The knighthoods

After the catastrophic Nordic War the knights expanded their position under Russian rule. Around 1816/19 they initiated agrarian reforms and the liberation of the peasants. At the end of the 19th century, manorial estates were joined by independent farms.

The knights were responsible for the rural administration and maintained schools, churches and roads. They also levied taxes on the estates, which served to finance general expenses and charitable activities. As was typical of the so-called manorial rule, police and judicial power lay in their hands. With the foundation of Estonia and Latvia in 1920, the knights lost their public function, but they still exist today as non-profit associations.

Illustrations:

1.) Each of the four knighthoods disposed of a knights’ house, in which state assemblies met. Being the most important self-governing institution, they decided all essential matters of the province. The knights' house shown here is located on the "Domberg" (Cathedral Hill) in Reval (today Tallinn), where many families of the knights owned townhouses in which they lived during sessions and in winter. Lithograph by Friedrich Julius Tempeltey, according to a drawing by Theodor Gehlhaar, 1850.

2.)The knights’ house was also the venue for the sessions of the highest court in the province, the Estonian higher regional court. It is shown here assembled in front of the picture of the Russian Emperor Alexander III on the day of its dissolution on 18th November 1889. The withdrawal of the self-administration rights of the knights was part of a transformation of the judicial system within the framework of the so-called Russification Policy.
Photo: Association of the Baltic Knighthood, Baltic homeland picture archive Georg von Krusenstjern at picture archive Photo Marburg