The Northern Crusades: The Baltic and the Catholic Frontier 1100–1525

304 Pages·1980·30.36 MB·English

by  Eric Christiansen (auth.)

The Northern Crusades
The Baltic and the Catholic Frontier 1 Ioo-1525
NEW STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL HISTORY
General Editor: Denis Bethell
Published
J. K. Hyde, Sociery and Politics in Medieval Italy:
The Evolution if the Civil Life, 1000-1350
Angus MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages:
From Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500
Eric Christiansen, The Northern Crusades:
The Baltic and the Catholic Frontier I 100-1525
Other volumes are in preparation.
The Northern
Crusades
The Baltic and the Catholic Frontier
I 100-1525
ERIC CHRISTIANSEN
© Eric Christiansen 1 g8o
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, without permission.
First published 1g/Jo by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in Delhi Dublin
Hong Kong Johannesburg Lagos Melbourne
New York Singapore and Tokyo
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Christiansen, Eric
The Northern Crusades.-(New studies in
medieval history).
1. Baltic States-History 2. Teutonic Knights
I. Ti tie II. Series
947'.4o3 DK511.B3
ISBN 978-0-333-26395-2 ISBN 978-1-349-16288-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-16288-8
This book is sold subject to the standard conditions
of the Net Book Agreement.
The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the
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be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without
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Contents
Acknowledgements Vll
General Editor's Preface Vlll
Chronological Table IX
Northern Rulers Xll
Spelling of Names XVI
INTRODUCTION
NoRTH-EAsT EuROPE ON THE EvE oF THE CRUSADES 6
Land and Sea 6
Peoples 18
Interactions 41
2 THE WENDISH CRUSADE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE,
1147-85 48
The Crusade of 1 14 7 48
Propagandists and Chroniclers 57
The Slav Wars ofHenry the Lion and Valdemar the Great 62
3 THE ARMED MoNKs:IDEOLOGY AND EFFICIENCY 70
Varieties of Monastic Knighthood, 1128-1237 70
The Monastic War-Machine, 1225-1309 79
4 THE CoNQUEST OF THE EAsT BALTIC LANDS, 1200-92 89
Livonia 89
Prussia 100
Estonia 105
Finland 109
5 THE THEOCRATIC ExPERIMENT, 1200-73 I 18
Popes and Legates I 18
The Battle for the Convert 122
The War on the Schismatic !26
6 THE INTERMINABLE CRUSADE, 1283-1410 132
The Roads to Collision, 1203-1309 132
The Morality and Recruitment of the Crusade 145
Wars and Politics, 1304-1409 153
Strategy and Tactics !60
VI CONTENTS
7 THE CRUSADE AGAINST NovGOROD, 1295-1378 171
The Debatable Lands 17 1
The Making of a Russo-Swedish Frontier, 1295-1326 177
The Crusades of King Magnus 182
8 THE CRusADING STATEs oF NoRTH-EAsT EuRoPE 192
Systems of Government 192
Conditions of Men 200
Civilisations 209
9 THE WITHERING OF THE CRUSADE, 1410-1525 219
Tannenberg and After, 1410-I4 219
The Debate at Constance, 1414-18 223
The Survival and Extinction of the Order in Prussia, 14 1 8-
1525 233
Livonia and the Russians, 1400-1562 240
CoNcLusiON 250
Further Reading 254
References to Sources 260
Index 267
MAPS
The Baltic Region, 1 100 XVll
2 The Wendish Crusades, 1147-85 XVlll
3 The Livonian and Estonian Crusades, 1198-1290 XIX
4 The Prussian Crusades, 1230-83 XX
5 The Lithuanian Front, 12 80-1435 XXI
6 The Russian Front, 1242-1500 XXll
PLATES
I Crusading Coins
II Crusading Seals
III Crusading Castles
IV Crusading Cities
V The Crusade against the Heathen
VI Catholicism versus Russia
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford,
MrsJ. Grimond, Professor John Fennell, Alex dejonge, T.J. Binyon
and Christopher Tyerman for their help. Denis Bethell has been an
incomparable midwife.
General Editor's Preface
HISTORY is one of the arts of mankind: unless it is practised and renewed,
it dies. It is one of the human sciences: it must therefore be a process of
constant discovery. There must then always be new historical series: a
civilisation which fails to produce them is like one without poets: a
country without them is not only uncivilised, but it risks falling victim to
historical myth and false political theory, risks losing its monuments,
and lacks one of the best ways of explaining i tselfto itself and foreigners.
'Medieval' history is the history of a millennium of European history.
Much in the monuments, civilisation and societies of modern Europe is
most readily understood by studying it. Its needs are those ofo ther kinds
ofhistory, but at the moment they are peculiarly urgent. If there is to be
a new Europe, then there must be a new European history. No one who
knows the subject will deny that at present available medieval history
suffers unduly from myth, from an enforced uniformity, is deplorably
patchy, and insufficiently related to the past of a real Europe or of real
human societies.
History is now chiefly studied and written in universities. It must be
the aim ofa new series to broaden and change study and teaching. Thus
the present series has been designed principally for university students,
who may be described as intelligent persons requiring neither superfi
cial general text books nor special monographs. It will also be of interest
to the 'general reader' since no previous knowledge of the subjects treated
is assumed. It is precisely an aim to widen and deepen the Knowl
edge of medieval history in English-speaking countries and to assist
teaching that special bibliographies of books in English are provided.
It is part of a historian's duty to show why languages should be learnt,
but it is realistic to say that this can only initially be done by teaching
and using books in a student's own language. The books in this series are
written by university teachers, and it is another of its aims to enable
historians, and particularly younger historians, to write general history.
If these authors were not scholars, did not base their writing on primary
research, and failed to offer new insights, the series would fail to be new.
There is nothing novel in maintaining that the results ofs cholarship can
be broadly based, interesting, relevant, and readable. However, in
providing a series in which they can be, Macmillans are reviving an old
tradition, helping to bring a renaissance to medieval history.
DENIS BETHELL
Chronological Table
First Northern crusade, against the Baltic Slavs.
Revolt and subjugation of the Abotri tes by the Saxons
and Danes.
II68-g Conquest of Rugen by Valdemar I of Denmark.
1171 Alexander III authorises crusade against the east
Baltic heathen.
1181 Fall of Duke Henry of Saxony.
1185 Pomeranian Slavs submit to Canute VI of Denmark.
II88 Estonians raid Uppsala. First mission to the Livs.
1198 Innocent III authorises the Livonian crusade; Bishop
Berthold slain.
1200 Bishop Albert establishes the see of Riga and Order of
Sword-Brothers.
1200-g Conquest of the Livs and Letts by Bishop Albert and
crusaders.
1215 Innocent III consecrates Christian bishop of the
Prussians.
1217 Honorius III authorises crusade against the
Prussians.
1219 Valdemar II founds Reval and begins conquest of
northern Estonia.
William of Sabina's first legation to the east-Baltic
1225
churches.
1226 Frederick II's Bull of Rimini grants Prussia to the
Teutonic Order.
Gregory IX authorises the Teutonic Order to con
quer the Prussians.
Teutonic Knights and crusaders conquer the western
Prussians.
Sword-Brothers annihilated by the Lithuanians at
Siaulai (Saule).
1240 First crusade against the Russians; Swedes beaten on
the Neva, Pskov taken.
1242 Teutonic Knights defeated at Lake Chud. Prussians
revolt.