Tavastian uprising

Tavastian uprising
	Part of the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars
Date	Winter 1236–1237
Location	Tavastia
Result	Swedish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Sweden	Tavastians ; Supported by: ; Novgorod Republic ; Karelians
Commanders and leaders
Eric XI	Unknown

The Tavastian uprising, also sometimes called the Häme uprising, was a uprising by Tavastians in Tavastia, Finland in the winter of 1236–1237. The rebellion was against the Kingdom of Sweden and against the Catholic Church.^[2] The Tavastian rebels received aid from the Novgorod Republic, which sought to diminish Swedish influence in Finland in order to bolster its own position.^[3]

Pope Gregory IX described the event in a papal letter dated 9 December 1237 and addressed to Jarler, who was the Archbishop of Uppsala. He describes how the Tavastians returned to their pagan beliefs from Christianity and destroyed a Catholic church in Häme. He goes into detail describing other atrocities committed by the Tavastians.^[2] This has been seen as papal propaganda.^[4] Finally, he issued a call for a crusade against the rebels.^[3]^[2] Ultimately, harsh measures were employed to quell the uprising.^[3]

Due to the Mongol Invasion of Russia in 1237, support from the Novgorod Republic for the Tavastian rebels wained.^[3] Following the uprising, the Swedes held the Second Swedish Crusade against the Tavastians and used the Pope's message as further justification for the crusades.^[5]

^ "När Finland blev Sverige".
^ ^a ^b ^c Linna, Martti (1989). Suomen varhaiskeskiajan lähteitä (in Finnish). Gummerus. ISBN 978-951-96006-1-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sundberg, Ulf (1999). Medeltidens svenska krig (in Swedish) (1st ed.). Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg Bokförlag. p. 65. ISBN 978-91-89080-26-3.
^ Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin Itämaa (in Finnish). Swenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. p. 94. ISBN 978-951-583-212-2.
^ Meinander, Henrik (2020-04-15). History of Finland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-754003-9.

[1] "När Finland blev Sverige".

[:1-2] Linna, Martti (1989). Suomen varhaiskeskiajan lähteitä (in Finnish). Gummerus. ISBN 978-951-96006-1-1.

[Sundberg-3] Sundberg, Ulf (1999). Medeltidens svenska krig (in Swedish) (1st ed.). Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg Bokförlag. p. 65. ISBN 978-91-89080-26-3.

[4] Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin Itämaa (in Finnish). Swenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. p. 94. ISBN 978-951-583-212-2.

[5] Meinander, Henrik (2020-04-15). History of Finland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-754003-9.

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