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Events in Tallinn
Events in neighbouring cities
 
1201 In 1201 a fleet of 23 ships and 1500 crusaders led by Bishop Albert von Buxhoevden of Livonia landed at the mouth of the Western Dvina River. In the same year he made Riga the seat of his bishopric and dedicated the Episcopal Dome Cathedral and the whole of Livonia to Virgin Mary.
 
1211 In 1211 the building of the Dome Cathedral was begun in Riga which became the largest medieval church in the Baltic region.
 
1217 In 1217 King Valdemar II conquered Lübeck.
On June 13, 1219 the Danish army led by King Valdemar II landed in the Bay of Tallinn, conquered the Toompea Castle without a battle and began reconstruction works at the site. 1219
 
On June 15, 1219 there was a battle between the Danes and Estonians near the Toompea Castle. The mystical story of the origin of the Danish flag is related to the given battle. Danish supremacy was established in Northern Estonia, the king exerting his power through viceroys. 1219
 
In spring and autumn of 1223, the Estonians and Russians besieged the town of Toompea, however, could not conquer it. The town was particularly efficiently protected by the archers. 1223
 
In 1225–1226, Pope Honorius III’s legate William of Modena stayed in Livonia. A papal state was established in Northern Estonia with its centre at Toompea. 1225
 
1225 In 1225 Bishop Albert granted Riga the town rights.
 
In 1229–1233 there was a Dominican monastery at Toompea. 1229
 
In 1230 the Order of the Brothers of the Sword invited 200 merchants from Visby who established a settlement near Toompea. The given event could be taken as the beginning of the town of Reval. 1230
 
In 1233 the Order of the Brothers of the Sword rebelled against Baldwin of Alna, the legate of Pope Gregory IX, who attempted to reinforce the papal power in Northern Estonia. About a hundred vassals supporting the Pope were killed, the Dominican monastery in Toompea was closed and the nearby settlement plundered. 1233
 
In 1236 the Order of the Brothers of the Sword was crucially defeated by the Lithuanians in the battle of Saule. The surviving brothers formed the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order – the Livonian Order. 1236
 
In 1237 the Papal Legate William of Modena visits Estonia and Toompea again. He granted the John the Baptist leprosarium the permission to collect donations which marks the oldest surviving document in Tallinn. On June 7 William of Modena mediated the Treaty of Stensby between Denmark and the Teutonic Order by which Denmark obtained back its territories in Northern Estonia (with the exception of Järva county). 1237
 
In 1238 or 1239 King Valdemar II appointed a new bishop in Estonia – Torchillus, subjected to the Archbishop of Lund. 1238
 
 
1241 In 1241 Hamburg and Lübeck signed a treaty which marks the beginning of the Hanseatic League.
In 1246 the Dominican convent led by prior Daniel returned to Toompea. 1246
 
On May 15th, 1248 the first mention of the Lübeck Law and the Town Council (city government) in Reval. The town of Toompea was governed by feudal and territorial laws. 1248
 
In 1249 St Michael nunnery of the Cistercian Order was established in Reval. 1249
 
 
1252 In 1252 Birger Jarl founded the city of Stockholm.
Mid-13th century marks the beginning of minting in Tallinn. 1255
 
In 1257 the earliest code of the Lübeck Law of Tallinn in Latin 1257
 
In 1259-1282 the Danish territories in Estonia were under Queen Margrethe and her fief since 1266. 1259
 
In 1262 Queen Margrethe affirmed the Dominican territories in the lower town, i.e. Reval, and the Dominican convent left Toompea to establish St Catherine’s monastery in the present Vene Street. 1262
 
In 1265 the Town Council was granted unlimited judicial authority within the town territory, only the decisions of civil cases could be appealed to the Lübeck Town Council 1265
 
In about 1265 Queen Margrethe commissioned further reinforcements for Reval against foreign enemies. The construction of the so-called Margrethe’s wall began lasting well into the 1280s. 1265
 
In 1267 the first mention of a church in Reval – St Olaf’s (Oleviste) Church. 1267
 
 
1270 In 1270 the Franciscan convent Riddarholmskyrkan was built in Stockholm.
In 1271 the Duchy of Estonia was formed of the Harju and Viru counties with its centre in the town of Toompea. The largest city of the duchy was Reval. 1271
 
 
1280 In 1280 Tartu and Visby became members of the Hanseatic League.
 
1282 In 1282 Riga became a member of the Hanseatic League.
In about 1284 Reval became a member of the Hanseatic League. 1284
 
 
1297 In 1297 the Riga Order Castle was destroyed in the course of the conflict between the city of Riga and the Livonian Order.
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