Matti Kurki, in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''Matts Kurck'', was a legendary Finnish chieftain of the

birkarls The Birkarls (''birkarlar'' in Swedish, unhistorical ''pirkkamiehet'' or ''pirkkalaiset'' in Finnish; ''bircharlaboa'', ''bergcharl'' etc. in historical sources) were a small, unofficially organized group that controlled taxation and commerce in ...

. If he was a real person, he is thought to have lived in the late 13th century, at that time when king Magnus the Barnlock ruled the

Kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

tales tell about Matti Kurki, particularly in the Satakunta province ( Vesilahti, Pirkkala), but also in

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

. The first written reference to Matti Kurki dates from the 17th century. The best known tale concerns his duel with ''Pohto'', a Russian- Karelian warrior. The battle would have taken place near the Manor of Laukko. Matti Kurki was supposedly the ancestor of the

Finnish noble The Finnish nobility ( fi, Aateli; sv, Adel) was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden and the Russian Empire. Noble families and their descendants are still a part of Finnish republican society, bu ...

family of

Kurki The Kurki or Kurck family, also known as the family of Laukko, is a medievally-originated Finnish noble family that produced several historically prominent persons. It is documented in the late 14th century. The family is usually divided in seve ...

. The lands of the Laukko manor were, according to legends, either compensation for subjugating some of the Sami to the Swedish crown by extracting taxes from them, or for his valor and deeds in the wars against the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

enemies of the King of Sweden, or defending the eastern frontier from Novgorodian raiding parties. There is also a possibility that the manor was already in the family for many generations and that this gift was merely a tax exemption for the manor in perpetuity.

Legacy

The name has been used as a traditional name in the

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for ...

, two ships have so far carried the name in the 20th century: *The gunboat ''Matti Kurki'' (1918–1940) *The ''Bay''-class frigate ''Matti Kurki'' (1962–1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurki, Matti 13th-century births 13th-century European people People of medieval Finland People whose existence is disputed Year of death unknown