The
Battle of Lyndanisse took place on June 15, 1219.
Under pretext of helping the
Crusade in Palestine, the Danish king
Valdemar II Sejr defeated the
Estonians at
Lyndanisse () under orders from the
Pope.
The Ryd Cloister yearbook of
1219 says: ”After gathering a very large army, king Valdemar went to
Estonia with one thousand five hundred
longships, and after many battles succeeded in christening the whole country and bringing it under Danish rule, which it still is.”
The king, together with Bishop
Anders Sunesen, Bishop
Theoderik of Estonia and his vassals
Count Albert of
Nordalbingia and the
wendish Vitslav I of
Rügen sailed to the northern Estonian Province of Revele in the beginning of July.
The crusading army camped at Lyndanisse and built a castle there, named
Castrum Danorum, which the Estonians called Taani-linn, (later
Tallinn), the Danish castle.
The Estonians sent several negotiators, but they were only playing for time, so that they could recruit a large enough army to fight the Danes.
On
15 June, the Estonians attacked the Danes near the castle, right after suppertime. They attacked from five different directions, and completely surprised the crusaders, who fled in all directions. Bishop Theoderik was killed by the Estonians, who thought that he was the king. The Danes were saved by their
Wendish vassals, as Vitslav lead a quick counterattack, that stopped the Estonian advance. This gave the crusaders time to regroup, and the Estonians were routed.
Legend holds that during this battle, in the Danes' hour of need, the Danish flag,
Dannebrog fell from the sky and gave them renewed hope. The Dannebrog remains the oldest state flag in use today.
See also
