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The Northern Crusades: Second Edition Paperback – June 1, 1998

by Eric Christiansen (Author)

35 customer reviews

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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.

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Product Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 2 Sub edition (June 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140266534
ISBN-13: 978-0140266535
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #613 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Churches & Church Leadership > Church History
- #616 in Books > History > World > Religious > Christianity
- #746 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > History

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Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars

5 star		57%
4 star		34%
3 star		3%
2 star		6%
1 star		0%

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75 of 76 people found the following review helpful

A must read for those interested in the Baltic region.

By Amazon Customer on June 21, 2002

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This book covers the Christianization of the Baltic region during the late middle ages. Christiansen does a very nice job assimilating the archaelogical and historical evidence, and then explaining it and telling a good "story" in a very readable fashion. This is a very complex area, and Christiansen has to deal with the collision of four different linguistic groups and cultural traditions: 1. The Christian West Germanic and North Germanic peoples, i.e., Saxons, Danes, Swedes, etc. 2. The pagan Baltic peoples such as the Latvians and Lithuanians. 3. The pagan Finnic peoples, including the Finns and Estonians, but also many tribes whose language and culture barely survives today, such as the Livonians, Ingrians, Karelians, etc. 4. The partially Christianized Slavic tribes.
There is very little published in English about this time and place in history. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the subject, or in the Baltic region in general, especially someone interested in a good overview as a start. As I've indicated, in spite of the complexity of the subject, it does read well.

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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful

Welcome light on an obscure period

By Donal A. O'Neill on May 21, 2001

Format: Paperback

This is a very readable account of a subject largely inaccessible to the general reader. It covers the conquest and conversion of the pagan tribes of the Southern and Eastern Baltic Coasts from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, the extension of German civilisation north-eastwards and the collision, and ultimate uneasy equilibrium between Latin and Orthodox Christianity in the area. The surprise of the book, for this reader at least, is the fact that the Dark Ages endured in this corner of Europe well into Medieval times, and that Paganism was still a vibrant force there almost until the period of the Renaissance. A significant strength of the book is the introductory section, which provides a fascinating overview of the peoples and cultures of the area at the opening of the period covered, and this is built upon in greater detail, when necessary in more detailed accounts of specific campaigns. The linkage to the overall Crusading ideal is well handled and though the transformation of the Teutonic Knights from a warrior order in Frankish Palestine to a frontier force skilled in forest, river and marshland warfare is a dominant theme, the roles of the Danes, Swedes and Russians, not to mention a host of Baltic tribes, receive equal attention. The mechanics of the warfare of the period, including the particular constraints imposed by climate and terrain, are well handled. In summary - a splendidly informative work that cast light on an obscure period that bred baleful myths with dire consequences in more recent times.

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75 of 88 people found the following review helpful

Sins of the fathers.....

By Dianne Foster HALL OF FAME on July 6, 2002

Format: Paperback

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.Read more ›

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

Interesting overview of a relatively unknown period of history

By Tim F. Martin on January 5, 2006

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

_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.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Excellent book, the author really masters the subject

Excellent book, the author really masters the subject, and you get some information difficult to find somewhere else. I am truly satisfied.

Published 2 months ago by CESAR

Five Stars

A little understood series of crusades. Musr have research book.

Published 11 months ago by Owen M. Hammett Jr.

A welcome edition to the history of the crusades in ...

A welcome edition to the history of the crusades in that it chronicles the lower Baltic and northeastern European crusades. One of the few in English.

Published 15 months ago by Scott A. Lemmermann

So hard to find Baltic History

It's really hard for me to find material on Baltic history. It just doesn't seem to be a topic largely covered. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Amazon Customer

Finally a light on a forgotten part of Europe's history

I was searching for some books on the Knights Templars and came across this work. I can't wait to get my copy and read it. Read more

Published 23 months ago by hilda hilpert

Excellent

All was Great! It arrived in good condition and speedily. I will very much enjoy this work as I prepare to write my novel.

Published on August 23, 2013 by Maximilian K. Biltz

Sheds Light on an Obscure Corner of Europe

The Northern Crusades is an important historical work that shows how North Western European Christians (mostly Germans) captured the eastern bank of the Baltic. Read more

Published on April 30, 2013 by Carl Robinson

Survey of the Northern Crusades

This book will provide an understanding of what the northern crusades were about and a starting point to exploring the peoples of the Baltic region. Read more

Published on April 29, 2013 by JH

Very long and dry

I am interested in this region of the world and its history, and there is not a lot of Kindle books available. So I read what I can. Read more

Published on April 23, 2013 by Liam H Dooley

The Northern Crusades

The Northern Crusades brings to light a seldom considered aspect of the crusades of the Christian Church and the world of the infidel. Read more

Published on April 16, 2013 by J. Lindner

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