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41-451: The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estonian stronghold had been in use since at least the 9th century AD. In 1219, the castle was taken over by Denmark 's crusaders led by king Valdemar II . According to a popular Danish legend, the flag of Denmark ( Dannebrog ) fell from the sky during a critical stage of the battle (known as the Battle of Lindanise ). This first proper castle

82-595: A battle against the men of Estland who had come down with a great army. After the battle, King Ingvar was buried close to the seashore in Estonia and the Swedes returned home. According to Heimskringla sagas, in the year 967 the Norwegian Queen Astrid escaped with her son, in future king of Norway Olaf Tryggvason from her homeland to Novgorod , where her brother Sigurd held an honoured position at

123-483: A given. An alternative hypothesis is that the increase of settlement finds in the period may have been associated with an economic boom related to the warming of climate. Some researchers have even argued that a Uralic language may have been spoken in Estonia and Finland since the end of the last glaciation. The beginning of the Late Neolithic Period about 2200 BC is characterized by the appearance of

164-405: A legend, recorded in the 19th century, the entire hill of Toompea was once upon a time created by a mythological heroine Linda who built it boulder-by-boulder with her own hands. 59°26′08″N 24°44′14″E  /  59.4356°N 24.7372°E  / 59.4356; 24.7372 Ancient Estonia Ancient Estonia refers to a period covering History of Estonia from the middle of

205-458: A literal rubber stamp is used, with a likeness of their hand-written signature. In essence, the term is meant to convey an endorsement without careful thought or personal investment in the outcome, especially since it is usually expected as the stamper's duty to do so. In the situation where a dictator's legislature is a "rubber stamp", the orders they are meant to endorse are formalities they are expected to legitimize, and are usually done to create

246-567: A rubber stamp institution. Russia's State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly ) quickly adopted a number of laws proposed by the government without delay. The annexation of Crimea was quickly approved in 2014 with only one deputy, Ilya Ponomarev , voting against. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine , the legislative approvals of the annexation of occupied territories in late 2022 did not meet any resistance, giving

287-407: Is a political metaphor , referring to a person or institution with considerable de jure power but little de facto power — one that rarely or never disagrees with more powerful organizations. Historian Edward S. Ellis used the term toy parliament to describe a rubber-stamp legislature. In situations where this superior official's signature may frequently be required for routine paperwork,

328-611: Is described in Njál's saga as occurring in 972 AD. About 1008, Olaf the Holy , later king of Norway , landed on Saaremaa . The Oesilians, taken by surprise, had at first agreed to pay the demands made by Olaf, but then gathered an army during the negotiations and attacked the Norwegians. Olaf (who would have been only 13 years old) claimed to have won the battle. Olaf was the subject of several biographies, both hagiographies and sagas, in

369-628: Is hoisted at the top of the tower every day at sunrise, to the sound of the national anthem , and lowered at sunset. After the Protestant Reformation and many wars that followed in the 16th century, the Teutonic Order lost its last possessions in Estonia and the region became contested by Sweden, Poland and Muscovy (Russia). By 1561, northern Estonia had become part of the Kingdom of Sweden . The Swedish rulers transformed

410-474: Is to a large extent the castle that can be seen today. The castle again fell to Denmark just ten years later, in 1237, but was sold to the Teutonic Order in 1346, and would remain in their hands for the remainder of the Middle Ages . As the crusading Teutonic Order was a religious order, the castle came to resemble a monastery in several ways. It included a chapel , a chapter house and a dormitory for

451-455: The 8th millennium BC until the conquest and subjugation of the local Finnic tribes in the first quarter of the 13th century during the Teutonic and Danish Northern Crusades . The region has been populated since the end of the last glacial era, about 10,000 BC. The earliest traces of human settlement in Estonia are connected with Kunda culture . The oldest known settlement in Estonia is

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492-696: The Cabinet for a single day, consequentially overriding his veto . Historian Edward S. Ellis described Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II 's General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire as a toy parliament. It was created in 1876 with the sole purpose of appeasing the European powers. One of the most famous examples of a rubber stamp institution is the Reichstag of Nazi Germany , which unanimously confirmed all decisions already made by Adolf Hitler and

533-566: The Corded Ware culture , pottery with corded decoration and well-polished stone axes (s.c. boat-shape axes). Evidence of agriculture is provided by charred grain of wheat on the wall of a corded-ware vessel found in Iru settlement. Osteological analysis show an attempt was made to domesticate the wild boar . Specific burial customs were characterized by the dead being laid on their sides with their knees pressed against their breast, one hand under

574-762: The Danes , who were aided by the Livonians and the Wends of Pomerania . It is notable that other Baltic tribes — i.e., the Letts and Lithuanians — are not mentioned by Saxo as participating in the fight. Snorri Sturluson relates in his Ynglinga saga how the Swedish king Ingvar Harra (7th century), the son of Östen and a great warrior, who was forced to patrol the shores of his kingdom fighting Estonian pirates. The saga speaks of his invasion of Estonia where he fell in

