The Northern Crusades, or Baltic Crusades, were crusades undertaken by the Catholic kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian and Teutonic military orders, and their allies against the pagan peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. Swedish and German campaigns against Orthodox Russian principalities are also sometimes considered part of the Northern Crusades.^[1] This article is about the medieval crusades. ... The Reconquista (Reconquest) refers to the process for which the Christian Kingdoms of northern Hispania, defeated and conquered the southern Muslim and moorish states of the Iberian Peninsula, existing since the Arab invasion of 711. ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. ... The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade, actually three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. ... The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe, called in 1145 in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year. ... The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ... The Fourth Crusade (1201–1204), originally designed to conquer Jerusalem through an invasion of Egypt, instead, in 1204, invaded and conquered the Eastern Orthodox city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. ... The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the religion practiced by the Cathars of Languedoc, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy considered apostasy. ... The Childrens Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a boy, children marching to south Italy, an attempt to free the Holy Land, and children being sold into slavery. ... The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was an attempt to take back Jerusalem and the rest of Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Muslim state in Egypt. ... The Sixth Crusade started in 1228 as an attempt to reconquer Jerusalem. ... The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. ... The Shepherds Crusade is two separate events from the 13th and 14th century. ... The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX of France, (who was by now in his mid-fifties) in 1270. ... // Summary The Ninth Crusade which is sometimes grouped with the Eighth Crusade, is commonly considered to be the last of the medieval Crusades to defend Christianity from the Muslims in the Holy Land. ... The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragón was declared by Pope Martin IV against the king of Aragón, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285. ... Combatants Ottoman Empire France, Hungary Commanders Bayezid I Sigismund of Hungary, John of Nevers Strength About 100,000 About 100,000 Casualties About 35,000 About 20,000 The Battle of Nicopolis (modern Nikopol, Bulgaria) took place on September 25, 1396, between a French-Hungarian alliance and the Ottoman Empire. ... This article is about historical Crusades . ... Livonian Brothers The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Latin Fratres militiae Christi, literally the brothers of the army of Christ), also known as the Christ Knights, Sword Brethren or The Militia of Christ of Livonia, was a military order organized in 1202 by Albert of Buxhoeveden, bishop of Riga (or... The Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order formed at the end of the 12th century in Acre in Palestine. ... A military order is a Christian order of knighthood that is founded for crusading, i. ... Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning a country dweller or civilian) is a blanket term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions, as opposed to the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. ... Map of the Baltic Sea. ... Orthodox Christianity is a generalized reference to the Eastern traditions of Christianity, as opposed to the Western traditions (which descend through, or alongside of, the Roman Catholic Church) or the Eastern Rite Catholic churches. ...

Background

The official starting point for the Northern Crusades was Pope Celestine III's call in 1193, but the already Christian kingdoms of Scandinavia and the Holy Roman Empire had started to move to subjugate their pagan neighbors earlier. The non-Christian peoples who were objects of the campaigns at various dates included: Celestine III, né Giacinto Bobone (Rome, ca. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ...

• the Wends and Rugians, of Rügen, Pomerania, and Mecklenburg (in 1147 by the Danes, later also by Saxons and Poles),
• the peoples of (present-day) Finland in 1154 (Finland Proper; disputed), 1249? (Tavastia) and 1293 (Karelia) (by the Swedes, although Christianization from Novgorod had started earlier),
• Estonians, Latgalians, and Livonians (by the Germans and Danes, 1193–1227),
• Lithuanians (by the Germans, unsuccessfully, early 13th century-1316),
• Curonians and Semigallians,
• Old Prussians,
• Polabian Wends and Abotrites (between the Elbe and Oder rivers).

