Cudgel War

Cudgel War
Part of the War against Sigismund
Burned Village (1879) by Albert Edelfelt.
Date 25 November 1596 – 24 February 1597[1] Location Finland (part of the Kingdom of Sweden) Result Nobility victory Suppression of revolt and execution of the rebellion's leaders
Belligerents
Peasants and army	Nobility and army
Commanders and leaders
Jaakko Ilkka  Pentti Pouttu (POW) Hannu Krankka   Support: Enemies of Fleming among the nobility Duke Charles	Clas Fleming Gödik Fincke   Axel Kurck
Strength
1,000–4,000+	1,500–3,300+
Casualties and losses
>2,550 dead >500 P.O.W.	-
The strength varied in different engagements and from some of them there are approximations

The Cudgel War (also Club War, Finnish: Nuijasota, Swedish: Klubbekriget) was a 1596/97 peasant uprising in Finland (then part of the Kingdom of Sweden). The name of the uprising derives from the fact that the peasants armed themselves with various blunt weapons, such as cudgels, flails, and maces, as they were seen as the most efficient weapons against their heavily armoured enemies. The yeomen also had swords, some firearms, and two cannons at their disposal. Their opponents, the troops of Clas Eriksson Fleming, were professional, heavily armed and armoured men-at-arms.^[2]

Modern Finnish historiography sees the uprising in the context of the conflict between Duke Charles and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland (War against Sigismund). Charles agitated the peasants to revolt against the nobility of Finland, who supported Sigismund in the conflict.

Background[]

The 25-year war between Swedish Kingdom and Russian Tsardom had increased the tax burden, the most hated of which was the "castle camp", i.e. the accommodation, subsistence and payment of wages at the expense of the peasants. The peasants found it intolerable, in particular, that noble and inferior squires who equipped cavalry soldiers for the army were allowed to collect castle camp dues even when the soldiers were not at war, and that Klaus Fleming kept the army in the castle camp for many years after the war to use it. There were also a lot of abuses and illegalities in the recovery of the castle camp. Other key explanations for the outbreak of gavel warfare in historical research have included “the burdens of wartime and severe years of disappearance,^{[clarification needed]} the dissolution of dissatisfaction caused by war fatigue, political provocation, and the exploitation of peasants by a nobility who grew in number and wealth”.^[3]

War[]

A memorial plaque dedicated to the fallen peasants

An uprising began on Christmas Eve 1595 and was initially successful, but shortly thereafter was crushed by cavalry.^[4] Officially, the Cudgel War began in Ostrobothnia with an attack by peasants on Isokyrö's church on November 25, 1596.^[1][5] The peasants won a number of encounters with infantry.^[5] Klaus Fleming began negotiating a truce that required the surrender of peasant leader Jaakko Ilkka. Ilkka fled to avoid being handed over and the peasant army scattered, pursued by the soldiers. At least 1500 were killed within the next two months.^[5] Along with Ilkka, five other rebellion leaders were executed on January 27, 1597.^[6]

Final part of the rebellion[]

A Cudgel War memorial

was named as the new governor of central and northern Ostrobothnia, and planned to support the rebellion. However, he fled rather than face Fleming. Leaderless, the peasants opened battle with Fleming on February 24, 1597; the last battle was fought on the Santavuori Hill in Ilmajoki.^[1] Over 1000 were killed and 500 captured.^[5]

The insurgents were mostly Finnish peasants from Ostrobothnia, Northern Tavastia, and Savo. The events can also be seen as a part of a larger power struggle between King Sigismund and Duke Charles.^[2][7]

Legacy[]

In his work Nuijasota, sen syyt ja tapaukset (1857–1859) (English: Club War, its reasons and causes), historian and fennoman Yrjö Koskinen (né Forsman) saw the peasants as fighting for freedom and justice. Fredrika Runeberg's Sigrid Liljeholm (1862), one of the first historical novels in Finland, depicts women's fates during the war. Albert Edelfelt's painting Burned Village (1879) depicts a woman, a child, and an old man hiding behind a rock as a village burns in the background.^[8] The poet praised the insurgents and lamented their defeat in patriotic poems such as Ilkka, Hannu Krankka, and Santavuoren tappelu, published in Runoelmia (1887). After the Finnish Civil War, the debate has centered on an interpretation that emphasizes Duke Charles's role in inciting the revolt, as found in 's Kuninkaanmiehiä ja kapinoitsijoita Vaasa-kauden Suomessa (1949); and an explanation that stresses the roots of the rebellion in social injustice and class conflict, as argued by in Nuijasota (1977). A historical reenactment of the Cudgel War is conducted yearly in the Kavalahti scout camp.^[9] Jaakko Ilkka took the 75th place in the Great Finns TV show. A commemorative silver coin was also minted to mark the occasion.^[10]

See also[]

• War against Sigismund
• Åbo bloodbath

References[]

Notes[]

External links[]

• A dramatized documentary on the Cudgel War
• Annual Cudgel War reenactment

Bibliography[]

• Nuijasota by , Otava, 1996 ISBN 951-1-14253-4
• Krohn, J. Kertomuksia Suomen Historiasta, Kansallisseura, Helsinki 1914
• Jaakko Ilkan Suku ry Sukusanomat,2004
• Yli-Hakola, Aila, Ilkka, Jaakko Pentinpoika, Henkilöteksti, 2011