The Northern Crusades: Second Edition

by Eric Christiansen

Book Overview

The 'Northern Crusades', inspired by the Pope's call for a Holy War, are less celebrated than those in the Middle East, but they were also more successful: vast new territories became and remain Christian, such as Finland, Estonia and Prussia. Newly revised in the light of the recent developments in Baltic and Northern medieval research, this authoritative overview provides a balanced and compelling account of a tumultuous era.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140266534
• ISBN13: 9780140266535
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Interesting overview of a relatively unknown period of history

_The Northern Crusades_ by Eric Christiansen is an attempt to shed light on a relatively poorly known aspect of European medieval and early modern history, that of the Northern Crusades. Less well known than the Spanish Crusade and certainly less known to the average non-specialist reader than the Crusades in the Middle East, the Northern Crusades of the Baltic Sea region can essentially be summed up as the struggles of Scandinavian rulers - chiefly those of Denmark and Sweden - and German military monks (the Teutonic Knights) to conquer and settle non-Christian Finland, Estonia, and Prussia before coming into conflict with the considerably more powerful and organized eastern empires of Orthodox Novgorod and pagan Lithuania (and later Catholic Poland). The period lasted roughly from 1147 (the launch of the First Northern Crusade, against the Baltic Slavs) to at least as far as the book is concerned 1562 (the partition and secularization of Livonia, ending the rule of the Teutonic Knights there, their last outpost). Though less celebrated than the other crusades, the Northern Crusades were far more successful. Initially many areas were only thinly Christian after their conquest, as for centuries in many regions for instance Teutonic outposts existed like "knots in a net," a net that was full of holes and encompassed areas where "alien subjects lived unredeemed lives within sight of the steeple" and castle, thin scraps of Christian settlement squeezed between the coast and primeval forest, though in the end vast areas became and remain Christian to this day. In stark contrast to the efforts of the Crusaders in the Middle East, the Order and the Scandinavians were able to establish lasting settlements in formerly very hostile areas in the wilderness, lands with difficult terrain, fearsome winter weather, impassable roads (if they existed), and unwelcoming natives. The Order for example established over ninety towns and a thousand villages in Prussia and Livonia. Sweden was able in the course of two centuries to transform Finland from a mainly non-Christian, illiterate, and ungoverned world into a society recognizable as European and Catholic. Even though these outside powers lost the lands that they colonized, they still held them much longer than the Crusaders held the lands of the Middle East (Denmark held on in Estonia for more than a century, the Teutonic Order kept Prussia and Livonia for nearly 300 years, and Sweden remained in Finland for nearly 600 years). In this book Christiansen sought to show what the world of north-east Europe was like before the Crusades, chronicle the history of the Crusades themselves, detail a little about the personalities involved, detail in particular the history, role, goals, and organization of the Teutonic Knights, the reasons for the Crusades, and the theological debates and political struggles associated with the Northern Crusades as well as the concept of crusade in and of itself. I found the book int

Good Survery of little know part of European History

While I remember being taught about the Teutonic Knights and Hanseatic League, I really knew very little about Baltic history. Eric Christiansen has done a great job in filling in the blank spaces of medieval history. My only complaint is that, at times, the author was a little too academic, but the wealth of information contained in this THE NORTHERN CRUSADES more than makes up for any minor complaints this reviewer might have. Finally, this history lays out the foundation for understanding the 20th century conflicts between East and West.

Convert people by the sword

This book surveys the gripping history of the crusade that conquest the north of Europe,covers 500 years of European history, for me this is the first step into the history of the Baltic,Mr. Christiansen make a nice work explaning the complexities of medieval politics which help me understand more about this *JUST WAR against Poland,Lithuania Prussian pagans,time-travel back to the Middle Ages.This is a essential key to understanding the events of the time and a new light on early medieval Europe, the important of the engmatic Teutonic Order which the author gave a nice chapter dedicated only the describing the Ideology and efficiency of the Armed Monks or Knight-Brothers.Is pretty hard to conquest or convert people by the sword, even after almost 300 years of monastic rule, the old prussians were Christian only by name and also to rule a great variety of pleople from different cult or religion,the struggle to maintain power and the conquest land prove a difficult task for the knights and their Order. The author's vast knowledge of medieval Baltic history make this a fascinating book into a little known event that change the face of the European history. After reading this book you would be thirsty for more on the Teutonic Knights check the new book by William Urban. On the legendary battle of Tannenberg 1410 which Mr. Christiansen give a nice account on the aftermath of this battle, the new book of Stephen Turnbull-Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights deserves a high rate and is a nice companion to understand the disastrous defeat from which the Brother-Knights never recovered.

Sins of the fathers.....

The Crusades are back in the news again (they were out-of-fashion for awhile), but don't believe everything you read in the newspapers or hear on tv, take time to read a few good books on the subject. Begin with JJ Norwich and Bernard Lewis to get a handle on the Crusaders and Byzantium and the Holy Land, then go onto Cathars and the 'Reconquesta' of Spain. Perhaps you will come to the conclusion that I have--the European Crusaders spent more time outside the Levant than in it, although Lewis suggests Europeans probably acquired the idea of mounting religious jihads from the Arabs who were quite good at it.Christiansen has written an excellent and well-researched book on the NORTHERN CRUSADES. His writing is very readable and unbiased, and he has availed himself of many original documents. I particularly appreciated the material he included that covered the internal church debates on "what constitutes a 'just war'" or when can Christians fight in the name of Christ? The perspective of some clergy during the High Middle Ages was that good reasons existed for a Crusade or a 'Just War' with the Muslims because they had seized formerly Christian lands in the Levant, North Africa, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Eastern Europe. However, these same clergy argued there was no basis for a 'Just War' with the Byzantine Greeks, the Orthodox Russians, or non-Christian pagans who wanted to become Christian without fighting. Unfortunately, clear thinking did not always prevail. Christiansen suggests the Crusades were waged for the purpose of Christianizing the tribes who lived at the Eastern end of the Baltic Sea. In the end they were Christianized and mostly Latinized, although Russia chose the Greek Orthodox side. People who lived in what is today Lithuania, Poland, and Russia were invaded by Germans, Swedes, and Danes. Christiansen's book highlights a period when German warrior monks known as the Teutonic knights seized much of the land. Like the Templars and other warrior-monk orders in Western Europe that formed in response to the loss of the Holy Land, the Teutonic Knights were motivated by a desire to infuse Christianity in "heathern" peoples. Christiansen says that although some individuals undoutedly grew wealthy, "the profit motive is not a convincing argument" for the behaviour of the monks. "To present these wars as false -- either as matters of interest disquised as matters of conscience, or simply as misnamed events -- is too easy. This type of judgment is itself fraudulent."The Crusades were bloody and cruel, and as is usually the case, folks at the low end of the ladder suffered the most. But Christiansen poses a question -- were these people who led relatively "free" lives at subsistence levels better or worse off when they became Latinized, Christian serfs and/or peasants? Christiansen provides plenty of material to fuel both sides of the argument.Apparently, the Lithuanians and Polish did not think the Germans made good masters, and in

One of the best history books.

A fascinating, well written account of the north-eastern part of European history that is often missing in most books.While this is a book filled with historic facts and dates, it is written in such a manner that it is easy for even the non student to read and understand.Once started, the book was hard to put down. It answered so many questions of who, why and how the current nationalites emerged. So much was revealed about the people and cultures of the area. This book should be required reading in high schools and colleges. A must for anyone who loves history.