Armed conflict between the Balts and Slavs who dwelt by the Baltic shores and their Saxon and Danish neighbors to the west and south had been common for several centuries prior to the crusade. The previous battles had largely been caused by attempts to control land 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. The first campaigns were launched in parallel with the Second Crusade to the Holy Land in the mid-1100s, and continued irregularly right up until the 16th century. Wends (German: Wenden, Latin: Venedi) is the English name for some Slavic people from north-central Europe particularly the Sorbs living in modern-day Germany. ... Map of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania highlighting the district Rügen Rügen (Polish: Rugia) is an island located off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the Baltic Sea. ... Map of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania highlighting the district Rügen Rügen (Polish: Rugia) is an island located off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the Baltic Sea. ... Historic Pomerania (outlined in yellow) on the background of modern country borders. ... The coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Western-Pommerania Mecklenburg is a geographical area located in Northern Germany. ... Map showing the Saxons homeland in traditional region bounded by the three rivers: Weser, Eider, and Elbe Src: Freemans Historical Geographys. The Saxons or Saxon people are (nowadays) part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Saxony... Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi in Finnish, Egentliga Finland in Swedish) is a region in south-western Finland. ... Tavastia, Tavastland or Häme, is a historical province in the south of Finland. ... Finnish Karelia, historically also Swedish Karelia or Carelia, is a historical province in eastern Finland. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Russian: ) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the M10(E95) federal highway connecting Moscow and St. ... The Latgallians (Latvian: latgaļi) were one of the Baltic tribes that later formed Latvian nation. ... The Livonians were the indigenous Finnics who since ancient times populated the shores of the Gulf of Riga adjacent to the Indo-European Balts. ... The Curonians (also called Kursi, Latvian KurÅ¡i) are one of the extinct Baltic tribes that later formed the Latvian nation. ... The Semigallians (Latvian Zemgaļi, also Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians) are one of the Baltic tribes that lived in the southern middle part of Latvia, Zemgale. ... The Prussians kill Adalbert The Prussian people, or (old) Prussians, inhabited the area around the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons, (in what is now northern Poland), in the region roughly occupied by the Mazurian Lakes. ... Polabians are a Slavic people historically dwelling in the basin of the Elbe and on the Baltic coast of Germany. ... The Abotrites were a Slavic people who lived in the Baltic coastal region of present-day Germany, between Lübeck and Rügen, during the twelfth century C.E. During the Northern Crusades the heathen Abotrites were defeated and forced to convert to Christianity by their German neighbors, and were... The River Elbe (Czech Labe , Sorbian/Lusatian Łobjo, German Elbe) is one of the major waterways of Central Europe. ... The Oder (or Odra) River (German: Oder, Polish/Czech: Odra, Ancient Latin: Viadua, Viadrus, Medieval Latin: Odera, Oddera) is a river in Central Europe (mostly in Poland). ... The Baltic Sea The Balts or Baltic peoples (Latvian: balti, Lithuanian: baltai), defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between lower Vistula and upper Dvina and Dneper. ... The Slavic peoples are a linguistic and ethnic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe. ... Map showing the Saxons homeland in traditional region bounded by the three rivers: Weser, Eider, and Elbe Src: Freemans Historical Geographys. The Saxons or Saxon people are (nowadays) part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Saxony... The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ... The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe, called in 1145 in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year. ... The phrase The Holy Land (Arabic الأرض المقدسة, al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah; Hebrew ארץ הקודש: Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeÅ¡, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreá¹£ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta) generally refers to Israel, otherwise known as Palestine (sometimes including Jordan, Syria and parts of Egypt). ...

Subjugation of Livonians, Latgalians and Estonians

By the 12th century the peoples inhabiting the lands now known as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania formed a pagan wedge between increasingly powerful Christian states – Orthodox to their east and Roman Catholic to their west. The difference in creeds was a reason they had not yet been effectively converted.^{[citation needed]} During a period of more than 150 years leading up to the arrival of German crusaders in the region, Estonia was attacked 13 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 the western Christians to convert the Estonians, starting with missions dispatched by Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen in 1045-1072. However, these peaceful efforts seem to have had very limited success. Moving in the wake of German merchants who were now following the old trading routes of the Vikings, a monk named Meinhard landed at the mouth of the Daugava river in present-day Latvia in 1180 and was made bishop in 1186. Orthodox Christianity is a generalized reference to the Eastern traditions of Christianity, as opposed to the Western traditions (which descend through, or alongside of, the Roman Catholic Church) or the Eastern Rite Catholic churches. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen was born about 1000 and died March 16, 1072, at Goslar. ... The Archbishopric of Bremen was an ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... River Daugava flowing through Riga city into the Baltic Sea The Daugava or Western Dvina (Latvian: Daugava, German Düna, Belarusan: Заходняя Дзьвіна, Russian: За́падная Двина́, Finnish Väinä) is a river rising in the Valdai Hills, flowing through Russia and Belarus, and then Latvia, draining into the Gulf of Riga, an arm of...

