Estonia and the Baltic Sea Region in Prehistory and the Middle Ages
Course code
AIG6102.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Eesti ja Läänemereruum muinas- ja keskajal
Course title in English
Estonia and the Baltic Sea Region in Prehistory and the Middle Ages
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2026/2027 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2026/2027 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Brief description of the course
The course examines societies in the territory of present-day Estonia and the Baltic Sea region from the Iron Age to the Livonian War. Drawing on archaeological finds and settlement sites—including burial practices, religions, foodways, buildings and visual culture—we investigate social organisation, warrior culture and customs and compare the Estonian area with Scandinavia. We examine the spread of Christianity, the Northern Crusades, the formation of Livonia as a political conglomerate, and relations between secular and ecclesiastical power. We also consider the development of Tallinn and Tartu, Hanseatic trade, cultural and religious life, the disintegration of Livonia’s political order and the arrival of the Reformation. Work with primary sources also draws on the digital collections created by the Digital Livonia project. The course culminates in an extended first-year research paper.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- is familiar with the principal written, archaeological, visual and material sources for the prehistoric and medieval history of Estonia and the Baltic Sea region and is conversant with the relevant historiography;
- situates Estonian history within the regional and comparative context of the Baltic Sea region and is familiar with the key concepts, essential factual knowledge and geography of the period;
- analyses primary sources, including the recently and extensively digitised archival collections of Digital Livonia, using source-critical methods and employs them in the investigation of historical questions;
- explains the multiperspectival nature of historical writing and compares different interpretations of the past;
- formulates a research question and produces a small-scale, multi-stage research paper based on primary sources and scholarly literature.
- is familiar with the principal written, archaeological, visual and material sources for the prehistoric and medieval history of Estonia and the Baltic Sea region and is conversant with the relevant historiography;
- situates Estonian history within the regional and comparative context of the Baltic Sea region and is familiar with the key concepts, essential factual knowledge and geography of the period;
- analyses primary sources, including the recently and extensively digitised archival collections of Digital Livonia, using source-critical methods and employs them in the investigation of historical questions;
- explains the multiperspectival nature of historical writing and compares different interpretations of the past;
- formulates a research question and produces a small-scale, multi-stage research paper based on primary sources and scholarly literature.
Teacher
Kersti Markus
Study programmes containing that course