The Scandinavian Baltic Crusades 1100-1500

Produktbeschreibung

Wielding their swords in the name of their faith, the crusaders originally set out to reclaim Jerusalem and its surrounding territory in the Middle East. Increasingly, however, Eastern Europe and the last remaining bastions of pagan Europe became the targets of their religious zeal.

The era officially began in 1147, when the Saxons, Danes, and Poles, responding to Pope Eugene III's call, initiated a crusade against the Wends of the Southern Baltic. This was followed by crusades against the Livonians, Estonians, Finns, Prussians, and Lithuanians. By the 13th century much of the responsibility for sustaining these crusades fell to the Teutonic Knights, a military order formed in the Holy Land in 1190. They were aided by the constant support of the Roman pontiff and by a steady flow of mercenaries from throughout Christendom.

The subsequent Scandinavian campaigns laid the foundations of modern Baltic society by destroying pagan rural farming settlements, and establishing fortified Christian towns and major castles. As with the majority of crusades, the prospective acquisition of land and power was the one of the key driving forces behind these bloody military expeditions.

This book reveals the colorful history of these Crusades when the soldiers of the Pope fought their way across Eastern Europe and inexorably changed the future of the continent. 

Inhaltsverzeichnis

· Introduction · The major participants · Early crusades, 11th-14th centuries ·
Organization of the crusaders and of their enemies · Later crusades 14th-15th
centuries · Changes in weaponry, tactics and organization · From campaigning to
permanent settlement · Conclusion 

Autoreninfo

David Lindholm MA, was born in 1970. He was educated at the University of Lund in Sweden where he studied medieval archaeology, history and ethnology. He is also a specialist of medieval weaponry and warfare. David Nicolle was born in 1944 and worked in the BBC Arabic service for a number of years, before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written many books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare.

Angus McBride is one of the world's most respected historical illustrators, and has contributed to more than 90 Osprey titles in the past three decades.