The Pope proclaimed a crusade against the Baltic heathens in 1193 and a crusading expedition led by Meinhard's successor, Bishop Berthold, landed in Livonia (part of present-day Latvia, surrounding the Gulf of Riga) in 1198. Although the crusaders won their first battle Bishop Berthold was mortally wounded and the crusaders were repulsed. The Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga (or Bay of Riga, Latvian Rīgas jūras līcis, Estonian Liivi Laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. ...

In 1199 Albert of Buxhoeveden was appointed by the Archbishop 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. Though 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 the Virgin Mary to popularise recruitment to his army and the name "Mary's Land" has survived up to modern times. The career of Albert of Buxhoeveden (ca 1165 - Riga, January 17, 1229) and his brother Hermann exemplify the double nature of power, ecclesiastical and secular, especially on the marches of Europe, where Roman Catholicism was pushing aggressively to the East. ... Papal bull of Pope Urban VIII, 1637, sealed with a leaden bulla. ... The phrase The Holy Land (Arabic الأرض المقدسة, al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah; Hebrew ארץ הקודש: Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeÅ¡, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreá¹£ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta) generally refers to Israel, otherwise known as Palestine (sometimes including Jordan, Syria and parts of Egypt). ... Livonian Brothers The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Latin Fratres militiae Christi, literally the brothers of the army of Christ), also known as the Christ Knights, Sword Brethren or The Militia of Christ of Livonia, was a military order organized in 1202 by Albert of Buxhoeveden, bishop of Riga (or... Location Map of Latvia Coordinates , Government Founded 1201 Mayor Aivars Aksenoks Geographical characteristics Area     City 307. ... Innocent III, né Lotario de Conti ( 1161–June 16, 1216), was Pope from January 8, 1198 until his death. ... According to the New Testament, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים Maryām Bitter; Arabic مريم (Maryam); Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; Geez: ማሪያም, Māryām; Syriac: Mart, Maryam, Madonna), was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, who at the time of his conception was the betrothed wife of Saint Joseph (cf. ...

The Livonians, who had been paying tribute to the East Slavic Principality of Polotsk, at first considered the Germans as useful allies but as the German grip tightened the Livonians under their quasi rex Caupo of Turaida took up arms against the crusaders. The Livonians were defeated and their Rurikid leader Vyachko was taken prisoner in 1206. Then the Germans turned their attention to the Latvian tribes to the east in Latgalia. By 1208 the Germans were strong enough to begin operations against the Estonians, who were at that time divided into eight major and several smaller counties led by elders with limited co-operation between counties. In 1208-1227 war parties of the different sides rampaged through Livonia, Latgalia and different Estonian counties, with Livonians and Latgalians normally as allies of the Crusaders and East Slavic Principalities appearing as allies of different sides at different times. Hill forts which were the key centres of Estonian counties were besieged and captured a number of times. A truce between the war-weary sides agreed for three years (1213-1215) proved generally more favourable to the Germans, who consolidated their political position while the Estonians were unable to develop their system of loose alliances into a centralised state. The Livonian leader Caupo was killed in battle near Viljandi (Fellin) on 21 September 1217, but the battle was a crushing defeat for the Estonians, whose leader Lembitu was also killed. Since 1211 his name had come to the attention of the German chroniclers as a notable Estonian elder and he became the central figure of the Estonian resistance. Polatsk (Belarusian: По́лацак, По́лацк; Polish: Połock, also spelt as Polacak; Russian: По́лоцк, also transliterated as Polotsk, Polotzk, Polock) is the most historic city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. ... Caupo of Turaida (year of birth unknown; died on September 21, 1217) Livonian leader in the beginning of the 13th century. ... Rurik Dynasty ... Latgale or Latgalia (Polish: Łatgalia; German: Lettgallen) is one of the four cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. ... County Viljandi County Mayor Peep Aru (since November 2005) Area 14. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... Events April 9 - Peter of Courtenay crowned emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople at Rome, by Pope Honorius III May 20 - First Barons War, royalist victory at Lincoln. ... Lembitu (year of birth unknown; died on September 21, 1217) was one of the best-known Estonian leaders in the fight against the conquest of German Sword Brethren in the beginning of the 13th century. ...

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, King Valdemar II of Denmark had landed near present-day Tallinn in 1219. He established a fortress which was besieged by Estonians in 1220 and 1223 but held out. Eventually the whole of northern Estonia was in Danish hands. Valdemar the Victorious redirects here. ...

