Ugaunians or Ugannians ( Estonian : ugalased ; Latvian : ugauņi ), referred to as Chudes by the earliest Russian chronicles, were a historic Finnic people inhabiting the southern Estonian Ugandi County ( Latin : Ungannia ; also Ugania , Ugaunia ) that is now Tartu , Põlva , Võru and Valga counties of Estonia .
22-519: In modern Estonian literature, the province of Ugaunia is called Ugandi or Ugala . The name Ugandi is derived by associating Ugaunia with the name of Uandimägi hill near Otepää . In Latvian , the country of Estonia is still called Igaunija after Ugaunians, their ancient neighbors. The power center of Ugaunians is believed to have been in the fortified stronghold of Otepää ( South Estonian for "bear's head"; Latin : Caput Ursi , Russian : Medvezh'ya Golova ) in present-day Linnamägi Hill in
44-460: A folk song from Viljandi calls for speeding up the harvest work because Ugaunians might attack. "Ugalane" has also been used as a disparaging word for an unsophisticated country person. Due to its location, Ugaunia always bore the brunt of East Slavs ' attacks against Chudes, as they called Finnic peoples around their North-Eastern boundaries. In 1030 Kievan Prince Yaroslav I the Wise organized
66-424: A military campaign against Chudes, defeated them and established fort Yuryev (literally "Yury's" - Yury being Yaroslav's Christian name) in what is modern day Tartu . Kievan rule of Ugaunia may have lasted until 1061, when, according to Russian chronicles, Yuryev was burned down by Sosols (probably Sackalians , Oeselians or Harionenses ). Rulers of Novgorod and Pskov made frequent raids against Ugaunians in
88-573: The Battle on Lake Peipus in 1242. Ugaunia became subsequently known as the Bishopric of Dorpat . Otep%C3%A4%C3%A4 Otepää (formerly Nuustaku ) is a town in Valga County , southern Estonia . It is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish . Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer capital" Pärnu ). During
110-646: The Kievan Rus' advances. The fort at Otepää was finally conquered in 1224 by German crusaders. Hermann of Dorpat , the first Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Dorpat (1224–1248) within the Livonian Confederation, built an episcopal castle at Otepää, which was the first stone fortress built in Estonia. During the 14th century the importance of Otepää waned as Tartu , which was the seat of
132-631: The Letts , saw the crusaders as potential allies against their traditional adversaries. The Ugaunians wanted to continue the truce with their new neighbors, but the crusaders had a list of preconditions. They demanded that the Ugaunians pay reparation for an old incident. Many years ago the Ugaunians, upon the advice of the Livonians, had robbed a caravan of German merchants by the Daugava river. In 1207
154-475: The 12th century but never succeeded to subjugate them. Fort Bear's Head was conquered in 1116 and 1193, Tharbata in 1134 and 1192. Ugaunians themselves made several raids against Pskov. At the beginning of the 13th century, a new powerful enemy appeared. German crusaders had established a foothold at the mouth of the Daugava river and started to expand and christen local tribes. The Ugaunians' southern neighbors,
176-584: The 2005–2006 season it became the site for FIS Cross-Country World Cup events. Otepää is located the highest of the Estonian cities, up to 152 meters above sea level. [1] The name Otepää means 'Ott's Head' in South Estonian , where ott is a euphemism for 'bear'. The first settlement in Otepää was in 6th century BC. It has been inhabited continuously since the 6th-7th centuries. Otepää (or Odenpäh)
198-532: The Bishopric, grew in importance. The castle at Otepää was destroyed, but there is no written evidence of when the castle was abandoned. Archaeologist have argued that the castle was inhabited as late as 1477. But it is more commonly believed that the castle was razed by the Livonian Order in 1396 during a conflict with the Bishopric of Dorpat . The earliest surviving firearm in Europe has been found in
220-656: The Christianity to them. Some pagan Ugaunians wanted to kill him because of his preaching, but his status as the messenger of the bishop protected him. Ugaunians made peace with the Bishop of Riga, the leader of the Livonian crusade . In 1210 the Novgorodian prince Mstislav and his brother, Vladimir the prince of Polatsk sent an army against Ugaunians. They besieged Otepää and fought there for eight days. Defenders of
242-797: The Germans. Sackalians sent bloody swords with which they had killed Germans to Ugaunians of Tharbata and Otepää. In Tharbata they decided by lot whether to sacrifice to the gods an ox or their priest Hartwig, who was equally fat. Luckily for the priest, the lot fell upon the ox. Ugaunians decided to side with Novgorodians. Russian princes of Pskov, Novgorod and Suzdal sent huge troops of 20000 men to Ugaunia. The people of Tharbata sent them large gifts and Otepää welcomed them too. The Russians left Vyachko (Vetseke) as their prince to rule Ugaunians and any other Estonian province around he could gathered tax from. In 1224 crusaders retook all provinces in mainland Estonia. After casting lot, bishop Hermann of Buxhoeveden
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#1732798196585264-462: The Letts with "very sharp lances". The crusaders and Letts went to war against Ugaunians. They burned Otepää and returned with captives and booty. Ugaunians and Sackalians retaliated, raided territories of the Letts and burned their worst enemies alive. The Livonians and the Bishop of Riga wanted peace and sent the priest Alabrand to Otepää to negotiate. Alabrand used the gathering of Ugaunians to preach
