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The Northern Crusades[1] or Baltic Crusades[2] were religious wars undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and
kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic
Sea, and to a lesser extent also against Orthodox Christian Slavs (East Slavs). The crusades took place mostly in the 12th and 13th
centuries and resulted in the subjugation and forcedbaptism of indigenous peoples.
The most notable campaigns were the Livonian and Prussian crusades. Some of these wars were called crusades during the Middle
Ages, but others, including most of the Swedish ones, were first dubbed crusades by 19th-century romantic nationalist historians.
However, crusades against northern pagans were authorized by Pope Alexander III in the bull Non parum animus noster, in 1171 or
1172 [3].
Contents
Background
Wendish Crusade
Swedish Crusades
Danish Crusades
Livonian Crusade
Campaign against the Livonians (1198–1212)
Campaign against the Latgallians and Selonians (1208–1224)
Campaign against the Estonians (1208–1224)
Wars against Saaremaa (1206–61)
Wars against the Curonians and Semigallians (1201–90)
Prussia and Lithuania
Campaigns of Konrad of Masovia
Teutonic Order
See also
References
Background
The official starting point for the Northern Crusades was Pope Celestine III's call in 1195,[4] but the Catholic kingdoms of
Scandinavia, Poland and the Holy Roman Empire had begun moving to subjugate their pagan neighbors even earlier.[5] The non-
Christian people who were objects of the campaigns at various dates included:
the Polabian Wends, Sorbs, and Obotrites between the Elbe and Oder rivers (by the Saxons, Danes, and Poles,
beginning with the Wendish Crusade in 1147)
the Finns proper in 1150s in the First Crusade by the Swedes; by theDanes in 1191 and 1202; Tavastia in 1249 in
the Second Crusade by the Swedes; and Karelia in 1293 in the Third Crusade by the Swedes; Christianization in
these areas had started earlier.
Livonians, Latgallians, Selonians, and Estonians (by the Germans and Danes, 1193–1227).
Semigallians and Curonians (1219–1290).
Old Prussians.
Lithuanians and Samogitians (by the Germans, unsuccessfully, 1236–1316).
Armed conflict between the Baltic Finns, Balts and Slavs who dwelt by the
Baltic shores and their Saxon and Danish neighbors to the north and south had
been common for several centuries before the crusade. The previous battles
had largely been caused by attempts to destroy castles and sea trade routes and
gain economic advantage in the region, and the crusade basically continued
this pattern of conflict, albeit now inspired and prescribed by the Pope and
undertaken by Papal knights and armed monks.
Wendish Crusade
The campaigns started with the 1147 Wendish Crusade against the Polabian
Slavs (or "Wends") of what is now northern and eastern Germany. The crusade
occurred parallel to the Second Crusade to the Holy Land, and continued
irregularly until the 16th century.
Livonian Crusade
By the 12th century, the peoples inhabiting the lands now known as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed a pagan wedge between
increasingly powerful rival Christian states – the Orthodox Church to their east and the Catholic Church to their west. The difference
in creeds was one of the reasons they had not yet been effectively converted. During a period of more than 150 years leading up to
the arrival of German crusaders in the region, Estonia was attacked thirteen times by Russian principalities, and by Denmark and
Sweden as well. Estonians for their part made raids upon Denmark and Sweden. There were peaceful attempts by some Catholics to
convert the Estonians, starting with missions dispatched by Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen in 1045-1072. However, these peaceful
efforts seem to have had only limited success.
In 1199, Albert of Buxhoeveden was appointed by the Archbishop Hartwig II of Bremen to Christianise the Baltic countries. By the
time Albert died 30 years later, the conquest and formal Christianisation of present-day Estonia and northern Latvia was complete.
Albert began his task by touring the Empire, preaching a Crusade against the Baltic countries, and was assisted in this by a Papal Bull
which declared that fighting against the Baltic heathens was of the same rank as participating in a crusade to the Holy Land.
