A Raid on the Coast
Uusimaa viholliskohteena ja sodan tukialueena 1570-luvulla
Abstract
Towards the end of the 16th century, Sweden and Russia were involved in the Twenty-five Year’s War (1570–1595). During the war, in the winter of 1577, a force of 1,200 Tartar horsemen raided the southern coast of Finland, using the frozen Gulf of Finland as a passageway. The parishes of Helsinki and Sipoo were plundered. Grain, iron tools, cattle and people were taken to enemy territory as spoils of war. Later the prisoners, mainly young people from peasant farms, were sold at slave markets as far away as the Black Sea. This article studies the role of the coast of Uusimaa as a military target area and as a stronghold and logistic hinterland for the Swedish army and fleet operating in the Gulf of Finland and in Estonia and Livonia. The article also shows, from a maritime perspective, that the coast of Uusimaa was an area of crucial importance for the Swedish fleet operating in the Gulf of Finland, especially during the blockade of Narva 1561–1581. The Russians were aware of the shipbuilding in Uusimaa and the role of Helsinki as a naval base for the Swedish fleet. The enemy raided the hinterlands of Helsinki to cause devastation to the agriculture of the surrounding countryside and to weaken the peasants’ ability to pay Crown taxes and support the shipbuilding in Uusimaa. The main sources of the article are bailiff accounts.
Keywords: Russo-Swedish War (1570–1595), Gulf of Finland and Helsinki, Ships and Shipbuilding, Maintenance of Armies and Fleets, Desertion, the Blockade of Narva
