Ivo Schenkenberg

The “Estonian Hannibal”

A journeyman coin-maker named Ivo Schenkenberg from Tallinn became a hero during the Russo-Livonian War when he recruited a 500-man strong cavalry corps of Estonian farmers and led them in the battles against Ivan the Terrible's forces. Fighting for Tallinn and the King of Sweden, he became an outstanding figure in 16 th century Estonian history. Despite his German name, some claim he was of ethnic Estonian descent. 40% of the Tallinn's citizenry were ethnic Estonians, the ruling class of Low-German merchants numbered barely one third of the burghers' total, and the rest were a mix.

In January 1558 Russian troops entered Estonia for a short time, demanding that the Bishopric of Tartu pay a tax to the Tsar or else they would start a war. No money was found for it and the tax was not paid. This set off the war between Russia and Livonia. The central authority of the Livonian Order of Knights had diminished to the point where the Order-master wasn't capable of organizing a defence force to prevent a Russian invasion and 25 years of chaos followed. In addition to the Russian army, Estonia and Livonia were also partly occupied by Polish and Swedish troops. The land was ravaged by fighting, until Sweden gained the upper hand and expelled the other armies. The people of Tallinn lived in one of the best fortified cities in Europe, but didn't think their own town guard could defend it against the massive Russian forces.

Aware of its vulnerability, in 1561 Tallinn voluntarily swore allegiance to the king of Sweden, and thus became the first Swedish foothold in Estonia.

When the Russian army in northern Estonia laid siege on Tallinn, some farmers sought refuge within the city walls. Ivo Schenkenberg formed a guerilla group from them. A bunch of peasants fighting as partisans on horseback were not taken seriously. He was mockingly called "The Estonian Hannibal" and his men became the Hannibal Folks. However, the nickname got a different meaning after they had proven to be a real pain in the neck for the invaders. The "Hannibal men" were well trained, disciplined, and motivated raiders and were more than willing to take revenge for all the damage that Ivan the Terrible did to their homeland. Ivan's favorite tactics were to destroy everything on the way of the march, leaving nothing that could be useful for the enemy. Houses were torched and horses, grain and livestock taken from farmers. Schenkenberg's Hannibal Folks were familiar with the landscape and knew how to make quick surprise attacks on enemy encampments. They proved to be a real problem for the Russians.

Schenkenberg's saga ended tragically. On July 1579 he was wounded in a battle with a much larger enemy force, near Rakvere. He and 60 of his compatriots, including his brother Cristoffer, were taken prisoners. For the enemy this was an important victory. The prisoners were brought to Pihkva ( Pskov) and killed in the presence of Ivan the Terrible himself, 430 years ago.

H. Langeste