Reval (TALLINN)

The three largest cities in medieval Livonia (corresponding approximately to the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia) were Riga, Reval (Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu), which also became members of the Hanse. ¹ Reval, situated at the southern shore of the Finnish bay, emerged in the first half of the thirteenth century after the conquest of Danish King Valdemar II in 1219. The city council (Rat) was first mentioned in 1248, when Reval was granted the Lübeck law. The city’s overlord changed in 1346 when the king of Denmark sold northern Estonia to the Teutonic Order. In 1561 Reval fell under Swedish rule. Due to its geopolitical position with its well-located port, Reval developed into a medium-size maritime trade city. It benefited, on the one hand, from the emerging Hanse network, and on the other, from its vicinity to the Russian resources and markets. Reval became the second biggest city in Livonia after Riga: its population in the fourteenth century was c.5,000, growing to 7,000–8,000 by the middle of the sixteenth century. The city’s social and ethnic composition was relatively varied: while the upper class consisted mostly of Germans and the lower class predominantly of local Estonians, there were also residents of Scandinavian and Finnish origin among the middle class, especially Swedes. The merchants who dealt with long-distance trade were almost all Germans. ²