The Vironians () were one of the Finnic tribes that later formed the

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

nation.

History

They lived in

Vironia Virumaa (; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent (nation), independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Weste ...

(''Virumaa'' in Estonian, ''Wierland'' in German and ''Virland'' in Scandinavian, now

Ida-Viru County Ida-Viru County ( or ; ) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most northeastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil ...

and

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

of Estonia). Vironians were divided into five clans (''kilikunda''), ''Maum'' (in Estonian "Mahu"), ''Laemund'' (Lemmu) also known as ''Pudiviru'', ''Askele'', ''Revele'' (Rebala), ''Alentagh'' (Alutaguse). They built many strongholds, like ''Tarwanpe'' (modern

Rakvere Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: th ...

) and ''Agelinde'' (now Punamägi Hill in Äntu village). Like other Estonian tribes, Vironians remained predominantly

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

before

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, ...

in the 13th century. According to the

Chronicle of Henry of Livonia 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 ...

, Vironians believed that Tharapita, a god worshipped by

Osilians Oeselians or Osilians is a historical name for the people who prior to the Northern Crusades in the 13th century lived in the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Ösel) – the Baltic Sea island was also referred as ''Oeselia'' or ''Osilia'' in written ...

(the tribe inhabiting

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

) was born in Vironia. However, Vironian elder Thabelin of Pudiviru had endorsed Christianity before the German and Danish crusaders reached Estonia. Thabelin (Tabellinus) was baptized by Germans in

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

island. Later, when competing Danish crusaders arrived in Vironia, Thabelin was suspected of being too pro-German and was hanged. In 1219, the German crusaders of 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 ...

made a raid against Vironians together with recently christened Letts,

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 ...

, and several proto-Estonian tribes ( Sakalians,

Ugaunians Ugaunians or Ugannians (; ), referred to as Chudes by the earliest Russian chronicles, were a historic Baltic Finns, Finnic people inhabiting the southern Estonian Ugandi County (; also ''Ugania'', ''Ugaunia'') that is now Tartu County, Tartu, Põ ...

and Jervians). After five days of killing and pillaging, Kyriavan, Thabelin and other Vironian elders asked for a truce. According to the chronicle, Kyriavan told he had a "very bad god" before and therefore was ready to accept the Christian god. After truce was made, Vironian elders accepted Christianity. Some sons of elders from all five Vironian clans were taken hostages by the crusaders as part of the truce. In 1221, Vironians took part in failed attempt to oust Danes who had built a fortress in the place of modern

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

in the neighboring province of Revelia. Danes retaliated, killed several Vironian elders and put Vironians under heavy taxes. In 1225, Danes and German crusaders clashed with each other over the ownership of Vironia. In 1226, The

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

William of Modena William of Modena ( – 31 March 1251), also known as ''William of Sabina'', ''Guglielmo de Chartreaux'', ''Guglielmo de Savoy'', ''Guillelmus'', was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat.

arrived at the Vironian stronghold of

Tarwanpe Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: th ...

and mediated peace between the Germans, Danes, and Estonians. A year later the Vironian territories were taken by Brothers of the Sword. Vironians sided with the new Papal Legate

Baldwin of Alna Baldwin of Alna ( or ''Alva''; died in 1243) was an envoy and later a papal legate of Pope Gregory IX in the Baltic region. He played a diplomatic role in both the Northern Crusades and the Barons' Crusade. He was a monk of the Cistercian Aulne ...

who in 1230 tried to create a Papal Vassal State in Northern Estonia, including Vironia. In 1233, the supporters of Baldwin were defeated by the Order in the city of Reval (Tallinn). Vironian territories were snatched by the Order again as Baldwin of Alna complained in his report to the Pope in 1234. The Order was also accused of oppressing Vironian converts and expelling local supporters of Church. In 1238, Vironia was given to Denmark again according to the treaty of Stensby. The area went into hands of powerful vassals of Danish king, many of which were of local origin, like Dietrich of Kievel (probably 'Kivela' - 'land of stone' in Estonian) who controlled Eastern part of Vironia, where he started to build the stronghold of

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

. Vironians and Vironian vassals took part in Order's and Denmark's failed crusade against Russia 1240-1242. The names ''Virumaa'', ''Vironia'' and ''Virland'' have been continuously used for the North-Eastern Estonia. For example, in 1266, Margrete Sambiria, Dowager Queen of Denmark was named the Lady of Estonia and Virland.

Etymology

The name ''Viru'' probably has Finnic roots (e.g.,

Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...

''vireä'' means "vivacious", "lively"). According to an alternative hypothesis the word ''Viru'' may have originated from

Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively or as a second language by a population of about 6.5–7.0 million people

with the meaning 'man' (cf. English word ''virile''). Earliest mention of the name is probably on the Ängby Runestone located in

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

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 ...

which has inscription in memory of a Viking named Björn who was killed in Virland (''uirlant''). In the Finnish language, Estonia is still called ''Viro'' after Vironians. 'Viro' is also present in several Finnish place names like Virolahti, Virojoki and last names (Vironen, Virolainen). In Estonian, the word ''virulased'' is used for inhabitants of modern Virumaa counties or speakers of North Eastern Estonian dialects.

Trivia

"Graüben, a girl from Virland" (French: "Graüben, jeune Virlandaise") is a character in

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's ' Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. Australian author

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...

has written poetry about the mythical "Kingdom of Virland". The name

was also chosen for a popular Estonian academic fraternal corporation, which was established in 1900 in

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 ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and currently has representation in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, the American East and West coasts and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

{{Reflist Baltic Finns Livonian Crusade