In 1343, on April 23 – St. George’s Day – the St. George’s Night Uprising began in Danish-ruled Harria: the largest Estonian revolt against German and Danish domination in the 14th-century Livonian sphere. Sources connect it with the rejection of Christianity, the killing of foreign overlords, the seizure of Padise Monastery, and the siege of Toompea in Tallinn. The uprising lasted until 1345, and after its suppression Denmark’s northern Estonian possessions passed to the Livonian Order.

The St. George’s Night Uprising took place within medieval Livonia’s political world, where local peoples lived under the power structures of the German order, bishops, and Denmark. It became one of the strongest symbols of Estonian resistance while also helping consolidate the Livonian Order’s power in northern Estonia.