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The Reconquista (Portuguese and Spanish for 'reconquest') was the period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula of about 780 years between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada to the expanding Christian kingdoms in 1492. The crusades of the 11th to 15th century CE have become one of the defining events of the Middle Ages in both Europe and the Middle East. The campaigns brought significant consequences wherever they occurred but also pushed changes within the states that.
In the Holy Land (1095–1291).After 1291.(1147–1410). Swedish.Against Christians.Against Ottomans.(718–1492).The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were and campaigns undertaken by and kingdoms, primarily against the, and peoples around the southern and eastern shores of the, and to a lesser extent also against.The most notable campaigns were the and crusades. Some of these wars were called crusades during the Middle Ages, but others, including most of the, were first dubbed crusades by 19th-century historians. However, crusades against Baltic indigenous peoples were authorized by in the bull, in 1171 or 1172. Contents.Background At the outset of the northern crusades, Christian monarchs across northern Europe commissioned forays into territories that comprise modern-day Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. Pagans or eastern Orthodox Christians, the indigenous populations suffered forced baptisms and the ravages of military occupation. Spearheading, but by no means monopolizing these incursions, the ascendant Teutonic Order profited immensely from the crusades, as did German merchants who fanned out along trading routes traversing the Baltic frontier.
The official starting point for the Northern Crusades was 's call in 1195, but the Catholic kingdoms of, and the had begun moving to subjugate their pagan neighbors even earlier. The non-Christian people who were objects of the campaigns at various dates included:. the, and between the and rivers (by the, and, beginning with the in 1147).
the in 1150s in the by the Swedes; by the in 1191 and 1202; in 1249 in the by the Swedes; and in 1293 in the by the Swedes; in these areas had started earlier., and (by the and, 1193–1227). and (1219–1290). and (by the, unsuccessfully, 1236–1316).Armed conflict between the, and who dwelt by the Baltic shores and their and neighbors to the north and south had been common for several centuries before the crusade.
The previous battles had largely been caused by attempts to destroy castles and sea trade routes to gain economic advantage in the region, and the crusade basically continued this pattern of conflict, albeit now inspired and prescribed by the and undertaken by Papal knights and armed monks. Main article:By the 12th century, the peoples inhabiting the lands now known as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed a pagan wedge between increasingly powerful rival Christian states – the to their east and the to their west. The difference in creeds was one of the reasons they had not yet been effectively converted. During a period of more than 150 years leading up to the arrival of crusaders in the region, Estonia was attacked thirteen times by Russian principalities, and by Denmark and Sweden as well. Estonians for their part made raids upon Denmark and Sweden. There were peaceful attempts by some Catholics to convert the Estonians, starting with missions dispatched by, Archbishop of in 1045-1072. However, these peaceful efforts seem to have had limited success.Campaign against the Livonians (1198–1212) Moving in the wake of German merchants who were now following the old trading routes of the, a monk named landed at the mouth of the in present-day Latvia in 1180 and was made bishop in 1186.
Pope proclaimed a crusade against the Baltic heathens in 1195, which was reiterated by Pope and a crusading expedition led by Meinhard's successor, Bishop, landed in Livonia (part of present-day Latvia, surrounding the ) in 1198. Although the crusaders won their first battle, Bishop Berthold was mortally wounded and the crusaders were repulsed.In 1199, was appointed by the Archbishop of Bremen to Christianise the Baltic countries. By the time Albert died 30 years later, the conquest and formal Christianisation of present-day Estonia and northern Latvia was complete.
Albert began his task by touring the Empire, preaching a Crusade against the Baltic countries, and was assisted in this by a which declared that fighting against the Baltic heathens was of the same rank as participating in a crusade to the. Although he landed in the mouth of the Daugava in 1200 with only 23 ships and 500 soldiers, the bishop's efforts ensured that a constant flow of recruits followed. The first crusaders usually arrived to fight during the spring and returned to their homes in the autumn. To ensure a permanent military presence, the were founded in 1202. The founding by Bishop Albert of the market at in 1201 attracted citizens from the Empire and economic prosperity ensued. At Albert's request, Pope Innocent III dedicated the Baltic countries to the to popularize recruitment to his army and the name 'Mary's Land' has survived up to modern times. This is noticeable in one of the names given to Livonia at the time, (Land of Mary).
Main articles: andThe Northern Crusades provided a rationale for the growth and expansion of the of crusading which had been founded in Palestine at the end of the 12th century. Duke in west-central appealed to the Knights to defend his borders and subdue the pagan in 1226. After the subjugation of the Prussians, the Teutonic Knights fought against the.When the Livonian knights were crushed by Samogitians in the in 1236, coinciding with a series of revolts in Estonia, the Livonian Order was inherited by the Teutonic Order, allowing the Teutonic Knights to exercise political control over large territories in the Baltic region., the King of Lithuania, was baptised together with his wife after his coronation in 1253, hoping that this would help stop the Crusaders' attacks, which it did not. The Teutonic Knights failed to subdue Lithuania, which officially in 1386 on the marriage of Grand Duke to the 11-year-old Queen.
However, even after the country was officially converted, the conflict continued up until the 1410, also known as the, when the Lithuanians and Poles, helped by the, and the, defeated the Teutonic knights.In 1221, was again worried about the situation in the after receiving alarming information from the. He authorized the Bishop of Finland to establish a against the 'barbarians' that threatened the Christianity in Finland. The nationality of the 'barbarians', presumably a citation from Archbishop's earlier letter, remains unknown, and was not necessarily known even by the Pope.
However, as the trade embargo was widened eight years later, it was specifically said to be against the Russians. Based on Papal letters from 1229, the requested, the Pope enforce a trade embargo against Novgorodians on the, at least in,. A few years later, the Pope also requested the send troops to protect Finland. Whether any knights ever arrived remains unknown.The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer (particularly the Republics of and ), an enterprise endorsed by, accompanied the Northern Crusades.
One of the major blows for the idea of the conquest of Russia was the in 1242. With or without the Pope's blessing, Sweden also undertook several.See also.External links., article about the Northern Crusades from Culture.plReferences.
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