Although he landed in the mouth of the Daugava in 1200 with only 23 ships and 500 soldiers, the bishop's efforts ensured that a
constant flow of recruits followed. The first crusaders usually arrived to fight during the spring and returned to their homes in the
autumn. To ensure a permanent military presence, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were founded in 1202. The founding by
Bishop Albert of the market at Riga in 1201 attracted citizens from the Empire and economic prosperity ensued. At Albert's request,
Pope Innocent III dedicated the Baltic countries to theVirgin Mary to popularize recruitment to his army and the name "Mary's Land"
has survived up to modern times. This is noticeable in one of the names given to Livonia at the time,
Terra Mariana (Land of Mary).
In 1206, the crusaders subdued the Livonian stronghold in Turaida on the right bank
of Gauja River, the ancient trading route to the Northwestern Rus. In order to gain
control over the left bank of Gauja, the stone castle was built inSigulda before 1210.
By 1211, the Livonian province of Metsepole (now Limbaži district) and the mixed
Livonian-Latgallian inhabited county of Idumea (now Straupe) was converted to the
Roman Catholic faith. The last battle against the Livonians was the siege of Satezele
hillfort near to Sigulda in 1212. The Livonians, who had been paying tribute to the
Ruins of the castle in Sigulda East Slavic Principality of Polotsk, had at first considered the Germans as useful
allies. The first prominent Livonian to be christened was their leader Caupo of
Turaida. As the German grip tightened, the Livonians rebelled against the crusaders
and the christened chief, but were put down. Caupo of Turaida remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in the Battle of St.
Matthew's Day in 1217.[7]
The German crusaders enlisted newly baptised Livonian warriors to participate in their campaigns against Latgallians and Selonians
(1208–1209), Estonians (1208–1227) and againstSemigallians, Samogitians and Curonians (1219–1290).
The Christian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were also greedy for conquests on the Eastern shores of the Baltic. While the
Swedes made only one failed foray into western Estonia in 1220, the Danish Fleet headed by King Valdemar II of Denmark had
landed at the Estonian town of Lindanisse[8] (present-day Tallinn) in 1219. After the Battle of Lindanise the Danes established a
fortress, which was besieged by Estonians in 1220 and 1223, but held out. Eventually, the whole of northern Estonia came under
Danish control.
In 1206, a Danish army led by king Valdemar II and Andreas, the Bishop of Lund landed on Saaremaa and attempted to establish a
stronghold without success. In 1216 the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the bishop Theodorich joined forces and invaded
Saaremaa over the frozen sea. In return the Oeselians raided the territories in Latvia that were under German rule the following
spring. In 1220, the Swedish army led by king John I of Sweden and the bishop Karl of Linköping conquered Lihula in Rotalia in
Western Estonia. Oeselians attacked the Swedish stronghold the same year, conquered it and killed the entire Swedish garrison
including the Bishop of Linköping.
In 1222, the Danish king Valdemar II attempted the second conquest of Saaremaa, this time establishing a stone fortress housing a
strong garrison. The Danish stronghold was besieged and surrendered within five days, the Danish garrison returned Revel,
to leaving
bishop Albert of Riga's brother Theodoric, and few others, behind as hostages for peace. The castle was razed to the ground by the
Oeselians.[9]
A 20,000 strong army under Papal legate William of Modena crossed the frozen sea while the Saaremaa fleet was icebound, in
January 1227. After the surrender of two major Oeselian strongholds,Muhu and Valjala, the Oeselians formally accepted Christianity
.
In 1236, after the defeat of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Battle of Saule, military action on Saaremaa broke out again. In
1261, warfare continued as the Oeselians had once more renounced Christianity and killed all the Germans on the island. A peace
treaty was signed after the united forces of the Livonian Order, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, and Danish Estonia, including mainland
Estonians and Latvians, defeated the Oeselians by conquering their stronghold at Kaarma. Soon thereafter, the Livonian Order
established a stone fort atPöide.
