Following the relations between the bishops to the Tallinn chapter, but the au- church and the overlord makes it possible thenticity of the relevant document cannot to better understand the history of the be proved, and in reality the kings continued Tallinn diocese and its religious institu- appointing bishops. tions in the 14th century, about which there The small amount of information about is rather scant information. relations with Lund have given cause to pre- sume that, after the sale of northern Estonia, Keywords: Middle Ages, Teutonic Order, the Tallinn bishop became a de facto suffra- Danish rule in Estonia, Bishopric of Tallinn gan to the Riga archbishop. This theory is supported by the fact that, in 1428, the Tallinn In the political history of Livonia, the Tallinn bishop participated in the Riga provincial bishopric, unlike the Riga, Tartu or Ösel- council, but it is not known what status the Wiek bishoprics, does not seem very inter- bishop had there. Not a single document has esting, as the Tallinn bishop lacked any secu- been found in the papal archives that would lar power in his diocese and his impact on prove the placing of the Tallinn bishopric political life was thus small. Besides, the under the subordination of the Riga arch- fourteenth century offers rather less informa- bishopric. The subordination of the Tallinn tion about the Tallinn bishop and the entire bishop to Lund was also emphasised in the northern Estonian church life than the follow- bishop’s letters to the Danish king in the six- ing period. The history of the Tallinn diocese teenth century. of that era has thus been little explored. In or- The change of the overlord due to the 1346 der to partially fill the gap, the current article sale of northern Estonia seems to have been examines the relations of the Tallinn bishop essential: the sole secular power of the Dan- with his overlords: first with the King of Den- ish king was replaced by the corporate power mark and then with the Teutonic Order. of a religious order. With the deal, the Teu- tonic Order also received the rights of the Compared with the rest of Livonia, the north- Danish king in the Tallinn diocese, and con- ern Estonian church stood out for its rela- tinued appointing the bishop of Tallinn. tions with Scandinavia, which began during The Order’s position in northern Estonia the Danish time and survived until the end strengthened after the suppression of the St. 58 Tiina Kala

George’s Night Uprising. In October 1343, Tallinn remained a firm supporter of its new the higher clergy of the Tallinn bishopric and overlord. secular dignitaries declared that they had to During the last quarter of the fourteenth accept the help of the Teutonic Order, as it century, the schism of 1378 played an in- was impossible to bring the erring Estonians creasing role in the relations between the to heel. Several fourteenth-century sources Teutonic Order and the papal curia. Pope describe the savagery and wavering faith of Clement VII (1378–1394), who resided in Estonians, and the ensuing threat to the Christ- Avignon, approved Albertus Hecht as Bishop ian colony. At the same time, the Riga arch- of Tartu, who had been appointed by the bishop sent complaints to the papal curia chapter but had not managed to get official about the damaging activities of the Teutonic confirmation from the pope in Rome. Urba- Order on the Livonian church. Accusations nus VI (1378–1389) in Rome set the Order against the semi-pagan Estonians and the against Hecht, advising the Order to arrest Order’s Livonian branch are often quite simi- the bishop and keep him imprisoned until larly worded. further orders from Urbanus, and to support In 1354, when the Order, despite the de- Urbanus’s own favourite for the Tartu bish- mand of the papal emissaries, refused to give op’s office, Dietrich Damerow. up the properties occupied in the Riga arch- Damerow was appointed in 1379, but was bishopric, the pope declared an interdict able to take up his position in the bishopric against the Order, which, with short intervals, only in 1385. Damerow was keen to be inde- lasted for about 30 years. Until the Riga arch- pendent, and formed a coalition against the bishopric was incorporated into the Order in Order, an act which was followed by hostili- the late fourteenth century, the interdict re- ties, ending in the defeat of the Tartu bishop mained the most powerful weapon of the and reconciliation at the Danzig peace ne- papal curia against the Order. The interdict gotiations in summer 1397. In this conflict forbade church services and the administra- too, Tallinn wholly supported its overlord. tion of sacraments within the territories of One of the ways to expand its power that the Order. the Teutonic Order persistently tried to real- As a new Order area, the Tallinn bishopric ise in its territories in Prussia, Estonia and also found itself under the interdict. How strict- Livonia was the incorporation of the bisho- ly the church penalty was exercised is not prics of these areas: the Order wished to make known, but it certainly worried the Tallinn sure that the chapter only consisted of Order bishop and the town council, as shown in the priests and that the bishops were elected from letter to the pope from 1355 asking that the among members of the Teutonic Order. This interdict be lifted. The letter emphasises that was not always completely successful and the Tallinn diocese belongs to the Lund arch- was not only dependent on the Order. To bishopric. The Order’s Livonian branch has make a bishop’s election dependent on his the power over this territory only by authori- belonging to the Order required papal ap- sation of the Prussian master, and due to the proval. By the end of the fourteenth century, insecure situation of the bishopric in the neo- the incorporation of the Riga archbishopric phyte surroundings. Although the letter had was completed. In 1397, Pope Bonifacius IX probably no positive results and the Order declared that the Riga archbishop must be a did nothing to lift the interdict, the town of member of the Teutonic Order. In the Tallinn Põhja-Eesti kirikuelu arengujooni 13–14. sajandil 59 diocese, the case was decided separately for though the relevant texts are distorted by rhe- each bishop. During the fourteenth century, torical excesses, the St. George’s Night Up- the issue did not come up very frequently, as rising remained for decades the ideological the term of office of Tallinn bishops was usu- weapon of the colonial powers, particularly ally quite long. There were only four bish- in the papal curia. Hardly any attempt was ops between 1298 and 1403, whereas be- made to get rid of the borderland status, es- tween 1403 and 1509 there were six, and in pecially when the Order had to fend off the 1509–1561, nine. The first Tallinn bishop pope’s accusations of non-Christian behav- appointed during the reign of the Order, Lu- iour. This need for justification, lasting hun- dovicus de Monasterio, joined the Order soon dreds of years, helped to confirm the idea of after he had received a papal bull of provi- the singularity of medieval Livonia, and its sion. Several later bishops were already mem- remarkable task at the borders of western bers of the Order or joined when appointed, Christianity. as did Ludovicus. It was only in the second half of the fifteenth century that some prel- Translated by Tiina Randviir ates occupying the position of the Tallinn proof-read by Richard Adang bishop did not belong to the Teutonic Order. Compared with other Livonian bishops, the income of a Tallinn bishop was small, and he often had difficulties in paying his duties to the papal curia. The Order helped the bishop in this obligation and in extend- ing the date of payment, a fact that naturally increased the bishop’s dependency on the Order. Comparing the attitude of the Teutonic Order and the Danish king towards the north- ern Estonian church, the Order’s power over the religious life of the Tallinn diocese was not favourable. In the course of half a cen- tury, the Order did not establish a single church institution in the area, and its donations to the northern Estonian church were rather modest. It was also possible that the finan- cial means of the bishopric had been largely distributed during the Danish period, and there was nothing much left in the diocese, where a substantial part of the land belonged to the vassals. The 1354 interdict that was placed on the Tallinn diocese is shown in the sources as extremely unfavourable, primarily because of the hostile neophytic environment. Even