286-568: The castle of Otepää and it dates to at least 1396. In 1862, the settlement was named Nuustaku and granted town privileges. In 1876, Tartu Estonian Farmers' Society and Estonian Farmer's Society held the first agricultural fair at Nuustaku church manor. On June 4, 1884, the flag that was to become the national flag of Estonia was dedicated in the Nuustaku Church as the flag of the Estonian Students' Society . The name Nuustaku
308-455: The crusaders sent a priest called Alabrand to Ugaunia to demand compensation, but did not receive an answer. Next year the Letts and Livonian Brothers of the Sword sent a new delegation to Ugaunia and returned with Ugaunian envoys. Ugaunians were offered "eternal peace" if they accept Christianity and return everything they had robbed from Germans and Letts. Ugaunians refused and left, threatening
330-685: The fort suffered a shortage of food and water and were forced to ask for peace. Ugaunians had to accept Orthodox baptism and pay a tribute of 400 "nogata" marks. ( Nogat or nahad is Estonian word for pelts). The same summer Ugaunians of Otepää surrendered to crusader commander Bertold of Wenden . Ugaunians continued to raid Lettish territories. Wars between Ugaunians and Letts lasted the whole decade. The elders of Ugaunians and Letts had deep personal feuds. When Ugaunians captured Tālivaldis of Trikāta in 1215 and burned him alive, his sons burned alive all Ugaunian men they could catch to avenge. They also tortured Ugaunians to force them to show hiding places in
352-416: The town of Otepää. The hill was indeed shaped like a head of a bear. The bear was probably a holy animal for Ugaunians. Another important Ugaunian stronghold was Tarbatu by the river Emajõgi (literally, "Mother River"). It was erected around 600 AD on the east side of Toome Hill (Toomemägi) in what is today Tartu . In Estonian folklore, Ugaunians ( ugalased ) are enemy warriors and robbers. For example,
374-982: The woods. When all Ugaunian provinces were burnt down, the people still alive sent messengers to Riga, asking for peace and promised to receive baptism. They told that all who had been involved in the robbery of German merchants had already been killed. The priests Otto and Peter Kakuwalda were sent to baptize them. Hearing about that, prince Vladimir of Pskov attacked Ugaunians. Ugaunians and German crusaders fortified Otepää and avenged Russians, raiding lands of Pskov and Novgorod. After that Ugaunians went with crusaders, Livonians and Letts against Estonian pagan provinces Jerwia and Vironia . Prince Vladimir of Pskov sent messengers through all of Estonia to besiege Germans and Ugaunians at Otepää. Harrians and Oeselians came and even already baptized Sackalians. While troops of 20000 of Russians and Oeselians attacked Otepää, Ugaunians along with crusaders made raids against Novgorod, Vironians and Votians . In 1220 Ugaunians rebelled against
396-592: Was briefly restored in 1989 when the local government re-emerged in Estonia. In 1999, Otepää City was merged with the Pühajärve rural municipality, which became known as the Otepää Rural Municipality. Otepää Parish is the local government administrative unit that governs Otepää City. Trik%C4%81ta Trikāta Parish ( Latvian : Trikātas pagasts ) is a constituent part of Valmiera Municipality . From 2009 until 2021, Trikāta Parish
418-527: Was changed to Otepää in 1922. Otepää became a town in 1936. Otepää St. Mary's Church is located in the town. During Middle Ages, it is known three sacral buildings. The oldest parts of current church building dates back to 1860s. Major re-building took place 1889–1890 (architect R. Guleke). Otepää is situated in a landscape known as the Otepää Upland . The area is hilly and contains numerous lakes, including Lake Pühajärv . Otepää's municipal status
440-501: Was given rule over Ugaunia while Sackala was given to the order. Otepää was happy over the rule of bishop Hermann but Tharbata was still ruled by Vetseke and his Russians. Later that year however, Tharbata was conquered and all its Ugaunian and Russian defenders killed. Bishop Hermann started to fortify Otepää and Tarbatu. He chose Tharbata/Dorpat to be his residence. Bishop Hermann and his Ugaunian subjects fought frequently against Novgorod and were defeated by prince Alexander Nevsky in
462-550: Was historically important as the site of a Viking hill fort and medieval castle. The fortress was first mentioned in Rus' sources in 1116 when the princes of Novgorod and Pskov undertook an expedition against Tartu and Otepää. The conquest of Estonia during the Northern Crusades began with an attack on the fortress at Otepää in 1208. The fort was attacked again in 1217, when Christianized southern Estonians stopped
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#1732798196585484-530: Was part of the former Beverīna Municipality (formerly of Valka District , Latvia , before the July 1, 2009, administrative reform). Latvian law defines Trikāta Parish as a part of the Vidzeme region. Trikāta, the central settlement of the parish lies approximately 17 km to the east of Valmiera , 23 km north-west of Smiltene , and 14 km south of Strenči . This Vidzeme location article
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