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Chapter 109: The End of Danish Hegemony in the Amber Sea
Continuing further into Scandinavia, we can witness three large kingdoms: Denmark, Gaetia and Norway.
Denmark has become a major power in the Baltic Sea, having established control over not only Jutland and Scania, but also the Danes control the Pomeranian coast via local dukes. Denmark sought to control the entire southern coast of the Baltic Sea, enabling them to control the world´s trade with amber.
View attachment 533397
Amber is a gemstone found on the southern Baltic coast
Denmark at first has established friendly relations with Curonia in the eastern Baltic coast, and sought to make Prussia their clients. While initially successful, later on the Prussian dukes got annoyed as the Danes were shrinking their authority more and more, until they have had enough. The already baptised Prussians were joined by their eastern neighbours, the pagan Sudovians, and sought to expel the Danes from their country once and for all.
Denmark was making gains and have reconquered Elbing, but then the Polish and Saxons have joined the war as well. The Saxon kings have been setting their eyes on the land of Mecklenburg, which they saw as rightfully being an extension of their territory, basing their claims on the fact that the Abodrites had been vassals of Charlemagne. The Saxon merchants in Bremen and Hamburg were more than willing to fully participate in a war against Denmark to break Danish hegemony over the Baltic Sea trade; in alliance with Novgorod and Poland, Danish hegemony in the Baltic Sea was broken. With Mecklenburg seized by the Saxons, the Danish control in the south was reduced to Pomerania, which lost some its eastern counties to Poland as well, and the city of Lybaek, which is still a predominantly Danish city.
View attachment 533392
Danish language expands in Pomerania, in Holstein it however leaves place for Saxon
By this time the major cities of Pomerania have adopted the Danish language. You see, Denmark has had a significant population growth, and was becoming a rather crowded place. Many Danish landless Danish peasants were being offered land in the south, and were beginning to settle in Pomerania. The Danish language in Pomerania has been spreading from the coastal towns, which were engaged in the trade to the largest degree, as the merchants were speaking mostly Danish; thus being proficient in Danish has become an advantage if you lived in a coastal town of Pomerania. As Danish has become dominant in the town, it gradually spread into the countryside, along with the Danish settlers, arriving predominantly from the islands and Scania, from Jutland to a much smaller degree.
However, one ought to remember that the native Slavic population was not displaced nor killed, but the Pomeranians largely remained in place and just adopted the Danish tongue and customs.
View attachment 533395
The labyrinth of lakes in Savonia and Tavastia was among the factors that caused a Gaetian defeat in the region
As for Gaetia, they continue to expand northwards, taking over Norrboten to, take over the entire coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. However, once pushing eastwards to expand their domain in Finland, they are held back. The force that opposes them is that of the Tavastians – a Finnic tribe found in south-central Finland, a buffer between the Gaets and domains of the Republic of Novgorod. The invading Gaetish force was met by Tavastian, and neighbouring Savonian warriors, along with Novgorodian forces (1). Without knowledge of the local terrain, the Gaetish commanders appear to be ultimately lost in the maze of lakes, forests and mosquitoes (2). Therefore, the Gaetish conquest of Tavastia is most likely about to fail.
View attachment 533396
A map of scripts used in Northern Europe. Red is Latin, blue-green is Cyrillic
View attachment 533393
Gaetia is portrayed in green colour from now on, to avoid confusion caused by the blue to name the realm "Sweden"
Of note is the independence of Visby (3), a merchant republic located on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Visby maintains cordial trading relations with their partners in Curonia and Prussia.
As for Norway, not much happens, apart from it experiencing a civil war (4), and extending its even further northwards along the coast of Finnmark.
When comparing the form that feudalism has taken in Scandinavia, we can view a few major differences. Firstly, the Catholic Church does not wield significant influence, in contrast to Germany, Poland or Neustria. There are no prince-bishoprics which can be seen in Scandinavia. Although the Archbishops of Lund, Uppsala or Nidaros are the authority that are present as regents until the next king is crowned, the influence of the clergy is much smaller.
Secondly, the status of peasants as a fourth estate of the realm remains a respected one. Large parts of the land, especially in Gaetia and Norway, are held mainly by freeholders, who are not vassals of any nobleman, but are in theory direct subjects of the king. Scandinavia can be viewed as a much more egalitarian society than the rest of Europe. Why? Perhaps one can speak of a Viking legacy, when warriors were valued for their skill not descent, or perhaps the harsh climate, where people need to cooperate, and the clannish nature of the society persists.
Denmark has become a major power in the Baltic Sea, having established control over not only Jutland and Scania, but also the Danes control the Pomeranian coast via local dukes. Denmark sought to control the entire southern coast of the Baltic Sea, enabling them to control the world´s trade with amber.
