World History
Northern Crusades Against the Last Pagans of Europe - Background information on the 13th century crusades against the Baltic Pagans. Part of a site promoting novels set in the period.
From the site:
By the beginning of the XIII-th century the pagan past of Europe belonged already to legends. Everywhere Christianity had triumphed and become not only the prevailing religion, but also a mainstay of feudalism . Everywhere, except along the eastern coast of the Baltic sea. There the Baltic peoples continued to adhere to the ancient way of life. Christian Europe had been busy with the Crusades to the Holly Land, but there the tide had turned. The remnants of the crusading armies were besieged in a few coastal enclaves and it was evident that their time was running out. Supply and reinforcement across a distant sea harassed by Muslim fleets had proven untenable. By this time Christian Europe was hardened by religion driven wars which had lasted a century. Society had changed in response to the demands of war, and the hierarchy of the Church had not escaped its corroding influence . Thus now there were even monastic orders whose purpose of existence was not to pray or perform good deeds, but to wield the sword in the name of Christ. No matter that the Prince of Peace had said that those who - "Raise the sword shall perish by it!". Mans capacity for self justification and sophistry is boundless. The sword was unsheathed, justifications were added as an afterthought, and the newly unemployed knights looked for other heathen lands to conquer. It was then that the stubborn Baltic tribes were remembered and the Northern Crusades began.
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World History
Northern Crusades Against the Last Pagans of Europe
Northern Crusades Against the Last Pagans of Europe - Background information on the 13th century crusades against the Baltic Pagans. Part of a site promoting novels set in the period.
From the site:
By the beginning of the XIII-th century the pagan past of Europe belonged already to legends. Everywhere Christianity had triumphed and become not only the prevailing religion, but also a mainstay of feudalism . Everywhere, except along the eastern coast of the Baltic sea. There the Baltic peoples continued to adhere to the ancient way of life. Christian Europe had been busy with the Crusades to the Holly Land, but there the tide had turned. The remnants of the crusading armies were besieged in a few coastal enclaves and it was evident that their time was running out. Supply and reinforcement across a distant sea harassed by Muslim fleets had proven untenable. By this time Christian Europe was hardened by religion driven wars which had lasted a century. Society had changed in response to the demands of war, and the hierarchy of the Church had not escaped its corroding influence . Thus now there were even monastic orders whose purpose of existence was not to pray or perform good deeds, but to wield the sword in the name of Christ. No matter that the Prince of Peace had said that those who - "Raise the sword shall perish by it!". Mans capacity for self justification and sophistry is boundless. The sword was unsheathed, justifications were added as an afterthought, and the newly unemployed knights looked for other heathen lands to conquer. It was then that the stubborn Baltic tribes were remembered and the Northern Crusades began.
- Crusades
Crusades In 1095 Pope Urban II incited the Crusades with a speech urging Christian armies to free the holy sites, especially Jerusalem, from Muslim control. The Crusades sparked a fire of religious fervor among thousands of young knights and other Christian...
- History Of Latvia
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- The Knights Hospitaller, Ancient And Modern
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- The Presentation Of The Franks In Selected Muslim Sources
The Presentation of the Franks in Selected Muslim Sources - A dissertation traces the development of the attitudes of Muslims towards the Franks during the Crusades of the 12th Century. From the site: During the period of the Crusades a large number...