The Third Swedish Crusade to Finland was a Swedish military expedition against the pagan

Karelians Karelians (; ; ; ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely ...

from 1293 to 1295 in which the Swedes successfully expanded their borders eastwards and gained further control of their lands in Finland. After the crusade, Western Karelia remained under Swedish rule until the

Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad, or the Treaty of Uusikaupunki, was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire on in the then Swedish town of Nystad (, in th ...

in 1721.

Background

It followed the possibly mythical

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

and the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

to Finland. Viborg Castle was established in 1293 on the site of a destroyed Karelian fort as the easternmost outpost of the medieval Kingdom of Sweden. The name of the expedition is largely anachronistic, and it was a part of the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the paganism, pagan Balts, Baltic, Baltic Finns, ...

. According to '' Erik's Chronicle'' (''Erikskrönikan'') the reason behind the expedition was pagan intrusions into Christian territories. According to ''Erik's Chronicle'', the Swedes conquered 14 hundreds from the Karelians. Karelians had also been engaged in a destructive expedition to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1257 which led

Valdemar, King of Sweden Valdemar Birgersson (1239 – 26 December 1302), also Waldemar, was King of Sweden from 1250 to 1275. Biography Valdemar was the son of the Swedish princess Ingeborg Eriksdotter and Birger Jarl, from the House of Bjälbo. When Ingebor ...

(1250–1275) to request

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne, Italy, Jenne (now in the Province of Rome ...

to declare a crusade against them, which he agreed.

Birger Magnusson Birger Magnusson (1280 – 31 May 1321) was King of Sweden from 1290 to 1318. His reign was marked by unrest and civil strife; he was imprisoned by his brothers Erik Magnusson (duke), Erik and Valdemar Magnusson, Valdemar following the "Håtuna g ...

, King of Sweden (1290 to 1318), stated in a letter of 4 March 1295 that the motive of the crusade was long-time banditry and looting in the Baltic Sea region by Karelians, and the fact that they had taken Swedes and other travellers as captives and then tortured them.

1293

In the spring, a large fleet sailed to Finland under the command of Torkel Knutsson. Their goal was to move Sweden's border further east. The timing was well chosen, since the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

had been attacking both

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

. The target of the Swedish attack was the harbour and marketplace at Suomenvedenpohja, later known as

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

. The place is located at the western outlet of the Vouksen, a now-dried arm, and is the key to the West Karelians' trade and exchange with the outside world, even before the arrival of the Swedes there was an older Karelian fortification there. A Swedish hegemony over the place would mean that Sweden and the Catholic Church's control over West Karelia would be secured. This campaign is not particularly well described in the chronicles. The Swedes set up a stronghold at Suomenvedenpohja, under apparently peaceful circumstances. There are indications that the Swedish side was also building a new stronghold at Ladoga, at the place where today's Taipale is located. The mount is named Korela, but it would not remain for much longer. In 1310, the Novgorodians built a fortified settlement on the foundation of Korela. The Swedish army sailed home in the autumn and left a garrison in the new stronghold. We do not know who Viborg's first chieftain was, but the Rim chronicle says that he "dared to see an angry heathen in his sight", which probably means that he was a brave man.

1294

Siege of Viborg

In March 1294, the Novgorodian troops led by Roman Glebovich (son of Gleb Rostislavich of Smolensk) reached Viborg and quickly moved against one of the towers in the fortress, they put six large trebuchets which in turn threw boulders against the walls, and quickly organized for an assault across the ice against the fortress. The Novgorodians led the assault against Viborg on 30 March, but the weather saved the Swedes, as a mild and warm wind came from the south-west which partly melted the ice and broke it, which made an assault impossible without boats. It is likely that within the defenders there were praises to Saint Olaf and

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, the Swedes saw the weather changes as the saints confirming Viborg as being Swedish. According to the chronicle, one of the commanders named Ivan Klekatjevitch died. After the failed assault, the Novgorodians were forced to retreat.

Swedish counterattack

Later in the spring, a fleet arrived from Sweden and soon they went on the offensive. Now the goal was Kexholm. If the Swedes were able to settle there well, the Ladoga Karel would also fall under Swedish control. After an assault, Kexholm was conquered and the Swedes established a garrison in the fortress under the command of Sigge Lake. The main part of the army would then return to Viborg and then Sweden.

1295

The attack on Kexholm was a killing blow against

, it is likely that the garrison that the Swedes defeated in 1294 consisted of Novgorodians and the ties between Ladoga Karelia and Novgorod are stronger than those between West Karelia and Novgorod. Before the ice conditions allowed for Swedish reinforcements, an army from Novgorod besieged Kexholm. In the fortress, supplies quickly ran out, and when starvation became too severe, the garrison made a desperate attempt to break through the Novgorodian lines in which during the beginning the Swedes were victorious, but due to their exhaustion the defenders quickly fell along with their commander, Sigge Lake. Only two Swedes managed to escape with the others being killed or captured. The news of the defeat at Kexholm probably did not create any major panic in Sweden. They were very satisfied with the previous years' successes in the east, which had radically strengthened Swedish self-esteem. However, the limit had not yet been reached for the Swedish expansion to the east and almost 30 years of war would be fought. The war would be waged with varying intensity. No source tells us anything about war events along Finland's eastern border during the period 1296 to 1299. It may therefore be reasonable to assume that the fighting is down to the year 1300, when it begins again in full force.

Aftermath

The Crusade led by Torkel Knutsson led to the Swedish border in Finland being extended further eastwards, with the Karelians defeated they began paying taxes to the Swedes and were Christianized. The Swedish regent in 1300 sent another army that built a fortress called

Landskrona Landskrona is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, an ...

on an island in the

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

. The Swedes initially repelled a siege of the fortress but after leaving a garrison behind it was seized by an army from Novgorod in the following year and razed.Harrison, Dick (2005). Gud vill det! Nordiska korsfarare under medeltiden, Ordfront.

References

Other sources

* Linna Martti, ed. (1989) ''Suomen Varhaiskeskiajan Lähteitä'' (Historian Ystäväin liitto ry) . {{Catholic Church in Sweden 13th-century crusades 13th century in Sweden 13th century in Russia Northern Crusades 1293 in Europe Wars involving Sweden Wars involving the Novgorod Republic Conflicts in 1293 Conflicts in 1294 Conflicts in 1295 1294 in Europe 1295 in Europe