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

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Eric Christiansen (Author)
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4.3 out of 5 stars 39 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; 2 edition (June 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140266534
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140266535
  • Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsA must read for those interested in the Baltic region.
By Michael Brooks 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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4.0 out of 5 starsWelcome 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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5.0 out of 5 starsSins 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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5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting 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

2.0 out of 5 starsThe Northern Crusades: Second Edition

A poorly researched history of Teutonic events.

Published 3 months ago by nelson allen
5.0 out of 5 starsChristianity comes of the Baltic States

This is a recent and complete history of the crusades to expand Christianity to the Scandinavian countries.

Published 4 months ago by Brian Wayne Wells
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Well researched. Well written

Published 6 months ago by Michelle C.
5.0 out of 5 starsQuality Book

Excellent account of little known history.

Published 8 months ago by TJ
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent 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 16 months ago by CESAR
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

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

Published on January 4, 2015 by Owen M. Hammett Jr.
5.0 out of 5 starsA 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 on August 22, 2014 by Scott A. Lemmermann
5.0 out of 5 starsSo 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 on May 11, 2014 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFinally 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 on December 31, 2013 by hilda hilpert
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent

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

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