As an important port for trade between Russia and Scandinavia, it became a target for the expansion of the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning of the 13th century when Christianity was forcibly imposed on the local population.
Som en vigtig havn for handel mellem Rusland og Skandinavien blev Tallinn central i ekspansionsplanerne for Den tyske Orden og Danmark under De nordlige korstog i begyndelsen af 1200-tallet, hvor kristendommen blev påtvunget lokalbefolkningen.