Throughout the centuries, many powers have tried to gain control of the territory which we now know of as Estonia. The southern part of present-day Estonia belonged to Livonia during the Middle Ages, as well as the northern part by the Gulf of Finland.
Germans, in particular the Teutonic Knights and the German aristocracy, ruled the area during large parts of the Middle Ages. They built castles and manor-houses. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes and were forced to do labour at the estates of the noblemen. This led to a peasant uprising in the middle of the 14th century, which was brutally put down. The aristocrats and the Teutonic Knights had strong armed forces at their disposal.
Denmark was the first country to conquer Estonia. At the beginning of the 13th century, the region round the Gulf of Finland was taken and a castle was built. The Danes called it Reval, but the Estonians called it Tania Line, which means the Danish Castle. An important commercial centre grew up around it. The town is now called Tallinn. The Danish King Valdemar Atterdag sold Reval to the Teutonic Knights in the middle of the 14th century.
German merchants and the Hanseatic league controlled the trade in the towns. Just like Reval, Dorpat (Tartu) was an important market town were goods from Russia, Sweden and Germany was traded.
If you would like to know more about Tallinn, read "Town Life. Towns on the Baltic Sea"