In the year of our Lord 1574, Estonia had already, for sixteen years, been ravished by a great war, which is now called the Livonian War in history textbooks. In the Middle Ages, Livonia was a geographical notion which had derived its name from the Finno-Ugric tribe of Livonians living around the mouth of the Daugava River, who have now become almost extinct. This area encompassed the territories of the present-day Estonia and Latvia and consisted of a state controlled by an Order and a number of bishoprics. The war started in 1558, when the troops of Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible entered Livonia and swiftly occupied a large part of the country. As this meant a struggle for supremacy on the coasts of the Baltic Sea, other neighbouring countries soon joined the struggle. In 1561, Erik XIV, King of Sweden, acquired northern Estonia and Tallinn; Duke Magnus, a younger brother of the King of Denmark, became Bishop of Oesel (Saaremaa), Tallinn and Kurland; Sigismund II August, King of Poland, at first governed the areas on the southern banks of the Daugava.

Consequently, the Swedes had to bear the main burden of fighting the Muscovites in Estonia. In addition to their own soldiers, a number of foreigners of noble and not so noble birth joined the service of the King of Sweden, such as the Frenchmen Pontus de la Gardie and Charles de Mornay, the Englishman Sigfrid Preston, and a number of Scots - Archibald Ruthven, Gilbert Balfour, Hugh Cahun, Jacob Näf and Andrew Keith. The army of Scottish recruits arrived at Älvsborg, Sweden in June 1573, and at once became a source of intrigues. De Mornay attempted to dethrone King Johan III and tried to find supporters among the Scotsmen. Their Captain Hugh Cahun decided to inform the King of this, but in the following court action he himself was accused of treason and he was executed without cause. The Scottish soldiers were soon sent to Estonia and the conspiracy died out.

Hans Johann Wartmann was probably a German, serving the Swedish army as a commander of about 800 Scottish mercenaries, with whom he took part in taking Rakvere (Wesenberg) castle from Muscovites in 1583. For that feat the Swedish King Johann III ennobled Wartmann with the letter depicted above.

The first two companies of Scottish soldiers arrived in Tallinn in August 1573, and the main forces arrived in October. To ensure the general order, they were billeted outside the town walls and only the officers were given an empty townhouse as a dwelling.

Since the Scotsmen were Calvinist by faith, their preachers held services according to their rites. The chronicler, and a Lutheran pastor in Tallinn, Balthasar Russow, remarked that fortunately, these services were in Scottish, "otherwise their heresy could have infected others". The total number of Scotsmen reached 5000, but only about a third of them were soldiers, the rest being pedlars, sutlers and tramps - all kinds of adventurers.

They were led by Archibald Ruthven, a man from an ancient lineage originating from the Vikings, the fourth son of Lord Patric Ruthven and Janet Douglas. We do not know what made a nobleman of such high station leave behind the Scottish highlands, but the annals of Lennox and Mari from 1570-1572 give us some idea of his reasons. These annals tell us that in 1570, the lawyer Patric Mosrop and Eupham M'Calyean were wed in Edinburgh. This is not unusual in itself, but what is strange is that the wedding was performed not in a church, but in Thomas M'Calyean's house. The reason for this was that the Church dreaded the fury of Archibald Ruthven, to whom Eupham had at first been promised. It is not known, whether it was the torment of a man in love or his anger at being deprived of the dowry (Eupham was the sole heiress of Thomas, a senator on the judicial panel), but from then on Archibald chose a soldier's life in far away countries.

Fragment of a hand-drawn map depicting Estonia, Livonia and Curonia.
Dated to 1619 - 1630, author unknown. Estonian Historical Archives

This was not an easy life. In Sweden, the Lord's son had serious trouble with his subordinates. The latter believed that Archibald did not want to pay them their intended wages and decided to kill him for this neglect. Archibald was saved only by the interference of another Scottish commander, Jacob Näf. The soldiers eventually received some money in Sweden and at first they lived quite peaceably in Tallinn. But when the first wages were spent and no new money was forthcoming, they were permitted to take food and fodder for their horses from the local peasants. In this way, they were given a free hand to rob and pillage, not only the neighbouring peasants, but also the townspeople, who barely dared to go out of the town gates as they would fall victim to marauding.

Fortunately, such a situation did not last long; on 3 January 1574, the Swedish, German and Scottish soldiers left Tallinn and started the siege of Rakvere Castle, which was at that time held by the Russians. However, they seemed to make no progress and in the third month of the siege, nervous tensions exploded in a bloody battle among the besiegers. The Germans started jeering at the Scotsmen, who had different customs, and the Scotsmen answered in kind. The angry Scottish foot soldiers finally took control of an artillery battery and fired on the Germans. The Germans counterattacked and eventually killed 1500 Scots, losing only 30 of their own in the fight. Even Archibald Ruthven was wounded, but survived. The Scottish cavalry at once distanced themselves from the fight and remained neutral; later they reconciled with the Germans. The 70-80 surviving Scottish foot soldiers sought refuge with the Russians in Rakvere, who at first gladly received them. The Slavic hospitality did not, alas, last long; the Scots were put in chains, taken to Moscow and, sadly, executed.

This sad story did not end there. The original causes of the clash between the German and Scottish men-at-arms were investigated in Tallinn and the above-mentioned de Mornay conspiracy was unearthed as well. Based on the testimonies of Balfour and de la Gardie, the Frenchman was taken to the court of justice in Sweden. He was condemned and executed at the grand marketplace in Stockholm on 4 September 1574. We know nothing about the further fate of Archibald Ruthven.

Ivar Leimus (1953), PhD, is a researcher at the Estonian History Museum. His main interest has been in the history of money and coins; he has also translated several historical chronicles into the Estonian language.