615-706: The Pulli settlement , which was located on the banks of the river Pärnu , near the town of Sindi , in southwestern Estonia. It has been dated to the beginning of the 9th millennium BC . The Kunda Culture received its name from the Lammasmäe settlement site in northern Estonia, which dates from earlier than 8500. Bone and stone artifacts similar to those found at Kunda have been discovered elsewhere in Estonia, as well as in Latvia , Russia , northern Lithuania and southern Finland . Among minerals, flint and quartz were used

656-648: The Rus' state in 9th century. According to Nestor Yaroslav I the Wise invaded the country of the Chuds in 1030 and laid the foundations of Yuriev , (the historical Russian name of Tartu , Estonia ). According to the Novgorod Chronicle , Varyag Ulf (Uleb) from Novgorod was crushed in battle at Iron Gate , which is usually located in northern Russia, but according to one hypothesis took place on sea close to

697-517: The Tallinn Bay in 1032. In the 1st centuries AD political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge in Estonia. Two larger subdivisions appeared: the parish ( kihelkond ) and the county ( maakond ). The parish consisted of several villages. Nearly all parishes had at least one fortress. The defense of the local area was directed by the highest official, the parish elder. The county was composed of several parishes, also headed by an elder. By

738-826: The Vikings from the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. With the rise of Christianity , centralized authority in Scandinavia and Germany eventually lead to Baltic crusades . The east Baltic world was transformed by military conquest: First the Livs , Letts and Estonians , then the Prussians and the Finns underwent defeat, baptism , military occupation and sometimes extermination by groups of Germans , Danes and Swedes . Rubber stamp (politics) A rubber stamp

779-559: The 13th century the following major counties had developed in Estonia: Saaremaa (Osilia), Läänemaa (Rotalia or Maritima), Harjumaa (Harria), Rävala (Revalia), Virumaa (Vironia), Järvamaa (Jervia), Sakala (Saccala), and Ugandi (Ugaunia). Estonia constitutes one of the richest territories in the Baltic for hoards from the 11th and the 12th centuries. The earliest coin hoards found in Estonia are Arabic Dirhams from

820-611: The 1st century iron was smelted from local marsh and lake ore. Settlement sites were located mostly in places that offered natural protection. Fortresses were built, although used temporarily. The appearance of square Celtic fields surrounded by enclosures in Estonia date from the Pre-Roman Iron Age. The majority of stones with man-made indents, which presumably were connected with magic designed to increase crop fertility, date from this period. A new type of grave, quadrangular burial mounds began to develop. Burial traditions show

861-561: The 8th century. The largest Viking Age hoards found in Estonia have been at Maidla and Kose . Out of the 1500 coins published in catalogues, 1000 are Anglo-Saxon . Varbola Stronghold ( Latin : Castrum Warbole ) was one of the largest circular rampart fortress and trading center built in Estonia , Harju County ( Latin : Harria ) at the time. In the 11th century the Scandinavians are frequently chronicled as combating

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902-585: The Middle Ages, and many of the historical facts concerning his adventures are disputed. The Chudes as mentioned in Old East Slavic chronicles are in early context usually considered as Baltic Finns in north-western Rus or even as all non-Slavic people in north-eastern Europe, but since 11th century mainly as Estonians . According to Primary Chronicle the Chudes where one of the founders of

943-464: The Soviet Union until 1941, by Nazi Germany in 1941—1944, and then again by the Soviet Union after 1944 — the democratically elected parliament of Estonia was disbanded. The castle and the building of Riigikogu were however used by the local Supreme Soviet , the formal rubber stamp legislative body of Soviet-occupied Estonia without any substantive meaning, between 1947 and 1990. According to

984-567: The area of Western Lithuania and the present-day Kaliningrad . In the Norse sagas (13th century) the term apparently was used to indicate the Estonians. According to one interpretation, Ptolemy in his Geography III in the middle of the 2nd century AD mentions the Osilians among other dwellers on the Baltic shore. The extent of Estonian territory in early medieval times is disputed but

1025-589: The castle from a medieval fortress into a ceremonial and administrative centre of political power in Estonia, a purpose the castle has served ever since. In 1710, Sweden lost the territory of modern-day Estonia to the Tsardom of Russia . Subsequently a number of larger reconstruction schemes were carried out and the building complex was effectively turned from a castle into a palace. A new dominating wing in Baroque and Neoclassical style, designed by Johann Schultz ,

1066-610: The clear beginning of social stratification. The Roman Iron Age in Estonia is roughly dated to between 50 and 450 AD, the era that was affected by the influence of the Roman Empire . In material culture this is reflected by few Roman coins, some jewellery and artefacts. The abundance of iron artifacts in Southern Estonia speaks of closer mainland ties with southern areas while the islands of western and northern Estonia communicated with their neighbors mainly by sea. By

1107-418: The court of Prince Vladimir . On their journey, "Eistland" (Oeselian?) Vikings raided the ship, killing some of the crew and taking others into slavery. Six years later, when Sigurd Eirikson traveled to "Eistland" to collect taxes on behalf of "Valdemar" (Vladimir), he spotted Olaf in a market in an unmentioned city and paid for his freedom. A battle between Oeselian and Icelandic Vikings off Saaremaa