View attachment 533397
Amber is a gemstone found on the southern Baltic coast
Denmark at first has established friendly relations with Curonia in the eastern Baltic coast, and sought to make Prussia their clients. While initially successful, later on the Prussian dukes got annoyed as the Danes were shrinking their authority more and more, until they have had enough. The already baptised Prussians were joined by their eastern neighbours, the pagan Sudovians, and sought to expel the Danes from their country once and for all.
Denmark was making gains and have reconquered Elbing, but then the Polish and Saxons have joined the war as well. The Saxon kings have been setting their eyes on the land of Mecklenburg, which they saw as rightfully being an extension of their territory, basing their claims on the fact that the Abodrites had been vassals of Charlemagne. The Saxon merchants in Bremen and Hamburg were more than willing to fully participate in a war against Denmark to break Danish hegemony over the Baltic Sea trade; in alliance with Novgorod and Poland, Danish hegemony in the Baltic Sea was broken. With Mecklenburg seized by the Saxons, the Danish control in the south was reduced to Pomerania, which lost some its eastern counties to Poland as well, and the city of Lybaek, which is still a predominantly Danish city.
View attachment 533392
Danish language expands in Pomerania, in Holstein it however leaves place for Saxon
By this time the major cities of Pomerania have adopted the Danish language. You see, Denmark has had a significant population growth, and was becoming a rather crowded place. Many Danish landless Danish peasants were being offered land in the south, and were beginning to settle in Pomerania. The Danish language in Pomerania has been spreading from the coastal towns, which were engaged in the trade to the largest degree, as the merchants were speaking mostly Danish; thus being proficient in Danish has become an advantage if you lived in a coastal town of Pomerania. As Danish has become dominant in the town, it gradually spread into the countryside, along with the Danish settlers, arriving predominantly from the islands and Scania, from Jutland to a much smaller degree.
However, one ought to remember that the native Slavic population was not displaced nor killed, but the Pomeranians largely remained in place and just adopted the Danish tongue and customs.
View attachment 533395
The labyrinth of lakes in Savonia and Tavastia was among the factors that caused a Gaetian defeat in the region
As for Gaetia, they continue to expand northwards, taking over Norrboten to, take over the entire coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. However, once pushing eastwards to expand their domain in Finland, they are held back. The force that opposes them is that of the Tavastians – a Finnic tribe found in south-central Finland, a buffer between the Gaets and domains of the Republic of Novgorod. The invading Gaetish force was met by Tavastian, and neighbouring Savonian warriors, along with Novgorodian forces (1). Without knowledge of the local terrain, the Gaetish commanders appear to be ultimately lost in the maze of lakes, forests and mosquitoes (2). Therefore, the Gaetish conquest of Tavastia is most likely about to fail.
View attachment 533396
A map of scripts used in Northern Europe. Red is Latin, blue-green is Cyrillic
View attachment 533393
Gaetia is portrayed in green colour from now on, to avoid confusion caused by the blue to name the realm "Sweden"
Of note is the independence of Visby (3), a merchant republic located on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Visby maintains cordial trading relations with their partners in Curonia and Prussia.
As for Norway, not much happens, apart from it experiencing a civil war (4), and extending its even further northwards along the coast of Finnmark.
When comparing the form that feudalism has taken in Scandinavia, we can view a few major differences. Firstly, the Catholic Church does not wield significant influence, in contrast to Germany, Poland or Neustria. There are no prince-bishoprics which can be seen in Scandinavia. Although the Archbishops of Lund, Uppsala or Nidaros are the authority that are present as regents until the next king is crowned, the influence of the clergy is much smaller.
Secondly, the status of peasants as a fourth estate of the realm remains a respected one. Large parts of the land, especially in Gaetia and Norway, are held mainly by freeholders, who are not vassals of any nobleman, but are in theory direct subjects of the king. Scandinavia can be viewed as a much more egalitarian society than the rest of Europe. Why? Perhaps one can speak of a Viking legacy, when warriors were valued for their skill not descent, or perhaps the harsh climate, where people need to cooperate, and the clannish nature of the society persists.
- What plays in favour of the Finnish defending their lands? Well, I guess it´s going to be capable Finnish defences of Finland in the OTL Winter War, and Novgorodian victory of Alexander Nevsky on the Battle of the Ice. A Swedish heavily armed force is going to be met by the Ushkuiniks. More importantly, the lakes of Finland are going to cause a headache to Gaetish *Swedish* commanders, while the Finnish tribes are going to use the terrain to their advantage. As for Novgorod, they are more than happy to extend their influence into Finland, although they are not going to exert heir control directly.
- So we are going to have not only Orthodox Lithuania, but most likely Orthodox Tavastia *Finland* as well; In OTL we have most of Finland Lutheran, previously Catholic, and Karelians were Finnish people in the east distinct for their Orthodox religion. ITTL, we are very likely going to have a Tavastian or Karelian Orthodox identity, with a Catholic Finland in the west.
- Shown as blue on the map; Gaetia is going to be shown in green, so that our readers do not label the realm as “Sweden”
- As in OTL
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.1k