Harjumaa (; ) (1200 hides), was a historical county in

Ancient Estonia Ancient Estonia refers to a period covering History of Estonia from the middle of the 8th millennium BC until the conquest and subjugation of the local Finnic tribes in the first quarter of the 13th century during the Teutonic and Danish Nort ...

until the early 13th century. Its territory roughly corresponds to modern-day

Rapla County Rapla County ( or ''Raplamaa'') is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in the north-western part of the country and borders Järva County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, Lääne County to the west, and Harju County to ...

with the town of

Rapla Rapla ( (the name ''Rappel'' was also used in other languages in the past) is a Populated places in Estonia, town in north-central Estonia'','' the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. History The oldest records date back ...

as the capital. According to the ''

Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' () is a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's Estonia and Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was written by a priest named Henry. Apart from some references ...

'', Raikila was the main village of Harjumaa, where annual gatherings of the surrounding tribes took place. Despite the name, the present-day

Harju County Harju County ( 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 Count ...

covers only a small portion of the historical Harjumaa land, with most of its current territory corresponding to the ancient county of

Revala Revala (also ''Rävälä'', , by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the Gulf of Finland and corresponded roughly to the present territory of H ...

History

Between the 10th and 12th centuries, one of the largest trading centers in Haarjumaa was the Varbola Stronghold (). The first

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

to Haarjumaa occurred in the summer of 1216, initiated by the crusaders of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. It involved

Livonians The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to the Livonian Coast, in northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian language, Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish lan ...

Latgalians Latgalians (, , modern ; variant translations also include Latgallians, Lettigalls or Lettigallians) were an ancient Baltic tribe. They likely spoke a variant of Latvian language, which probably became the ''lingua franca'' in present-day Latvia ...

, and the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (; ) was a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (monastic society), military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert of Riga, Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theode ...

, led by Master

Volkwin Volkwin von Naumburg zu Winterstätten (also ''Wolquin'', ''Folkwin'', ''Folkvin'', ''Wolguinus'', or ''Wolgulin''; Middle High German: ''Volkewîn''; died 22 September 1236) was the Master (''Herrenmeister'') of the Livonian Brothers of the Swo ...

. To secure a truce, Volkwin demanded that the inhabitants of Varbola accept

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and release their prisoners.

Parishes

*around

Varbola Varbola is a village in Märjamaa Parish, Rapla County, in western Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by th ...

*around

Lohu Lohu () is a village in Kohila Parish, Rapla County, in northwestern Estonia. Lohu railway station, on the Tallinn - Viljandi railway line operated by Elron, in a short distance from the village. The ''Lohu Lelu'' company in Lohu produces woode ...

*around

Kose Kose () is a small borough () in Harju County, 39 kilometers (24 miles) southeast of Tallinn, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Kose Parish and lies next to Pirita River. At the 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 2,097. ...

References

Ancient counties of Estonia Harju County {{Estonia-stub

History

Parishes

See also

References