1148-399: The end of the period three clearly defined tribal dialectical areas: Northern Estonia, Southern Estonia, and Western Estonia (including the islands) had emerged, the population of each having formed its own understanding of identity. The name of Estonia occurs first in a form of Aestii in the 1st century AD by Tacitus . However, at this stage it probably indicated Baltic tribes living in

1189-665: The head. Objects placed into the graves were made of bones of domesticated animals. The beginning of the Bronze Age in Estonia is dated to approximately 1800 BC. The development of the borders between the Baltic Finns and the Balts was under way. The first fortified settlements, Asva and Ridala on the island of Saaremaa and Iru in the Northern Estonia began to be built. The development of shipbuilding facilitated

1230-659: The highest-ranking members of the Nazi Party . Many legislatures of authoritarian and totalitarian countries are considered as rubber stamps, such as communist parliaments like the Chinese National People's Congress , or the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations during the Fascist regime . Since the 2003 elections , Russia's Federal Assembly has been similarly referred to as

1271-584: The institutional arrangement allows for it. In many instances, the refusal of a constitutional monarch to rubber stamp laws passed by parliament can set off a constitutional crisis . For example, when then-king Baudouin of Belgium , because of his religious objections, refused to sign a bill legalizing abortions in April 1990, the Belgian Federal Parliament declared him temporarily unable to reign. That effectively transferred his powers to

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1312-457: The islands. The stone and bone tools of the era have a notable similarity with the artifacts of the Kunda culture. Artifacts identified as belonging to the " Comb Ceramic Culture " have been found at sites from Northern Finland and Russia to Eastern Prussia . Burials associated with the culture often include figures of animals, birds, snakes and humans carved from bone and amber beginning from

1353-472: The knights. The order was also responsible for erecting the still visible towers of the castle, including "Pilsticker" (translated as "arrow-sharpener"), "Stür den Kerl" ("ward off the enemy"), "Landskrone" ("crown of the land"), and "Langer Hermann" (in Estonian Pikk Hermann or "Tall Hermann"). Tall Hermann is 48 metres (157 ft) tall and dominates the castle skyline. The flag of Estonia

1394-526: The middle of the 4th millennium BC . Until the early 1980s, the scholarly consensus held that the appearance of Comb Ceramic culture artifacts was associated with the arrival of Baltic Finns (ancestors of the Estonians , Finns , and Livonians ) on the shores of the Baltic Sea . However, such a linking of archaeologically defined cultural entities with ethno-linguistic ones is no longer assumed to be

1435-519: The most for making cutting tools. The beginning of the Neolithic period is marked by the ceramics of the Narva culture , which appears in Estonia at the beginning of the 5th millennium BC . The oldest finds date from around 4900 BC. The first pottery was made of thick clay mixed with pebbles, shells or plants. The Narva type ceramics are found throughout almost the entire Estonian coastal region and on

1476-626: The nature of their religion is not. They were known to the Scandinavians as experts in wind-magic, as were the Sámi (known at the time as Finns) in the North. The name Estonia was first mentioned by Cassiodorus in his book V. Letters 1–2 dating from the 6th century. Saxo Grammaticus describes the Curonians and Estonians as participating in the Battle of Bråvalla on the side of the Swedes against

1517-472: The site of the former convent building of the Teutonic Order. Taking two years to complete, the parliament building, designed by architects Eugen Habermann and Herbert Johanson , was finished in 1922. Although its exterior is traditionalist, the interior is Expressionist in style - the world's only Expressionist parliament building. After June 1940, during the period of foreign occupations — by

1558-405: The spread of bronze. Changes took place in burial customs, a new type of burial ground spread from Germanic to Estonian areas, stone cist graves and cremation burials became increasingly common aside small number of boat-shaped stone graves. The Pre-Roman Iron Age began in Estonia about 500 BC and lasted until the middle of the 1st century BC. The oldest iron items were imported, although since

1599-435: The superficial appearance of legislative and dictatorial harmony rather than because they have actual power. In a constitutional monarchy or parliamentary republic , heads of state are typically "rubber stamps" (or figureheads ) to an elected parliament, even if they legally possess considerable reserve powers or disagree with the parliament's decisions. Rubber-stamp legislatures may occur even in democratic countries if

1640-492: Was added in the eastern part of the complex. It housed the provincial administration of the Governorate of Estonia and the living quarters of the imperial governor. In the 19th century, a public park was also created and to the south-east of the castle, and an archive building erected nearby. After Estonia became independent in 1918 , the government decided to build a new house for the nation's parliament ( Riigikogu ) at

1681-679: Was referred to as the "Castle of the Danes", in Latin castrum danorum and in contemporary archaic Estonian taani linna . From the latter, the modern name of the city of Tallinn is possibly derived (see also Tallinn § Etymology ). In 1227, the castle was taken over by the Order of the Brethren of the Sword , who initiated rebuilding schemes. The castle's reconstruction began in the 13th century and

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