Third Swedish Crusade

13th century military campaign

The Third Swedish Crusade to Finland was a Swedish military expedition against the pagan Karelians from 1293 to 1295 in which the Swedes successfully expanded their borders eastwards and gained further control of their lands in Finland.

It followed the possibly mythical First Crusade and the Second Crusade to Finland. Viborg Castle was established in 1293 on the site of a destroyed Karelian fort as the easternmost outpost of the medieval Kingdom of Sweden. After the crusade Western Karelia remained under Swedish rule until the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. The name of the expedition is largely anachronic, and it was a part of the Northern Crusades. According to the Eric Chronicles (Erikskrönikan) the reason behind the expedition was pagan intrusions into Christian territories. According to the Eric Chronicles, the Swedes conquered 14 hundreds from the Karelians. Karelians had also been engaged in a destructive expedition to Sweden in 1257 which led Valdemar, King of Sweden (1250–1275) to request Pope Alexander IV to declare a crusade against them, which he agreed. Birger Magnusson, King of Sweden (1290 to 1318), stated in a letter of 4 March 1295 that the motive of the crusade was long time banditry and looting in the Baltic Sea region by Karelians, and the fact that they had taken Swedes and other travellers as captives and then tortured them.

In the spring, a large fleet sailed to Finland under the command of Torkel Knutsson. Their goal was to move Sweden's border further east. The timing was well chosen, since the Tatars had been attacking both Russia and Novgorod. The target of the Swedish attack was the harbor and marketplace at Suomenvedenpohja, later known as Vyborg. reached Viborg and quickly moved against one of the towers in the fortress, they put six large trebuchets which in turn threw boulders against the walls, and quickly organized for an assault across the ice against the fortress.

Later in the spring, a fleet arrived from Sweden and soon they went on the offensive. Now the goal was Kexholm. If the Swedes were able to settle there well, the Ladoga Karel would also fall under Swedish control. After an assault, Kexholm was conquered and the Swedes established a garrison in the fortress under the command of Sigge Lake. but due to their exhaustion the defenders quickly fell along with their commander, Sigge Lake.

Linna Martti, ed. (1989) Suomen Varhaiskeskiajan Lähteitä (Historian Ystäväin liitto ry) ,