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Russians In Estonia
In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians is estimated at 315,000, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast of Lake Peipus has an over 300-year old history, the large majority of the ethnic Russian population in the country originates from the immigration from Russia and other parts of the former USSR during the 1944-1991 Soviet occupation of Estonia. Early contacts The Estonian name for Russians ''vene'', ''venelane'' derives from an old Germanic loan ''veneð'' referring to the Wends, speakers of a Slavic language who lived on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The troops of prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kievan Rus' defeated Estonian ''Chuds'' in ca. 1030 and established a fort of ''Yuryev'' (in modern-day Tartu), which may have survived there until ca. 1061, when the fort's defenders were defeated and driven out by the tribe of ''Sosols''. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harju County
Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla County to the south, and Lääne County to the southwest. The capital and largest city of Estonia, Tallinn, is situated in Harju County. Harju County is the largest county in Estonia in terms of population, as almost half (45%) of the Estonia's population lives in Harju County. History Ancient history The territory of modern Harju County consists mostly of two ancient Estonian counties: Revala, around what is now Tallinn, and Harjumaa, which was situated south of Revala and presently rests mostly in Rapla County. Lindanise, then a small trading post at the Gulf of Finland, served as the capital of Revala. It eventually grew into the mostly German-populated Hanseatic town of ''Reval'' and later into the Estonia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavic Language
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Early Middle Ages, which in turn is thought to have descended from the earlier Proto-Balto-Slavic language, linking the Slavic languages to the Baltic languages in a Balto-Slavic group within the Indo-European family. The Slavic languages are conventionally (that is, also on the basis of extralinguistic features) divided into three subgroups: East, South, and West, which together constitute more than 20 languages. Of these, 10 have at least one million speakers and official status as the national languages of the countries in which they are predominantly spoken: Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian (of the East group), Polish, Czech and Slovak (of the West group) and Bulgarian and Macedonian (eastern dialects of the South group), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakala County
Sakala County ( Estonian: ''Sakala'', Latin: ''Saccalia'') was an ancient Estonian county that was first mentioned in print by Henry of Latvia in the early 13th century. Geography Sakala County is in northwestern Livonia, covering approximately the present counties of Viljandi, the southern half of Pärnu and the western third of Valga County. It was the southernmost of the ancient Estonian counties. History According to one hypothesis, the tribe of ''Sosols'' mentioned in Old East Slavic chronicles implies the people of Sakala. The chronicles say that Kievan Rus organized military campaign against Sosols in 1060 and taxed them. A year later, Sosols rose, destroyed Kievan Rus fort in Tartu and attacked Pskov. After the Livonian Crusade, the county became a part of the Livonian Confederation. In Sackalian folklore, the neighbouring Ugaunians (''ugalased'') were enemy warriors and robbers. For instance, a folk song from Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarbatu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the two largest lakes in Estonia, Lake Võrtsjärv and Lake Peipus. From the 13th century until the end of the 19th century, Tartu was known in most of the world by variants of its historical name Dorpat. Tartu, the largest urban centre of southern Estonia, is often considered the "intellectual capital city" of the country, especially as it is home to the nation's oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu (founded in 1632). Tartu also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Estonian National Museum, and the oldest Estonian-language theatre, Vanemuine. It is also the birthplace of the Estonian Song Festivals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Tartu (1224)
The siege of Tartu took place in 1224 and resulted in the fall of the last major center of Estonian resistance in the mainland provinces to the Livonian Crusade, Christian conquest of Estonia. Background In 1208, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword launched a crusade against the pagan Estonians, who had been raiding into the Latgalians, Latgalian and Livonians, Livonian territories to the south which had recently been conquered by the Order. In 1219 Denmark joined the Crusade, and in 1220, Sweden. The Estonians were able to annihilate the Swedish presence, but by the winter of 1220 nearly all of continental Estonia had been conquered by the Germans and Danes, and the population declared Christian. The uprising of 1223 In 1223, there was a general anti-Christian uprising in the subjugated continental part of Estonia. All Germans and Danes who fell into the hands of the Estonians were put to the sword, and some of the priests ritually sacrificed to pagan gods. Estonians reoccupi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Druzhina
In the medieval history of Kievan Rus' and Early Poland, a druzhina, drużyna, or družyna ( Slovak and cz, družina; pl, drużyna; ; , ''druzhýna'' literally a "fellowship") was a retinue in service of a Slavic chieftain, also called ''knyaz.'' The name is derived from the Slavic word ''drug'' ( друг) with the meaning of "companion, friend". Early Rus' In Early Rus', a druzhina helped the prince administer his principality and constituted the area's military force. The first members of a druzhina were the Varangians, whose princes established control there in the 9th century. Soon, members of the local Slavic aristocracy and adventurers of a variety of other nationalities became druzhinniki. The druzhina's organization varied with time and survived in one form or another until the 16th century. The druzhina was composed of two groups: the senior members, later known as boyars, and the junior members, later known as boyar scions. The boyars were the prince's closest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vyachko