The last Estonian county to hold out against the invaders was the island county of Saaremaa, whose war fleets had raided Denmark and Sweden even during the years of fighting against the German crusaders. A 20,000 strong army under Papal legate William of Modena crossed the frozen sea while the Saaremaa fleet was icebound in January 1227. Following the defeat of the Estonians the crusade moved against the Curonians and the Semigallians, Latvian tribes living to the south and west of the river Daugava. This article is about the island. ... William of Modena, Bishop of Modena in 1221, was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in the Prussian questions of the 1240s. ... The Curonians (also called Kursi, Latvian Kurši) are one of the extinct Baltic tribes that later formed the Latvian nation. ... The Semigallians (Latvian Zemgaļi, also Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians) are one of the Baltic tribes that lived in the southern middle part of Latvia, Zemgale. ...

Teutonic Order

The Teutonic knights in Pskov in 1240. Screenshot from Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky.

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 and 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 Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Image File history File links Nevsky2. ... Image File history File links Nevsky2. ... The Trinity Cathedral (1682-99) is a symbol of Pskovs former might and independence. ... Sergei Eisenstein in 1920s Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, Latvian: Sergejs Eizenšteins) (January 23, 1898 – February 11, 1948) was a revolutionary Soviet theatrical scenic designer-turned-film director and film theorist noted in particular for his silent films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and Oktober, which vastly influenced early documentary... Alexander Nevsky is a film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and Dmitry Vasiliev released in 1938, during the Stalin era, with Nikolai Cherkasov in the title role. ... Teutonic Knights, charging into battle. ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ... Konrad I of Masovia. ... Historical division of Masovia Masovia (Polish: Mazowsze) is a geographical and historical region situated in central Poland with its capital at Warsaw. ... The Prussians kill Adalbert The Prussian people, or (old) Prussians, inhabited the area around the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons, (in what is now northern Poland), in the region roughly occupied by the Mazurian Lakes. ... The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called Пагоня in Belarusian, Vytis in Lithuanian and Pogoń in Polish Another version of the Lithuanian banner The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė, Belarusian: Вялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае (ВКЛ), Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське (ВКЛ), Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie) was an...

When the Livonian knights were crushed by Lithuanians in the Battle of the Sun 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. The Teutonic Knights failed to subdue pagan Lithuania, which officially converted to Christianity in 1385 on the marriage of Grand Duke Jogaila to the 11-year-old Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Polish-Lithuanian forces defeated the Teutonic Knights thoroughly at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. The Battle of Šiauliai or Battle of the Sun (Lithuanian: Saulės Mūšis) took place on September 22, 1236 near the town of Šiauliai, which today lies in the region of Joniškis, Lithuania. ... Combatants Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania Teutonic Order Commanders Władysław II Jagiełło, Vytautas the Great Ulrich von Jungingen Strength 39,000 27,000 Casualties Unknown 8,000 dead 2,000 captured The Battle of Grunwald or Battle of Tannenberg took place on July 15, 1410...

The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Orthodox Russia (particularly Pskov and Novgorod), an enterprise endorsed by Pope Gregory IX,^[1] can also be considered as a part of 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 the Pope's blessing, Sweden also undertook several crusades against Orthodox Novgorod. Pentecost is considered in Eastern Orthodoxy to be the birth of the Church. ... The Trinity Cathedral (1682-99) is a symbol of Pskovs former might and independence. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Russian: ) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the M10(E95) federal highway connecting Moscow and St. ... Papal Arms of Pope Gregory IX. Gregory IX, né Ugolino di Conti (Anagni, ca. ... The Battle of the Ice also known as the Battle on Lake Peipus or the Battle of Lake Peipus (Russian: Ледовое побоище, German: Schlacht auf dem Peipussee, Estonian: Jäälahing), took place in 1242. ... The Republic of Novgorod and medieval Sweden waged a number of wars for control of the Gulf of Finland, an area vital for the lucrative Hanseatic trade. ...

See also

• History of Estonia
• History of Finland
• History of Latvia
• History of Lithuania

// Pre-history Chudes (proto-Estonians) and other Finnic tribes. ... The area that now is Finland was settled soon after the Ice Age, beginning from around 8500 BC. Finland was part of the Swedish Empire from about 1200 to 1809, when Russia conquered the country from Sweden and a personal union between the two countries was established. ... The proto-Baltic forefathers of the Latvian people have lived on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea since the third millennium BC [1]. At the beginning of this era the territory known today as Latvia became famous as a trading crossroads. ... This article discusses the history of Lithuania and of the Lithuanians. ...

References

1. ^ ^a b Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. ISBN 0140266534