Wennekülla Hans and Estonian church language

In the 17th century two Estonian literary languages were standardised. As literary language was needed primarily for translating ecclesiastical texts and for worship services, it evolved as a church language that was created mainly by German pastors, following the example of the German language. At the end of the 17th century, in connection with the translation of the Bible and the establishment of Estonian schools, there emerged a need to renew the literary language and make it more approachable for the common people. The reforms created a situation where church manuals that differed in dialects, orthography and wording were used simultaneously. The case of Wennekülla Hans in the year 1700 demonstrates how a peasant reacted to that confusion. Wennekülla Hans, who was a self-appointed preacher in the parish of Paistu/Paistel, got caught up in a conflict with the pastor Andreas Hornung, who belonged to the circle of language innovators. The peasant accused the pastor of false teaching because the pastor was using a church manual with a modified language version. The case is one of the earliest examples of the evolution of a literary language into a sociolect that was used not only by clergymen but by peasants as well

The Appearance of Hans and Jaan. A 17th Century Epitaph Painting Donated by Estonian Peasants

The epitaph donated by Hans and Jaan, two peasants from Türi parish, is evidence of the acceptance of ecclesiastic values and religious devotion among the Estonian peasantry. Other examples of this tendency from the Swedish era also exist. For instance, the grand wheel crosses, typical for North Estonia, that were once located in the Türi churchyard; and a chandelier (1659) donated by a peasant in the Keila church, the size of which exceeds those gifted by manor lords. From a later period, the stained-glass coats of arms of the peasantry in the Ilumäe chapel (1729) are also an example of this heightened sense of self-awareness and its display in houses of worships.Along with the hundreds and hundreds of works donated to churches by nobles, the epitaph painting depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds is a rare example of a painting gifted to a church by farmers, which also commemorates them. Hans and Jaan have now earned a place in Estonian (art) history: the pictures of the two simple men are the first known portraits of peasants whose names we know

Eesti- ja Liivimaa talurahva olukorrast Rootsi aja lõpus

The status of peasantry in Estland and Livland at the end of the Swedish reign Enn Küng: In May 2013, a seminar on the topic “Serfdom or freedom: changes in the status of peasantry in the end of the Swedish reign” was held at the University of Tartu. It was instigated by a debate in the Estonian historical discourse during the last two decades on the status of the post-reduction crown peasantry in Estland and Livland. The debate started in 1996 when Aleksander Loit gave a paper titled “On the abolishment of serfdom in Estonia during the Swedish reign”. There he presented a novel idea that King Charles XI of Sweden not only wanted to improve the situation of peasants in the Baltic provinces, but actually abolished serfdom in the manors nationalized during the reduction – in Livland in 1681 and in Estland in 1687. Several – but not all – historians agreed with Loit. In order to discuss this important issue more thoroughly a new debate was organized, the results of which are presented here. Aleksander Loit: By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the former crown property in Estland and Livland was almost entirely enfeoffed to the nobility. The situation was reversed with the reduction when all the enfeoffments by Swedish authorities were renationalized and the majority of the arable land was taken back by the crown. Apart from the fact that the state revenues from Estland and Livland multiplied, the reduction brought along changes in the existing social order, such as the liquidation of the feudal system and the abolishment of serfdom. Peasants of the crown manors became the subjects of the king and had to be treated similarly to other peasants in the Swedish realm. Political power and the position of the nobility weakened both in relation to the monarchical power and the subordinated peasants. In crown manors, the feudal system was replaced by the lease holding system, whereby the leaseholders were not permitted to join the local knighthoods. Kalle Kroon: Nationalization of the crown manors in Estland and Livland at the end of the seventeenth century was accompanied by the abolishment of serfdom of the crown peasantry. Although the owners of farmsteads had to stay put, their sons were given the freedom to choose a profession, either by joining the army or by acquiring education for the position of a schoolmaster. The end to the attachment to land for the new generation and the freedom to decide over their own labor testify to the absence of serfdom, which is characteristic of the process of the abolishment of serfdom in Early Modern Europe at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. Aivar Põldvee: A more definite answer to the question of the abolishment of serfdom probably would be available if the Great Northern War had ended with Sweden’s victory. Now one can only talk about the preliminary goals and the processes which were not accomplished. I focus on two issues, which can be taken as a model. First, the treatment of complaints by the peasants of Swedish origin who lived in Estonia by both the relevant commission and the council of the realm in 1684–85. The Swedish state viewed the legal status of the Swedish peasants in Estonia as some sort of an example to be applied to other peasants in Estland and Livland. However, the top officials in Sweden did not have a clear understanding what their status actually was. Only after a lengthy dispute, the council reached a conclusion in 1685, according to which these peasants were as free as the nobility’s peasants (frälsebönder) in Sweden. In reality, the resolution did not protect the Swedish peasants in Estonia from the encroachment of their rights by manor leaseholders. Secondly, there is a resolution from 1687 which demanded that the sons of peasants not be hindered in pursuing education (bokliga konster) or joining the army. In connection with the establishment of the peasant schools, both pupils and peasant schoolmasters achieved freedom of movement. There were schoolmasters who started to work far from their homes, even in another province. There were cases, however, when the leaseholders of crown estates demanded the return of schoolmasters as their former serfs. On the whole, the freedom of movement of schoolmasters testifies to the mitigation of serfdom. Marten Seppel: What changed in the status of the peasantry in Estland and Livland at the end of the seventeenth century? The source material allows us to conclude that King Charles XI’s demands to improve the status of the crown peasantry in Livland and Estland brought about three major changes in their condition: the judicial authority of the leaseholders of the crown estates was considerably restricted, the peasants’ right to complain to the authorities was guaranteed, and the crown peasants were not to be sold. In other aspects, the status of the crown peasants changed little, although they could hope for protection from the provincial authorities against their leaseholders. The peasants’ property and trading rights remained in principle the same as in the private estates; they had no right to leave their manor by their own will; they could not own guns or other weapons; their obligations of customary dues and statute labor was fixed and not substantially changed. The authorities’ attitude toward the crown peasants can be characterized by the fact that similarly to serfs in private estates, they could be ‘transported’ from one crown manor to another whenever this was considered economically worthwhile

