262 Finland
Christian Creeds, 3d ed. (London: Longman, 1972);
Aristeides Papadakis, Crisis in Byzantium: The Filioque
Controversy in the Patriarchate of Gregory II of Cyprus
(1283–1289)(New York: Fordham University Press, 1983).
Finland Medieval Finland was a country or region in
northern Europe, on the northeastern coast of the Baltic
Sea. In the early Middle Ages, Finno-Ugric tribes had
already settled the country. The word Finland derives
from Fenni,the name given to these tribes by the Roman
historian Tacitus in the second century. From the sixth to
the 11th centuries, these tribes lived in three kingdoms.
The one in the north and another in the east lacked much
cohesion; the third, in the south and southwest along the
coast of the Baltic and ruled by the pagan tribe called the
Suomi, was better organized. Its Finnish name eventually
became that of the whole country.
Finland prospered through its FUR TRADEwith neigh-
boring countries and even with BYZANTIUMand the ARAB
CALIPHATEat BAGHDAD. In the middle of the 12th century,
King and Saint Eric IX of SWEDEN(r. ca. 1155/56–60)
easily conquered the kingdom with a military expedition
proclaimed as a CRUSADE. A certain archbishop, Henry of
Uppsala (d. 1156), introduced Christianity to Finland in
1156; though he was martyred there, Christianity spread
rapidly. Another series of campaigns called crusades in
the second half of the 13th century led to the conquest of
the rest of the country. With the conquest of Karelia in
1293, the whole of Finland was ruled by Sweden, despite
the fierce and lasting opposition of the princes of NOV-
GORODand MOSCOW. They were compelled to recognize
Swedish rule in Finland only in 1323.
Under mild Swedish domination Finland developed
rapidly. New towns were founded, particularly along the
Baltic coast. The large settlement of Swedes influenced
the ethnic character of Finland, especially in the coastal
area, but never reduced the Finns to serfdom, as the
German knights of LIVONIAdid the Baltic tribes whom
they conquered.
Finns were allowed to have self-governing institu-
tions in cities and countries. In 1362 Finland became a
nearly autonomous duchy within Sweden. The Swedes
and Finns of the duchy had their own assembly of estates,
including representatives from the nobility, clergy, towns,
and countryside. Despite this there were rebellions and
political conflict throughout the later Middle Ages.
Further reading:Ella Margareta Kivikoski, Finland,
trans. Alan Binns. (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967);
S. Suvanto, “Medieval Studies in Finland: A Survey,”
Scandinavian Journal of History,4 (1979): 287–304; E.
Orrman, “The Progress of Settlement in Finland during
the Late Middle Ages,” Scandinavian Economic History
Review29 (1981): 129–143; István Rácz, Early Finnish
Art, from Prehistory to the Middle Ages,trans. Diana Tull-
berg (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1967).
firearms Firearms were first used in Europe in the
Middle Ages. The explosive properties of gunpowder
based on a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal were
known in China by 500. In the West other inflammable
mixtures were employed in the seventh century by the
Byzantines such as GREEK FIRE. An understanding of gun-
powder spread from China only in the 12th century. In
the late 13th century, gunpowder was likely taken to
western Europe by the MONGOLS. The earliest Western
formula for making gunpowder has been found in a
manuscript written in Latin from about 1300 and con-
taining the Book of Fire,attributed to Mark the Greek,
about whom we know little else.
If the West had lagged behind China in understand-
ing and deployment of gunpowder, it quickly charged
ahead in the manufacture of weapons to exploit its possi-
bilities in a projectile weapon. The first cannons were
designed and employed by 1311. They were made of
metal forged in a process similar to the familiar method
of casting bells. In the HUNDRED YEARS’WARcannons
were used by both the English and French armies,
although the social ideals of CHIVALRYmade the French
slightly more reluctant to use them. However, in the 15th
century, the French made significant use of them to drive
the English out of their fortified positions in France, thus
ending the long war. The OTTOMANTurks learned the use
of firearms in the 14th century. With the help of artillery,
they won the Battle of KOSOVOin 1368 and captured
Constantinople in 1453. This led to Turkish domination
of the Balkans and was a threat to the rest of Europe. The
use of artillery had spread throughout Europe, and by the
15th century gunpowder was widely employed as missile
propellant in many different kinds, sizes, and styles of
weapons by most armies.
See also CASTLES AND FORTIFICATIONS; WARFARE;
WEAPONS AND WEAPONRY.
Further reading:Kenneth Chase, Firearms: A Global
History to 1700(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003); Kelly De Vries, Guns and Men in Medieval Europe,
1200–1500: Studies in Military History and Technology
(Aldershot, England: Variorum, 2002); Bert S. Hall,
Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder,
Technology, and Tactics(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Press, 1997); John F. Hayward, The Art of the Gun-
maker (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1962–1964); A.
Vesey, B. Norman and Don Pottinger, English Weapons
and Warfare, 449–1660(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-
Hall, 1979).flagellants(disciplinati, verberatori, battuti) Between
1260 and 1400, especially around the time of the great
plagues of the mid-14th century, there were several flagel-
lant movements. They were organized primarily by the
LAITYand were processions that traveled from town to
town collectively carrying out penitential rites to the point