After their decisive defeat in the Battle of Saule by the Samogitians and Semigallians, the remnants of the Swordbrothers were
reorganized in 1237 as a subdivision of the Teutonic Order, and became known as the Livonian Order. In 1242, under the leadership
of the master of the Livonian Order Andrew of Groningen, the crusaders began the military conquest of Courland. They defeated the
Curonians as far south as Embūte, near the contemporary border with Lithuania, and founded their main fortress at Kuldīga. In 1245
Pope Innocent IV allotted two thirds of conquered Courland to the Livonian Order
, and one third to the Bishopric of Courland.
At the Battle of Durbe in 1260 a force of Samogitians and Curonians overpowered the united forces of the Livonian and Teutonic
Orders; over the following years, however, the Crusaders gradually subjugated the Curonians, and in 1267 concluded the peace treaty
stipulating the obligations and the rights of their defeated rivals. The unconquered southern parts of their territories (Ceklis and
Megava) were united under the rule of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania.
Teutonic Order
The Northern Crusades provided a rationale for the growth and expansion of the Teutonic Order of German crusading knights which
had been founded in Palestine at the end of the 12th century. Due to Muslim successes in the Holy Land, the Order sought new
missions in Europe. Duke Konrad I of Masovia in west-central Poland appealed to the Knights to defend his borders and subdue the
pagan Baltic Prussians in 1226. After the subjugation of the Prussians, the Teutonic Knights fought against the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania.
When the Livonian knights were crushed by Samogitians in the Battle of Saule in 1236, coinciding with a series of revolts in Estonia,
the Livonian Order was inherited by the Teutonic Order, allowing the Teutonic Knights to exercise political control over large
territories in the Baltic region. Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, was baptised together with his wife after his coronation in 1253,
hoping that this would help stop the Crusaders' attacks, which it did not. The Teutonic Knights failed to subdue pagan Lithuania,
which officially converted to (Catholic) Christianity in 1386 on the marriage of Grand Duke Jogaila to the 11-year-old Queen
Jadwiga of Poland. However, even after the country was officially converted, the conflict continued up until the 1410 Battle of
Grunwald, also known as the First Battle of Tannenberg, when the Lithuanians and Poles, helped by the Tatars, Moldovans and the
Czechs, defeated the Teutonic knights.
The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Orthodox Russia (particularly the Republics of Pskov and Novgorod), an enterprise
endorsed by Pope Gregory IX,[1] accompanied the Northern Crusades. One of the major blows for the idea of the conquest of Russia
was the Battle of the Ice in 1242. With or without the Pope's blessing, Sweden also undertook several crusades against Orthodox
Novgorod.
See also
Ostsiedlung
Swedish Crusades (disambiguation)
Danish Estonia
History of Belarus
History of Estonia
History of Finland
History of Latvia
History of Lithuania
Christianization of Lithuania
References
1. Christiansen, Erik (1997).The Northern Crusades. London: Penguin Books. p. 287.ISBN 0-14-026653-4.
2. Hunyadi, Zsolt; József Laszlovszky (2001).The Crusades and the Military Orders: Expanding the Frontiers of
Medieval Latin Christianity. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 606.ISBN 963-9241-42-3.
3. Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades. London: Penguin Books. pg. 71
4. Christopher Tyerman, God's War: A New History of the Crusades, (University of Harvard Press, 2006), 488.
5. von Güttner-Sporzyński, Darius."Poland and the papacy before the second crusade"(https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/235718803_Poland_and_the_papacy_before_the_second_crusade) . ResearchGate.
6. Georg Haggren, Petri Halinen, Mika Lavento, Sami Raninen ja Anna W
essman (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet.
Gaudeamus. p. 380.
7. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia(https://books.google.com/books?id=FmJnyTlis7oC&printsec)
. Columbia
University Press. 1961.ISBN 0-231-12889-4.
8. "Estland" (http://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/7/0518.html)
. Salmonsens konversationsleksikon(in Danish).
9. Urban, William L. (1994).The Baltic Crusade (https://books.google.com/books?id=GNBNHgAACAAJ&dq)
.
Lithuanian Research and Studies Center . pp. 113–114. ISBN 0-929700-10-4.
10. Lewinski-Corwin, Edward Henry(1917). A History of Prussia. New York: The Polish Book Importing Company.
p. 628.
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