Bengt Gottfried Forselius und die Quellen der Volksbildung in Est- und Livland

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda kuuendat artiklit (polnud kaitsmise ajaks ilmunud).Väitekiri käsitleb Bengt Gottfried Forseliuse (u 1660–1688) tegevust eesti talurahvakoolide rajamisel ja kirjakeele (written language) uuendmisel. Töö eesmärgiks on allikalise baasi laiendamine, seniste uurimuste kriitiline hindamine ning uus, täpsustatud lähteandmetel tuginev rekonstruktsioon. Uurimus on interdistsiplinaarne ning asetab vaadeldud teemad laiemasse ajaloolisse ja kultuurilisse konteksti. Haridusajalooline ja biograafilis-prosopograafiline käsitlus põimub pedagoogika, lingvistika, ideeajaloo ning raamatuteaduse teemadega, samuti on püütud ühendada mikro- ja makroajalugu, s.t lokaalajaloolist vaatepunkti vastavate arengutega naabermaades. Töö koosneb katuspeatükist ja kuuest artiklist (neist üks ilmumas). Artiklid käsitlevad talurahvakoolide asutamist Eesti- ja Liivimaal 17. sajandi lõpul, sotsiaalseid ja etnilisi vahekordi rannarootsi asustusega Harju-Madise ja Risti kihelkonnas, Johannes Haquini Forseliust (rektori ja vaimulikuna) ning Bengt Gottfried Forseliust kui koolide asutajat, keeleuuendajat ja innovaatilise aabitsa autorit. Mitme distsipliini ja erinevate uurimisperspektiivide ühendamine võimaldab mitte ükses täpsustada faktoloogiat, vaid pakub senistest erinevaid kontseptuaalseid järeldusi.The thesis examines the activities of Bengt Gottfried Forselius (approx. 1660–1688) in regard to the founding of Estonian peasant schools and innovation of the written language. The objective of the research is the expansion of the base of sources, critical evaluation of the existing investigations and a new, specified reconstruction. The research is interdisciplinary and places the observed topics in the broader historical and cultural context. The educational history and biographic-prosopographical approach interweaves with the themes of pedagogy, linguistics, history of ideas and bibliognosy. Likewise, the reunification of micro- and macrohistory was intended: the perspective of local history and the respective developments in the neighbouring countries. The dissertation consists of the main chapter and six articles (one of them unpublished). The articles examine the founding of the peasant schools in Estland and Livland at the end of the 17th century, social and ethnic relations with the Coastal Swedes’ settlements in the Harju-Madise and Risti (St. Matthias & Kreuz) parishes, Johannes Haquini Forselius (as a rector and pastor) and Bengt Gottfried Forselius as the organizer of schools, reformer of orthography and the author of the innovative primer. The unification of various disciplines and distinct perspectives of research enables not only to concretize factology but provides new conceptual conclusions