Vyachko of Koknese, also ''Vetseke of Kokenhusen'' ( la, Rex Vesceka de Kukenois, lv, Vetseke, russian: Вячко) was the ruler of the Principality of Koknese in present-day Latvia, a vassal of Polotsk, who unsuccessfully tried to establish himself as a local ruler first in Latvia and then in Estonia, and fought against the expansionism of the Livonian Knights at the turn of the 13th century. Identity of Vyachko/Vetseke His name is the Old Novgorod dialect form of ''Vyacheslav''. According to Russian sources, his father is supposed to have been a Rurikid prince of Drutsk. Another interpretation, based on evidence from the ''Chronicle of Henry of Livonia'', is that he came from a local élite, perhaps a Livonian, who converted to Orthodox Christianity and became a vassal of Polotsk, whereupon he changed his name to the East Slavic ''Vyachko''. The ''Chronicle'' says the population of Koknese included Balts (Latgallians and Selonians) and even a German colony, in addition to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otepää
Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer capital" Pärnu). During the 2005–2006 season it became the site for FIS Cross-Country World Cup events. The name "Otepää" means "Ott's Head" in South Estonian, where ''ott'' is an euphemism for "bear". History The first settlement in Otepää was in 6th century BC. It has been inhabited continuously since the 6th-7th centuries. Otepää was historically important as the site of a viking hill fort and medieval castle. The fortress was first mentioned in Russian sources in 1116 when the princes of Novgorod and Pskov undertook a expedition against Tartu and Otepää. The conquest of Estonia during the Northern Crusades began with an attack on the fortress at Otepää in 1208. The fort was attacked again in 1217, when Christianized s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Slavic Language
The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of the Slavic languages, distinct from the West and South Slavic languages. East Slavic languages are currently spoken natively throughout Eastern Europe, and eastwards to Siberia and the Russian Far East. In part due to the large historical influence of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, the language is also spoken as a lingua franca in many regions of Caucasus and Central Asia. Of the three Slavic branches, East Slavic is the most spoken, with the number of native speakers larger than the Eastern and Southern branches combined. The common consensus is that Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian are the existent East Slavic languages; Rusyn is mostly considered as a separate language too, but some classify it as a dialect of Ukrainian. The East Slavic languages descend from a common predecessor, the language spoken in the medieval Kievan Rus' (9th to 13th centuries), the Rus' language which later evolv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pühtitsa Convent
Pühtitsa Convent ( Estonian: Kuremäe Jumalaema Uinumise nunnaklooster, Russian: Пюхтицкий Успенский женский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox convent in Eastern Estonia (Ida-Viru County) between Lake Peipus and the Gulf of Finland. A small Orthodox Christian church was built in Pühtitsa in the 16th century. The convent was founded in 1891 and has grown into the largest Orthodox community in the Baltic states. History The convent is located on a site known as ''Pühitsetud'' ("blessed" in Estonian) since ancient times. According to a legend, a shepherd from the village of Kuremäe witnessed a divine revelation near a spring of water to this day venerated as holy. Later in the 16th century, locals found an ancient icon of Dormition of the Mother of God under a huge oak tree. The icon still belongs to the convent. In 1888, the Russian Orthodox Church sent a nun from the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma to establish a convent in Pühtitsa. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the two largest lakes in Estonia, Lake Võrtsjärv and Lake Peipus. From the 13th century until the end of the 19th century, Tartu was known in most of the world by variants of its historical name Dorpat. Tartu, the largest urban centre of southern Estonia, is often considered the "intellectual capital city" of the country, especially as it is home to the nation's oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu (founded in 1632). Tartu also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Estonian National Museum, and the oldest Estonian-language theatre, Vanemuine. It is also the birthplace of the Estonian Song Festiva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chud
Chud or Chude ( orv, чудь, in Finnic languages: tšuudi, čuđit) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. Arguably, the earliest attested written use of the word "Chuds" to describe Finnic peoples (presumably early Estonians) was c. 1100, in the earliest East Slavic chronicles. According to the Primary Chronicle, the invading troops of Yaroslav I the Wise defeated "Chuds" in a battle in 1030 and then established the fort of "Yuryev" (in what is now Tartu, Estonia). According to Old East Slavic chronicles, the Chuds were among the founders of the Rus' state. Etymology There are a number of hypotheses as to the origin of the term. ''Chud'' could be derived from the Slavic word ''tjudjo'' ('foreign' or 'strange'), which in turn is derived from the Gothic word meaning 'folk' (compare ''Teutonic''). Another hypothesis is that the term was derived from a tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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